Duke Energy

Duke Energy Corporation

Type	Public(NYSE: DUK) S&P 500 Component
Industry	Public Utility
Founded	1904
Headquarters	Charlotte, North Carolina, U.S.
Area served	Duke Energy Ohio: Ohio, Kentucky Duke Energy Indiana: Indiana Duke Energy Carolinas: North Carolina, South Carolina
Key people	James Buchanan Duke Benjamin Newton Duke James E. Rogers (CEO)
Products	Electricity generation, transmission and distribution, natural gas
Revenue	USD $12.74 billion,[1] (as of March 2010)
Operating income	USD $2.967 billion[2] (2006)
Net income	USD $1.863 billion[2] (2006)
Total assets	USD $49.0 billion
Employees	18,109
Website	duke-energy.com

Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK), headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, is an energy company with assets in the United States, Canada and Latin America.

Overview

Based in Charlotte, North Carolina, Duke Energy owns 36,000 megawatts of base-load and peak generation in the United States, which it distributes to its 4 million customers. Duke Energy's service territory covers 47,000 square miles (120,000 km²) with 106,000 miles (171,000 km) of distribution lines.^[3] In addition, Duke Energy has more than 4,000 megawatts of electric generation in Latin America.^[4] It operates eight hydroelectric power plants in Brazil with an installed capacity of 2,307 megawatts.^[5] Almost all of Duke Energy's Midwest generation comes from coal, natural gas, or oil, while half of its Carolinas generation comes from its nuclear power plants. During 2006, Duke Energy generated 148,798,332 megawatt-hours of electrical energy.

Duke Energy Generation Services (DEGS), a subsidiary of Duke Energy, specializes in the development, ownership, and operation of various generation facilities throughout the United States. This segment of the company operates 6,600 megawatts of generation. 240 megawatts of wind generation were under construction and 1,500 additional megawatts of wind generation were in planning stages.^[6] On September 9, 2008, DEGS updated its projections for future wind power capacity. By the end of 2008, it would have over 500 MW of nameplate capacity of wind power online, and an additional 5,000 MW in development.^[7]

History

Duke Energy Center in Charlotte, 2010

The company began in 1900 as the Catawba Power Company when Dr. Walker Gill Wylie and his brother financed the building of a hydroelectric power station at India Hook Shoals along the Catawba River. In need of additional funding to further his ambitious plan for construction of a series of hydroelectric power plants, Wylie convinced James Buchanan Duke to invest in the Southern Power Company, founded in 1905, which later became known as Duke Power.

A 1973 labor dispute between mine workers and Duke Energy was the subject of the documentary Harlan County, USA. The film documents the use of "gun thugs" to intimidate striking workers.

In 1988, Nantahala Power & Light Co., which served southwestern North Carolina, was purchased by Duke and is now operated under the Duke Power - Nantahala Area brand. Duke Power merged with PanEnergy in 1997 to form Duke Energy. The Duke Power name continued as the electric utility business of Duke Energy until the Cinergy merger.

Duke Energy Field Services near Palestine, Texas. The facilities include refineries and oil wells throughout the region.

With the purchase of Cinergy Corporation announced in 2005 and completed on April 3, 2006, Duke Energy Corporation's customer base now includes the Midwestern United States as well. The company operates nuclear power plants, coal-fired plants, conventional hydroelectric plants, natural-gas turbines to handle peak demand, and pumped hydro storage. During 2006, Duke Energy also acquired Chatham, Ontario-based Union Gas, which is regulated under the Ontario Energy Board Act (1998).

On January 3, 2007, Duke Energy spun off its gas business to form Spectra Energy. Duke Energy shareholders received 1 share of Spectra Energy for each 2 shares of Duke Energy. After the spin-off, Duke Energy now receives the majority of its revenue from its electric operations in portions of North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky, Ohio, and Indiana. The spinoff to Spectra also included Union Gas, which Duke Energy acquired the previous year.^{[citation needed]}

On January 10, 2011, Duke Energy announced a merger with Progress Energy Inc with the Duke Energy name being retained along with the Charlotte, North Carolina headquarters.^[8]

Duke Energy has pledged to raise $32 million for the 2012 Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, and has guaranteed a $10 million line of credit for the event.^[9]

New nuclear power plant

Main article: William States Lee III Nuclear Generating Station

On March 16, 2006 Duke Power announced that a Cherokee County, SC site had been selected for a potential new nuclear power plant. The site is jointly owned by Duke Power and Southern Company. Duke plans to develop the site for two Westinghouse Electric Company AP1000 (advanced passive) pressurized water reactors. Each reactor is capable of producing approximately 1,117 megawatts. (See Nuclear Power 2010 Program.)

