Edison Awards to Host Solar-Powered Earth Day Event

FORT MYERS, Fla., March 24, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — The Edison Awards is pleased to announce a solar-powered Earth Day event as a part of its 34^th annual awards celebration. A full day of educational activities – both live and virtual – will take place on April 22, 2021, at Babcock Ranch, America’s first solar-powered town, and will be powered by Florida Power & Light Company (FPL). Both companies are also new sponsors of the 2021 Edison Awards.

“We are really looking forward to hosting this one-of-a-kind, innovative event with two of our great partners and biggest players in the field of solar energy,” said Edison Universe Executive Director Frank Bonafilia. “The outdoor venue space at Babcock Ranch has allowed us to follow COVID-19 precautions. What better way to celebrate Earth Day than to safely educate our attendees about solar energy within a community that thrives on it?”

Babcock Ranch developer Kitson & Partners and FPL partnered and broke ground on the FPL Babcock Ranch Solar Energy Center in 2015. The solar energy center now delivers emissions-free energy to FPL’s energy grid, powering Babcock Ranch and beyond. In 2018, FPL created the largest combined solar-plus-storage facility operating in the U.S. when it added a 10-megawatt battery storage system to the FPL Babcock Ranch Solar Energy Center. The system captures energy generated by the solar energy center and stores it for later use, improving reliability for thousands of local homes and businesses. In 2020, the FPL Babcock Preserve Solar Energy Center came online, creating a total of 150 megawatts of solar power generated at the ranch.

“We are thrilled to support the Earth Day celebration at Babcock Ranch, home of the nation’s largest solar-plus-storage system powered by FPL, alongside Edison Awards for its 2021 conference,” said Crystal Stiles, senior director of economic development for FPL. “Investments and partnerships like these demonstrate FPL’s continued commitment to a more innovative and sustainable future for Florida.

Attendees of the Edison Awards Earth Day event will have the opportunity to hear from a number of innovators and experts in science and technology during the Meet the Innovators panel sessions. Panelists include Syd Kitson, Chairman & CEO Kitson & Partners; Matt Valle, FPL’s Vice President of Development; Mario Azar, President Global Power Business at Black & Veatch; Reinhold Schmieding, Founder and President of Arthrex, Dr. Jennifer Holmgren, CEO or LanzaTech to name a few.

“The speakers at this event are real changemakers who are reinventing a more sustainable future for our planet,” said Syd Kitson, Chairman and CEO of Kitson & Partners. “We can’t think of a better way or a better place to celebrate Earth Day.”

For more information on the 2021 Edison Awards event attendance, finalists and exhibiting, go to www.edisonawards.com.

For media inquiries, please contact Lisa Hall at lisa@hallmediastrategies.com

Edison Awards
Over the last 34 years, being recognized with an Edison Award has become one of the highest accolades a product can receive in the name of innovation success. The Edison Awards are operated by Edison Universe, a 501c3 non-profit with the mission of recognizing, honoring and fostering innovations and innovators. For more information go to www.edisonawards.com.

Babcock Ranch
Babcock Ranch was created by Kitson & Partners with respect for the natural environment and the philosophy that smart growth and sustainability work hand in hand. Half of the town’s 18,000-acre footprint is set aside as greenways, parks and expansive lakes, providing recreation and scenic backdrops for Babcock Ranch’s planned 19,500 homes and the Founder’s Square downtown district.  For more information about America’s first solar-powered hometown located just northeast of Fort Myers visit www.BabcockRanch.com.

Florida Power & Light Company
Florida Power & Light Company is the largest energy company in the U.S. as measured by retail electricity produced and sold. The company serves more than 5.6 million customer accounts supporting more than 11 million residents across Florida with clean, reliable and affordable electricity. FPL won the ReliabilityOne® National Reliability Excellence Award, presented by PA Consulting, in 2020 for the fifth time in the last six years. FPL is a subsidiary of Juno Beach, Florida-based NextEra Energy, Inc., a clean energy company that has been ranked No. 1 in the electric and gas utilities industry in Fortune’s 2021 list of “World’s Most Admired Companies.” NextEra Energy is also the parent company of NextEra Energy Resources, LLC, which, together with its affiliated entities, is the world’s largest generator of renewable energy from the wind and sun and a world leader in battery storage.

SOURCE Edison Awards; Florida Power & Light Company