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Duke Power
Beginning a Second Century of Service

In 2004, Duke Power celebrated its 100th anniversary in a way that honored our heritage – by taking a leading role in advancing economic development in the Carolinas.

Catawba Nuclear Station in York County, S.C., set a new Duke Power reliability record in 2004, and was recognized by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission for safe operations.

In recent years, textiles and other industries that were once the bedrock of the region’s economy have steadily declined. Our competitive electric rates are one way to attract new business. But energy costs are just one aspect of a region’s commercial appeal. Much like our founders, who used electricity to help drive the textile boom early in the 20th century, we are working to strengthen and diversify our economy and expand our customer base by attracting new business and industry to our service territory.

Major accomplishments:

• Duke Power jump-started the economic development engine by bringing more than 500 business, industry, government, nonprofit and academic leaders together for two Carolinas Competitiveness Forums in 2004.
• We are already seeing results from our push to help recruit and retain manufacturing. Major companies like Merck and Dell, and many smaller businesses, have announced plans to locate facilities in Duke Power’s service territory.
• Regulators embraced our plan to share some of the profits from our bulk power marketing sales 50-50 with shareholders and customers. Programs funded by these sharing arrangements help pay energy bills for low-income residents, fund workforce training at community colleges, help reduce industrial rates in North Carolina, and support energy-efficient industrial improvements and local economic development initiatives in South Carolina.
• Duke Power’s generating fleet continues to excel in reliability and efficiency. Catawba Nuclear Station set a new company reliability record in September, operating for 531 continuous days, and Electric Light & Power magazine named Marshall Steam Station the most efficient coal-fired station in the United States.

No amount of business achievement can make up for the tragic loss of three of our contractors in 2004. Ensuring the safety of employees, contractors and customers remains a core Duke Power value, and we are focused intently on both the cultural and process changes needed to reduce avoidable accidents, injury and risk.

Looking ahead, our growth forecasts indicate a need for new base-load generation within the next decade. We are evaluating options to meet that need in ways that are both economical and environmentally sound. We are upgrading a number of our existing coal-fired stations with state-of-the-art environmental equipment, and evaluating emerging clean-coal technologies. The relicensing of our hydroelectric facilities, currently underway, will ensure the continuation of hydropower as an economical and emission-free energy resource, while preserving water quality and recreational access. And to secure the option of future nuclear generation capacity, we are in the initial stages of preparing a combined construction and operating license application for a new, advanced-design nuclear plant.

As Duke Power enters its second century, we continue to build on the fundamentals of customer service, operational performance, safety, responsible citizenship and innovation.

— Ruth Shaw, President and Chief Executive Officer, Duke Power

Profile: One of the largest investor-owned electric utilities in the United States, Duke Power delivers safe, reliable and economically priced electricity to more than 2 million customers in North Carolina and South Carolina.

Operating Data

	2004		2003		2002		2001		2000
Franchised Electric
Sales, gigawatt-hours	82,708		82,828		83,783		79,685		84,766
Nuclear capacity factora	90%		91%		95%		92%		92%
Average number of customers	2,197,000		2,160,000		2,117,000		2,117,000		2,072,000
a Includes 100 percent of Catawba Nuclear Station, which is 12.5 percent owned by Duke Power.