On December 14, 2007, Duke Power submitted a Combined Construction and Operating License to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, with an announcement that it will spend $160 million in 2008 on the plant with a total cost of 5-6 billion dollars.^[10]

This site will be adjacent to the old site which was never completed and abandoned in the early '80s, and used by James Cameron as a film set for the 1989 movie The Abyss.

Environmental record

In 1999 the United States Environmental Protection Agency commenced an enforcement action against Duke Energy for making modifications to very old and deteriorating coal-burning power plants without getting permits under the Clean Air Act. Duke asserted that a "modification" under the Clean Air Act did not require a permit. Environmental groups asserted that Duke was using loopholes in the law to increase emissions. Initially, Duke prevailed at the trial court level, but in 2006 the case was argued before the Supreme Court (Environmental Defense v. Duke Energy Corp. (05-848)). The Court unanimously ruled on April 2, 2007 that the modifications allowed the power plants to operate for more hours, increasing emissions, so Clean Air Act permits were needed.^[11]

In 2002, researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst identified Duke Energy as the 46th-largest corporate producer of air pollution in the United States, with roughly 36 million pounds of toxic chemicals released annually into the air.^[12] Major pollutants included sulfuric and hydrochloric acid, chromium compounds, and hydrogen fluoride.^[13] The Political Economy Research Institute ranks Duke Energy 13th among corporations emitting airborne pollutants in the United States. The ranking is based on the quantity (80 million pounds in 2005) and toxicity of the emissions.^[14] This change reflects the purchase of fossil fuel-heavy Cinergy which occurred in 2005.

In early 2008, Duke Energy announced a plan to build the new, 800-megawatt Cliffside Unit 6 coal plant 55 miles (89 km) west of Charlotte, North Carolina. The plan has been strongly opposed by environmental groups such as Rising Tide North America, Rainforest Action Network, the community-based Canary Coalition as well as the Southern Environmental Law Center, which has threatened to sue Duke if it does not halt construction plans. On April 1, activists locked themselves to machinery at the Cliffside construction area as part of Fossil Fools Day.

Duke Energy has been "one of the most vocal advocates"^[9] for a "cap-and-trade" system to combat global CO2 emissions,^[15] "and the company's CEO, Jim Rogers, thinks the company will profit from cap-and-trade."^[9] The company left the National Association of Manufacturers in part over differences on climate policy.^[15][16]

In February, 2010 Duke Energy became embroiled in a battle with the Cherokee Indians over its attempts to build an electrical substation on the sacred Kituwah ceremonial mounds. The Cherokee Tribal Council passed a resolution stating, "“It is this Tribe’s solemn responsibility and moral duty to care for and protect all of Kituwah from further desecration and degradation by human agency in order to preserve the integrity of the most important site for the origination and continuation of Cherokee culture, heritage, history and identity.” ^[17] On March 9, 2010 Duke Energy agreed to a 90 day moratorium on construction of the substation.^[18]

In a joint venture with the French based global energy firm AREVA, under the nominal name of ADAGE, Duke Energy has planned a "Green" biomass burning facility in mason County Washington, and is negotiating with forestland owners to secure the 600,000 tons of wood debris it needs yearly to fuel its $250 million biomass plant. The joint venture between electric power company Duke Energy and global nuclear services giant AREVA was created to build wood waste-to-energy power plants around the country.

ADAGE president Reed Wills announced the first Northwest outpost will be in the struggling timber town of Shelton, Washington.

The following pollutants are provided by DUKE-AREVA-ADAGE in their application for permit to the Department of Environmental Protection for a similar type of plant in Florida.

• 247 Tons Per Year – Particulate Matter
• 239 Tons Per Year – Particulate Matter 10
• 233 Tons Per Year – Particulate Matter 2.5
• 249 Tons Per Year – NOx (Nitrogen Oxide)
• 246 Tons Per Year – SO2 (Sulfur Dioxide)
• 248 Tons Per Year – CO (Carbon Monoxide)
• 40 Tons Per Year – H2SO4 – (Sulfuric Acid Mist)
• 63 Tons Per Year – VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds)
• 29 Tons Per Year – F (Fluorides)^[19]

Generating facilities

"Green" (Biomass fired)

• Shelton Biomass Facility (proposed)

Nuclear

• Catawba Nuclear Station
• McGuire Nuclear Station
• Oconee Nuclear Station
• Marble Hill Nuclear Power Plant - Cancelled
• Cherokee Nuclear Power Plant - Abandoned
• William States Lee III Nuclear Generating Station - Future

Coal-fired

• Allen Steam Station
• Belews Creek Steam Station
• Beckjord Power Station
• Buck Steam Station
• Cayuga Station
• Cliffside Steam Station
• Dan River Steam Station
• East Bend Station
• Edwardsport Station
• Gallagher Station
• Gibson Station
• Lee Steam Station
• Marshall Steam Station
• Miami Fort Power Station
• Riverbend Steam Station
• Wabash River Station
• William H. Zimmer Power Station

