NextEra Energy (FPL)

[Nichole]

Thanks, Loffy. I don't mind office politics too much, I've worked in that sort of environment before. I also like the location as I have family in Florida.

Forgive my ignorance but is PTN the abbreviation for Turkey Point? And what about the St. Lucie site, is it much better?

Thanks again!

[surf50]

PTN= Plant Turkey Nuclear
PSL= Plant St. Lucie

Is St Lucie better? Hard to answer..both plants are very different from each other in physical layout
and management style. The surrounding area is nicer than PTN's, definitely.

[RDTroja]

The St. Lucie area is so much better than the area around Turkey Point that it is hard to describe the difference. I think the plant is also better because the layout is more open and less cramped (some of the rooms in Turkey Point are almost comical because they are so hard to move around in.) It is hard to pick one management style over the other.

Juno Beach is not too far (~ 1 hour) from PSL and is also a beautiful area... very close to Jupiter and Palm Beach Gardens, both home to lots of very wealthy people (think Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan, Burt Reynolds and dozens of other athletes and entertainers... and that is just Jupiter Island.) However, within a reasonable driving distance, there are some very affordable areas to live that are still nice.

Just a hint: Loffy Muffin has a tendency to... ummm... exaggerate a little. PTN is not 'billions over budget' nor is it going to be 70% down powered.

[Fermi2]

Let's face it:

"They contacted a start up friend of mine and offered $200/hr.  I guess the price for miracles is....$200/hr. "


That statement is straight up funny.

[Nichole]

I will take the job if it is offered; of that I am certain. I was just hoping to gain some insight into the work environment. Thanks to everyone who has offered a comment, all information is appreciated 

[Loffy Muffin]

PM- about 120/hr
engineer, sr...100-110/hr.
speciality (turbines, digital), startup eng, , director  150/hr and up.

OT- 10-20 hrs non-outage.
30-40 outage.

PD, tax free....900/wk.

These rates are higher than say, Duke-Southern-Anywhere else because most realize the extreme FPL incompetence at the manager level.  You earn your dough
The directs, engineering, maintenance, and op's were pretty decent people.  they have/had the same jaded view of the "juno beach jokers" that I had.  It takes a premium to get people there.

engage rad con math...

survey sez...

at 60hrs/wk engineer @ 100/hr is...$364K. Outage hours will push this higher.
The PD is tax free, which could get a 1.4 multiplier.
Most of the EPU people live in condos bought by inlaws during the 2008 RE meltdown for 30K cash
The minimum salary for the NFL is $375K.
No state income tax for florida.

No exaggeration.
Its also no exaggeration will age in dog years while making that money.

Let people that are ACTUAL PM, Eng, Directors comment on the pay and not low level pikers or rem-rags

[Graphic]

PM- about 120/hr
engineer, sr...100-110/hr.
speciality (turbines, digital), startup eng, , director  150/hr and up.



at 60hrs/wk engineer @ 100/hr is...$364K. Outage hours will push this higher.
The PD is tax free, which could get a 1.4 multiplier.
Most of the EPU people live in condos bought by inlaws during the 2008 RE meltdown for 30K cash
The minimum salary for the NFL is $375K.
No state income tax for florida.

Yeah cause engineers work 60 hours a week 52 weeks out of the year.. no time off.. no vacation. Get your numbers straight at least. Most of the bechtel engineers here have barely been working overtime for the past month or two. FPL doesn't work much more.  Just because Florida doesn't have a state tax doesn't mean you don't get taxed by whatever state you do live in. They do make plenty of money.. but 1.5 million is stretching it.

[Rennhack]

Professionals don't usually get paid overtime, they are salary.

[Nichole]

Professionals don't usually get paid overtime, they are salary.

I was just about to say that the hourly wages weren't useful to me as I would be paid a salary, but you beat me to the punch Renhack!

[OldHP]

Professionals don't usually get paid overtime, they are salary.

And when they do it is normally at ST rate!

[Rennhack]

And when they do it is normally at ST rate!

Exactly.

The only time I get time and a half is when I work for Bartlett.  They pay many of their pro's time and a half.

