Duke Energy to Offer Customers Coupons for Energy-Efficient Light Bulbs

CHARLOTTE, N.C., April 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK) will offer coupons for energy-efficient compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) to its customers in North Carolina and South Carolina to help them save money on their electric bills and reduce the need for additional power plants.

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The utility will mail customers a coupon, redeemable at Walmart, good for a free six-pack of 13-watt CFLs, which have the light output equivalent to traditional 60-watt incandescent bulbs.

The six highly efficient CFLs collectively can save customers up to $180 on their electric bills over the bulbs' expected lifetime.

If all 1.3 million customers who receive the coupons redeem them and replace existing incandescent bulbs with the new CFLs, the amount of electricity saved over the lifetime of the bulbs would be enough to power more than 36,000 homes.

"Sustained energy efficiency efforts can be one of the most environmentally friendly ways to meet our customers' electricity needs and is often less expensive than building power plants," said Gianna Manes, Duke Energy's senior vice president for retail customer products and services. "Energy efficiency also can help our customers save money on their overall energy costs."

CFL coupons will be mailed in March and April, and expire May 16. To learn more, visit www.duke-energy.com/cfl.

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 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.

SOURCE Duke Energy