Hydroelectric

Conventional hydro

• Bridgewater Hydro Station
• Cowans Ford Hydro Station
• Fishing Creek Hydro Station
• Great Falls & Dearborn Hydro Stations
• Keowee Hydro Station
• Lake Wylie Hydro Station
• Lookout Shoals Hydro Station
• Markland Hydro Station
• Mountain Island Hydro Station
• Oxford Hydro Station
• Rhodhiss Hydro Station
• Rocky Creek & Cedar Creek Hydro Stations
• Wateree Hydro Station

Pumped-storage hydro

• Bad Creek Pumped-Storage Generating Station
• Jocassee Pumped-Storage Generating Station

Oil and gas-fired

• Buzzard Roost Station
• Cayuga Combustion Turbine Station
• Connersville Peaking Station
• Henry County Peaking Station
• Lincoln Combustion Turbine Station
• Madison Peaking Station
• Miami-Wabash Peaking Station
• Mill Creek Combustion Turbine Station
• Noblesville Station
• Rockingham Station
• Wabash River Repowering Station
• Wheatland Peaking Station
• Woodsdale Station

Solar Farms

• Davidson County Solar Farm

See also

	North Carolina portal
	Companies portal
	Energy portal

• 2005 Atlantic Power Outage
• KO Transmission, gas pipeline subsidiary
• Harlan County USA - 1976 Academy Award winning documentary film covering the efforts of 180 coal miners on strike against the Duke Power Company in Harlan County, Kentucky in 1973.
• Fixed bill

References

1. ^ http://finance.yahoo.com/q/ks?s=DUK+Key+Statistics
2. ^ ^{a b} DUK - Duke Energy Corporation - Google Finance
3. ^ http://www.duke-energy.com/pdfs/Oct_fact_sheet_rev.pdf
4. ^ "Duke Energy International Announces Sale of Bolivian Power Plant Assets". Duke Energy. http://www.duke-energy.com/news/releases/2007020501.asp. Retrieved 7 September 2010. 
5. ^ "Duke Energy International". CorporateInformation. http://www.corporateinformation.com/Company-Snapshot.aspx?cusip=C076AJ940. Retrieved 7 September 2010. 
6. ^ "Overview - Duke Energy". Duke Energy. http://www.de-gs.com/degs-overview.asp. Retrieved 2008-09-12. 
7. ^ "Duke Energy Expands Wind Business". Duke Energy. 2008-09-09. http://www.duke-energy.com/news/releases/2008090901.asp. Retrieved 2008-09-12. 
8. ^ "Duke Energy, Progress Energy to merge in $26B deal". WRAL-TV. http://www.wral.com/business/story/8907376/. 
9. ^ ^{a b c} Carney, Timothy (2011-03-14) Scandal-plagued nuke power giant underwrites Obama re-elect to the tune of $10 million, Washington Examiner
10. ^ Daily, Matt (December 13, 2007). "UPDATE 1-Duke Energy files to build new nuclear power plant". Reuters. http://www.reuters.com/article/companyNewsAndPR/idUSN1324347520071213. 
11. ^ Coyle, Marcia (2007-04-02). "Court Hands Ruling to EPA". Online NewsHour: Analysis. PBS. http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/law/jan-june07/scotus_04-02.html. Retrieved 2011-01-05. 
12. ^ Political Economy Research Institute Toxic 100 (Study released May 11, 2006) retrieved 15 Aug 2007
13. ^ Toxics Release Inventory courtesy rtknet.org
14. ^ PERI - Political Economy Research Institute: Toxic 100 Index
15. ^ ^{a b} "Duke Energy Quits The Right-Wing National Association Of Manufacturers Over Differences On Climate Policy", ThinkProgress
16. ^ Burke, Jordan (2009-05-08). "Duke Energy to Leave Trade Group Over Climate Policy". Reuters. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=atyJ49Zn3uQU. Retrieved 2011-01-05. 
17. ^ "Tribe opposes Substation at Kituwah Site", Cherokee One Feather, SCOTT MCKIE B.P., accessed 9 Feb 2010
18. ^ "Swain passes Moratorium on Duke Construction", Cherokee One Feather, SCOTT MCKIE B.P., accessed 9 March 2010
19. ^ http://www.thenewstribune.com/2010/02/05/1057583/biomass-facility-planned-in-shelton.html#ixzz0m8oN0Z57

External links

• Duke Energy
• Company History
• Spectra Energy
• Union Gas
• Transcript of Oral Arguments before the Supreme Court, Environmental Defense v. Duke Energy Corp. (05-848)