Progress Energy Delivers on Commitments to Customers and Shareholders, CEO Tells Shareholders in 2009 Annual Report

RALEIGH, N.C., March 31 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Progress Energy (NYSE: PGN) delivered on its commitments to customers and shareholders in 2009 despite a significant economic decline, and the company is focused on effectively managing through the challenges and uncertainties of 2010. That's the message from Progress Energy Chairman, President and CEO Bill Johnson in the company's 2009 annual report released to shareholders today.  

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"We are being both steady in the present storm and forward-looking – controlling what we can control, aggressively managing costs and preparing for the future," Johnson wrote. "We believe strongly in the long-term growth prospects of the communities we serve. So, even as we are making the tough choices to manage today's realities, we are carefully laying the groundwork for the higher growth and better future we see coming."

Progress Energy posted good financial results in 2009, delivering a 10 percent total return to shareholders and achieving its ongoing earnings per share target for the fourth year in a row. The company has paid a dividend to shareholders for more than 250 consecutive quarters.

Johnson noted the company's continued alignment with its Balanced Solution strategy, a flexible portfolio approach that includes investments in energy-efficiency, alternative energy and emerging technologies, and a state-of-the-art power system. Investments include numerous enhancements to the energy-delivery system (smart grid projects), modernization of the company's power generating fleet and, in the longer term, new advanced nuclear generation. Progress Energy is also working to manage business operations amidst challenging economic and regulatory conditions, and positioning the company for future success.

"We are re-doubling our belt-tightening this year: maintaining the dividend, streamlining maintenance, scaling back capital spending and reducing merit and variable-performance pay increases for employees," Johnson wrote. "I am confident we will meet our short-term priorities while also producing long-term value for our customers and shareholders. In other words, we will manage the present and create the future."

To view Progress Energy's combined 2009 annual report and 2010 proxy statement, visit www.progress-energy.com/investor.

Progress Energy (NYSE: PGN), headquartered in Raleigh, N.C., is a Fortune 500 energy company with more than 22,000 megawatts of generation capacity and approximately $10 billion in annual revenues. Progress Energy includes two major electric utilities that serve about 3.1 million customers in the Carolinas and Florida. The company has earned the Edison Electric Institute's Edison Award, the industry's highest honor, in recognition of its operational excellence, and was the first utility to receive the prestigious J.D. Power and Associates Founder's Award for customer service. The company is pursuing a balanced strategy for a secure energy future, which includes aggressive energy-efficiency programs, investments in renewable energy technologies and a state-of-the-art electricity system. Progress Energy celebrated a century of service in 2008. Visit the company's Web site at www.progress-energy.com.

Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Information:

This document contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements, by their very nature, involve assumptions, risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results or outcomes to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date such statement is made, and we undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statement or statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which such statement is made.

SOURCE Progress Energy