Helena Hernandez is a seasoned executive and innovator with a proven track record in transforming organizations and delivering step-change results in the energy and service industries. She is a strategic and inspiring leader who leverages teams, analytics and cutting-edge technologies to drive value for customers and shareholders.

 

Most recently, Helena served as vice president of smart grid and innovation for Power Delivery at Florida Power & Light Company (FPL, owned by NextEra Energy), where she was at point to advance innovation by leveraging data from smart grid devices, the latest technology and AI/ML to increase situational awareness, improve reliability and drive operational excellence (January 2021 to April 2023). She's currently on a post-retirement adventure, seeking out her next passion project.

 

Ms. Hernandez joined Florida Power & Light in 1999 as a distribution engineer and project manager in Power Delivery for FPL. She had several key roles in NextEra Energy such as vice president of Solar and Battery Storage team – in the Power Generation division of NextEra Energy, Inc. In this position, she was responsible for solar and battery storage sites, including Distributed Generation, throughout the United States and Spain, which represented approximately 166 megawatts of battery storage and 4,500 megawatts of solar. Prior to that, she served as the vice president of the Power Generation division’s Wind Operations and was responsible for all wind sites in the southern region of the United States, representing approximately 10,000 megawatts. Before that, she served as the vice president of Power Generation division’s Central Maintenance team and was responsible for the planning and execution of the non-nuclear fleets’ scheduled outages and projects, including support of the wind, fossil and solar fleets (~41 GWs of generation). She also has held positions of increasing responsibility in FPL, including regional director of Northwest Distribution Operations overseeing a team of ~800 people, general manager of the Distribution control centers, manager of Quality and Strategic Operations, Distribution Operations manager, and Delivery Assurance/Reliability manager. 

 

Prior to joining NextEra Energy Inc., Ms. Hernandez held various operational and commercial roles at General Electric and Lockwood Greene International.

 

Throughout her career, Helena has demonstrated exceptional strategic planning and execution skills, as well as a strong commitment to talent growth and retention. She has also demonstrated a deep understanding of financial and budgeting controls, risk management, and crisis management. Helena is fluent in both English and Spanish and is passionate about people and ideas.

 

Ms. Hernandez earned a bachelor’s degree in Industrial and Systems Engineering from Florida International University and a master’s in Business Administration from the University of Miami. She is also a certified Six Sigma Black Belt.

 

Ms. Hernandez serves on the board of directors of Aldaba Foundation. She enjoys traveling the world, kayaking, biking, reading and practicing yoga. She lives between Madrid, Spain and Miami, United States.