A group of investors and Florida Power & Light’s parent company, NextEra, told a federal judge in recent days that they have agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit accusing the company of securities fraud. The investors had argued that FPL officials made misleading statements while they were navigating a series of high-profile controversies throughout the state that had been uncovered by Florida newspapers.

NextEra and the investors have a “binding agreement in principle,” the company and the lead plaintiffs told U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon. The document didn’t disclose the details of the agreement, though attorneys for both sides said they expected to have a final settlement for Cannon to approve by the summer.

That agreement comes after the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals effectively resurrected the lawsuit in late 2025, overturning Cannon’s decision the previous year to dismiss it.

The suit, which has two Florida pension funds as the lead plaintiffs, argued that FPL executives made misleading statements as Florida newspapers several years ago uncovered evidence of a wide range of alleged misdeeds, including involvement in efforts to warp Florida elections through the use of “ghost” candidates, use of dirty tricks to acquire Jacksonville’s city-owned electric utility, surveillance of a journalist and attempts to control media coverage.

“The complaint has it all: corporate malfeasance, bribery, off-the-books recordkeeping, surveilling journalists, creating ‘ghost’ candidates, corrupting independent media outlets, and a failed acquisition that spiraled into two federal indictments,” Judge Gerald Bard Tjoflat wrote in a 38-page decision, joined by Judges Elizabeth Branch and Embry Kidd.

“When reporters began to uncover traces of the alleged conspiracy, NextEra and FPL executives were quick to put the claims to rest … But after some time, leadership began to backpedal.”

That backpedaling, the lawsuit argued, caused NextEra’s stock to sink more than 8%.

NextEra lawyers asked the 11th Circuit to rehear the case, which the judges refused earlier this year, sending it back to Cannon’s court to reopen. That threatened to keep the spotlight on a tumultuous public-relations era for FPL and could have led to more revelations about some of the work of its employees and outside political consultants, who were central to many of the controversies.

The lead plaintiffs in the case are the City of Hollywood Police Officers Retirement System and the Pembroke Pines Firefighters & Police Officers Pension Fund.

Nate Monroe can be reached at nate.monroe@floridatrib.org.