In its ninth year, the annual Key Accounts National Benchmark survey measures customer satisfaction levels in the areas of energy efficiency, reliability, power quality, price and account representative performance.

“This is a superb tribute to Duke Power employees and to their passion for delivering reliable, affordable power to our customers,” said Duke Power President Bill Coley. “Receiving the highest score in the nation is rewarding, but its true importance lies in what it represents -- it shows that we’ve listened to what our customers say and have used their input to improve our service.”

Although Duke Power has consistently ranked above the national average in previous TQS surveys, this is the first time the company has ranked number one.

“Duke Power did an excellent job using previous survey results to identify areas needing improvement,” said TQS Research President Joe Ellis. “They implemented processes to address the key business issues identified in the research and, for their efforts, they achieved the highest overall satisfaction score this year.”

Duke Power has consistently scored well in industry customer satisfaction surveys.  The company has ranked either one or two on the American Customer Satisfaction Index in the “Utilities -- Electric Service Industry” category since 1994.

  Duke Power, a business unit of Duke Energy, is one of the nation’s largest electric utilities and provides safe, reliable, competitively priced electricity to approximately two million customers in North Carolina and South Carolina. Duke Power operates three nuclear generating stations, eight coal-fired stations, 31 hydroelectric stations and numerous combustion turbine units. Total system generating capability is approximately 19,300 megawatts. More information about Duke Power is available on the Internet at: www.dukepower.com.

Duke Energy is a diversified multinational energy company with an integrated network of energy assets and expertise. The company manages a dynamic portfolio of natural gas and electric supply, delivery and trading businesses – meeting the energy needs of customers throughout North America and in key markets around the world. Duke Energy, headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., is a Fortune 100 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.