[Already Gone]

Oh how nice it must be to live in your own little world.  A field engineer can make a good living.  But, anybody who will tell you how much he makes is usually lying.

[RDTroja]

Oh how nice it must be to live in your own little world.  A field engineer can make a good living.  But, anybody who will tell you how much he makes is usually lying.

BINGO!

[newclearmoose]

I know this thread is a little old but is it still as bad? How about the living costs since the housing market took a dive?

[NHSparky]

Don't bother.  NextEra is cutting (they say) 10 percent of their staff.  Go to some sites and it looks like they're trying to get rid of 20-25 percent.

And don't even get me started on "Project Momentum."

[NHSparky]

Oh how nice it must be to live in your own little world.  A field engineer can make a good living.  But, anybody who will tell you how much he makes is usually lying.

I work at a NextEra plant, and I'm making $25K/year less than what I made two years ago.  I also have the W-2's/paystubs to back it up.  They've gotten TIGHT on the OT over the past year, to the point where if you find something wrong with a piece of gear, instead of fixing it right then and there and possibly incurring some OT, hang a deficiency tag on it and they'll get to it later.

They're also doing cutbacks in personnel.  Offers made to number of folks already, and probably going to be more layoffs after the outage in April 2014, assuming the union folks aren't locked out/go on strike when the current contract ends in December.

A few of the highlights from those negotiations: Company wants to take away semi-crappy healthcare plan and put everyone on REALLY crappy plan, want to take away X1/X2 days so they can put maintenance folks on 12-hour (no OT) rotating shifts, Operations going to 12-hour shifts, exempt folks getting NO pay for overtime work, including outages.

Yeah, gonna be a real hoot here in the next few months.  Love me some of that Project Momentum!

[GLW]

Don't bother.  NextEra is cutting (they say) 10 percent of their staff.  Go to some sites and it looks like they're trying to get rid of 20-25 percent.

And don't even get me started on "Project Momentum."

NextEra is HUGE in subsidized wind generation,...

And the liability is exponentially less than nuclear,...

It's simple math,....

[NHSparky]

NextEra is HUGE in subsidized wind generation,...

And the liability is exponentially less than nuclear,...

It's simple math,....

Very true, but those subsidies are scheduled to expire in 2014--what then?

I've yet to see a wind project up here in the Northeast that was popular over the long term.  Most of them shut down because of resident complaints, lack of production or availability, or cost simply didn't meet what was promised, even with the subsidies.

[Fermi2]

Dude GO to 12 hour shifts!

[Fermi2]

Now the Government is realizing HEY uh Windmills kill birds like hydro kills fish... Guess what we need a regulation...

[HydroDave63]

Now the Government is realizing HEY uh Windmills kill birds like hydro kills fish... Guess what we need a regulation...

They always knew windmills were VAR-sucking bird-blenders. But they were a great way to pick winners by subsidies to donor megacorps and creating wacky rules for variable generation.

[NHSparky]

Dude GO to 12 hour shifts!

With NO OT?  And the exempt guys aren't getting paid ANYTHING.  Not even straight time.

At least that's the proposal.

Trust me, I wouldn't have a huge issue with rotating shifts if you didn't take away the OT.

[HydroDave63]

With NO OT?  And the exempt guys aren't getting paid ANYTHING.  Not even straight time.

At least that's the proposal.

Trust me, I wouldn't have a huge issue with rotating shifts if you didn't take away the OT.

They could work them 10 and pay 8, without 12s. The root problem is that the offer communicates that they have too many exempts and aren't afraid of a few walking away IMHO.

[Fermi2]

With NO OT?  And the exempt guys aren't getting paid ANYTHING.  Not even straight time.

At least that's the proposal.

Trust me, I wouldn't have a huge issue with rotating shifts if you didn't take away the OT.

I was exempt. They made their choice...

I did not realize they weren't offering the Union no OT. I think a 12 hour schedule is 8 OT hours per month.

I simply liked the added time off. A 7 and 4 off every 5 weeks was worth it.

[Fermi2]

Found it rather ironic Greenpeace protesting Windmills.