FPL Group, which is acquiring Constellation Energy Group to become the largest U.S. electricity supplier, said second-quarter profit rose 17 percent on soaring earnings from power generation.

Net income rose to $238 million, or 60 cents a share, from $203 million, or 52 cents, a year earlier, the Juno, Fla.-based company said Friday. Sales increased 39 percent to $3.81 billion from $2.74 billion.

FPL has expanded by buying nuclear plants and building wind farms from Texas to Iowa and in the Northeast. The company's planned $11.13 billion acquisition of Constellation, announced in December, has been stalled by a utility-rate dispute in Maryland. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on July 21 said it was extending its deadline for acting on the deal to Feb. 2, 2007.

''A lot of things went their way'' for power generation, said Daniele Seitz, an analyst at Dahlman Rose & Co. in New York who doesn't rate FPL shares or own any.

Net income from the power-plant unit jumped more than fourfold to $92 million from $20 million partly on the addition of new projects, the company said.

Shares of FPL fell 20 cents to $43 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The stock, which has 12 buy recommendations from analysts and three holds, has risen 3.5 percent this year.

FPL, the biggest U.S. generator of power from wind, has added 722 megawatts of wind power in the past year, and an additional 330 megawatts are under construction, Chief Executive Officer Lewis Hay, 50, said in the statement.

On Jan. 27, FPL completed its $373 million purchase of 70 percent of the Duane Arnold nuclear plant in near Cedar Rapids, Iowa, from Alliant Energy Corp.

Profit from the company's Florida Power & Light utility fell 9.5 percent to $182 million. Earnings were reduced partly by the Florida Public Service Commission's decision to disallow recovery of about $54 million in storm costs from last year, the company said.

The results included a loss of $20 million for the reduced value of gas hedges and $4 million of acquisition-related costs, the company said. Excluding those items, profit was $262 million, or 66 cents a share.

The results a year earlier included $52 million in costs for the reduced value of gas contracts.