Duke Energy Selects 10 Additional Sites for Innovative Solar Program

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Apr 22, 2010, 06:00 ET

CHARLOTTE, N.C., April 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Ten new customer sites across North Carolina will have solar panels installed on their building or grounds as part of Duke Energy's distributed solar generation program.

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The company launched the program in October 2009, when roof space was leased from four large manufacturing and commercial facilities for placement of solar panels. Today, the company is advancing the program by announcing 10 new sites. They include:

Lincoln Charter School, Denver, N.C.
Gaston County Schools, Lowell, N.C.
Environmental Protection Agency, Durham, N.C.
Maple View Farm, Hillsborough N.C.
City of Charlotte Department of Transportation Facility, Charlotte, N.C.
Liberty Hardware/Johnson Development, Winston Salem, N.C.
Childress Klein Properties, Charlotte, N.C.
Carrier Centers, LLC, Charlotte, N.C.
Siemens, Winston Salem, N.C.
Daimler Trucks North America, Cleveland, N.C.

"Partnering with sites visible to our customers helps build knowledge and understanding of solar energy," said Brett Carter, president of Duke Energy Carolinas, North Carolina. "This innovative program brings more solar energy to our customers, and helps us meet the state's renewable energy portfolio standard in a way that balances costs to customers."

These 10 sites will generate approximately 4.1 megawatts of emission-free direct current electricity by 2011, enough to power approximately 525 average-sized homes.

When the distributed solar generation program is complete, Duke Energy will have invested approximately $50 million to construct and own a total of 10 megawatts of solar energy capacity in the state, capable of providing electricity to approximately 1,300 homes.

These sites were selected based on the organization's interest in solar energy, ready access to the electrical grid and solar potential, in addition to other essential lease agreement criteria. Installations are under way on a few of the sites, and construction is expected to be complete by fall 2010.

North Carolina's renewable energy standard requires each public electric utility to meet at least 12.5 percent of its North Carolina retail customers' electricity needs through new renewable energy sources or energy efficiency measures by 2021. Duke Energy is committed to providing products and services that enable our customers to directly participate in achieving the standard.

Duke Energy Carolinas owns nuclear, coal-fired, natural gas and hydroelectric generation. That diverse fuel mix provides approximately 19,000 megawatts of electricity capacity to approximately 2.4 million customers in a 22,000-square-mile service area of North Carolina and South Carolina.

Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK) is one of the largest electric power holding companies in the United States. Its regulated utility operations serve approximately 4 million customers located in five states in the Southeast and Midwest, representing a population of approximately 11 million people. Its commercial power and international business segments own and operate diverse power generation assets in North America and Latin America, including a growing portfolio of renewable energy assets in the United States.

Headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., Duke Energy is a Fortune 500 company traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol DUK. More information about the company is available on the Internet at: www.duke-energy.com. To learn more and contribute to the discussion about the energy issues of today and the possibilities of tomorrow see www.sheddingalight.org.