NextEra Energy is the largest electric utility company in the United States by market capitalization and the world's largest producer of wind and solar energy. Its two main operating subsidiaries are Florida Power & Light (FPL), which serves roughly 5.9 million customer accounts in Florida, and NextEra Energy Resources, which owns and operates a renewable generation portfolio exceeding 35,000 megawatts across North America. Combined, the enterprise reported over $24 billion in total revenues in FY2024.
That scale translates to a large procurement footprint. The company's operations span construction, grid maintenance, fuel procurement, IT infrastructure, environmental services, and facilities management across dozens of states. A supplier diversity program sits inside that procurement structure, run through FPL's Supplier Development group.
This guide covers what that program actually looks like, how to register, which certifications matter, and what a realistic path to a contract looks like.
The supplier diversity program
FPL's Supplier Development group manages supplier diversity for both FPL and NextEra Energy Resources. The team's stated goal is to increase expenditures with qualified diverse suppliers. The program does not publish an annual diverse spend target or a specific dollar commitment publicly, which puts it behind peers like Sempra ($2.4 billion in diverse spend) or PG&E ($2.1 billion as of 2014). What it does publish is a direct statement of intent to actively seek opportunities with small, minority-owned, women-owned, veteran-owned, service-disabled veteran-owned, and HUBZone businesses.
The Supplier Development group serves as a liaison between company procurement departments and diverse suppliers. It participates in local, regional, and national supplier diversity organizations and sponsors supplier diversity events across Florida. Mary Mayhew serves as FPL's Communication Lead and Supplier Diversity Manager and holds a position on the Florida State Minority Supplier Development Council (FSMSDC) board, which confirms the company has active institutional ties to Florida's MBE certification ecosystem.
The program operates across two distinct procurement channels: FPL for regulated utility work in Florida (generation, transmission, distribution, meter-to-cash operations), and NextEra Energy Resources for the competitive renewable generation portfolio (wind, solar, battery storage development and operations across the U.S. and Canada).
Certifications that carry weight
FPL's supplier diversity page lists the following business categories it actively seeks:
- Small business (SBA size standards)
- Veteran-owned small business (VOSB)
- Service-disabled veteran-owned small business (SDVOSB)
- HUBZone-certified small business
- Minority-owned business (MBE)
- Women-owned business (WBE)
- Small disadvantaged business (SDB)
The page does not explicitly list NGLCC (LGBTBE) or Disability:IN (DOBE) certification as recognized categories, though these are increasingly standard at large corporations. For FPL specifically, the certifying bodies with the most direct relevance are NMSDC affiliates (for MBE), WBENC affiliates (for WBE), and the SBA certification system (for SDVOSB, VOSB, and HUBZone).
In Florida, the FSMSDC is the NMSDC regional affiliate that certifies MBEs and connects them with corporate buyers including FPL. WBENC's Florida affiliate is the Florida Gulf Coast Chapter of the Women's Business Enterprise Council South. If you hold certifications from these bodies, they are directly recognized within FPL's procurement ecosystem.
FPL's procurement page states explicitly: "it is critical that your diversity information and certifications are up-to-date, complete and accurate." An expired or incomplete certification will effectively remove you from consideration when sourcing professionals run a search.
Where and how to register
There are two systems to understand.
Step 1: SupplierOne profile
The primary discovery database for prospective diverse suppliers is at nexteraenergy.supplierone.co. This is where FPL sourcing professionals search when looking for qualified diverse vendors for bidding opportunities. Registration is self-service. Create your profile, enter your diversity certifications, and fill out your capability information. The quality of your profile is the difference between appearing in a search and not.
The profile needs your NAICS codes, capability descriptions that match how procurement professionals search (not how you describe yourself to sales prospects), current certification details including issuing body and expiration date, and an accurate contact. An incomplete or generic profile is effectively invisible.
Step 2: GEP Smart
NextEra Energy is transitioning all active suppliers to GEP Smart, a centralized procurement platform that handles purchase orders and invoicing. Phase 1 (Power Generation suppliers) launched in October 2025. Phase 2 (all remaining suppliers) runs through May 2026. Once you have a contract or active relationship, you will work through GEP Smart for purchase orders, invoices, and payment tracking. SupplierOne is for discovery; GEP Smart is for transaction management once you are engaged.
Direct outreach
The NextEra Supplier Management team email is NextEra-Supplier-Management@nexteraenergy.com. For supplier portal questions, the accounts payable contact is Supplier_Portal_AP_Admin@fpl.com. For supplier diversity introductions, targeting the Supplier Development group through FSMSDC relationships is often more effective than a cold email to a general procurement address.
What NextEra and FPL source from diverse suppliers
FPL's operations and capital investment program create demand across several categories:
Construction and field services. FPL ran one of the largest grid-hardening programs in U.S. utility history, with an undergrounding and storm-hardening initiative that produced measurable reliability improvements during the 2022-2024 storm seasons. That program requires civil construction, underground cable installation, right-of-way clearing, and concrete work. Contractors with electrical distribution or underground utilities experience have the most direct relevance.
Engineering and technical services. Transmission and substation engineering, protection and controls, relay testing, and metering services are recurring procurement categories.
Environmental and vegetation management. Transmission right-of-way maintenance, wetland permitting support, environmental compliance monitoring, and storm debris removal span FPL's Florida service territory continuously.
Facilities and workplace services. FPL operates service centers, substations, and administrative facilities statewide. Janitorial, security, catering, landscaping, and facilities maintenance are accessible categories for smaller diverse businesses.
Technology and IT services. NextEra has invested in grid modernization, digital metering, and data infrastructure. Cybersecurity, IT managed services, software development, and data analytics represent growing categories, though competition is intense.
Professional services. Legal, accounting, consulting, staffing, and training are sourced across the enterprise and typically have lower barriers to entry for credentialed diverse businesses.
For NextEra Energy Resources, procurement is concentrated in wind and solar project construction, environmental permitting, and operations and maintenance. Suppliers with renewables-specific experience are better positioned for Resources work than for FPL's regulated utility operations.
Practical path: events and outreach
The FSMSDC is the most direct access point to FPL's supplier diversity program. FPL's Supplier Diversity Manager holds a board position at FSMSDC, meaning the corporation is institutionally embedded in the council, not just a dues-paying member. FSMSDC holds its annual Business Conference each spring (most recently May 2025, FIU Kovens Conference Center, Miami) and runs monthly vendor networking PowerNets where certified MBEs meet corporate buyers. Attending as a certified MBE puts you in front of the right FPL contacts rather than waiting for a sourcing search to find your SupplierOne profile.
For WBE-certified businesses, the WBENC National Conference (typically June) and Women's Business Enterprise Council South regional events are the relevant venues.
At the national level, the NMSDC Annual Conference (typically November) is where FPL's supplier diversity team participates alongside other major corporate buyers.
A few practical notes on outreach: lead with one specific service category where you have documented experience. Utility procurement teams receive many generic capability statements. "We have completed underground distribution cable installation for Duke Energy and we hold SDVOSB certification" gets more attention than a broad services list. If you're pursuing field services or construction, FPL publishes district engineering field representative contact information on its website by region. Those are the project-side contacts for capital work in your area.
Realistic timeline
Profile registration to appearing in a sourcing search: immediate, assuming your SupplierOne profile is complete.
First invitation to bid: three to twelve months, depending on your category and how active you are in FSMSDC and related outreach. Passive registration without relationship development rarely produces bid invitations at this scale.
First contract: twelve to thirty-six months for a new direct relationship. Tier II relationships through FPL's existing large contractors (construction companies, IT services firms, environmental consultants) can move faster and are a practical first step for businesses without prior utility sector experience.
Utility contracts require current safety records, insurance certificates, and compliance documentation before any purchase order issues. Have those in order before pursuing an active opportunity.
Before you register
Confirm your certification is current and entered accurately in any profile you create. An expired or missing certification removes you from FPL's sourcing searches.
Determine which NextEra subsidiary is the right target: FPL for regulated Florida utility work, or NextEra Energy Resources for competitive renewables across the U.S. and Canada. The procurement teams are separate and the categories differ. A registration aimed at the wrong entity produces no results regardless of profile quality.
Browse the corporate programs directory for other large utility and energy companies with active supplier diversity programs, and see the guide on getting into corporate supplier diversity programs for the pattern that applies across all of them.
Fact-check note: Confirm current SupplierOne portal status at nexteraenergy.supplierone.co, GEP Smart Phase 2 rollout completion, FSMSDC board membership, and FPL Supplier Development team contacts against live sources before publishing. Certifications listed reflect FPL's public supplier diversity page as of mid-2026. No verified public diverse-spend dollar commitment from NextEra Energy has been found; none was invented.
