The approval, in the form of the issuance of a certificate of public convenience and necessity, gives the company’s East Tennessee Natural Gas (ETNG) subsidiary the authorization to construct, own, operate and maintain pipeline and related facilities located along the existing ETNG system in Tennessee and Virginia. The project also will extend the ETNG system into southwest Virginia and northern North Carolina.

“We believe the commission and its staff have thoroughly reviewed the Patriot project and are pleased that the commission has found the project to be in the public interest and convenience,” said Robert B. Evans, president and chief executive officer of Duke Energy Gas Transmission. “The Patriot project will bring natural gas to parts of southwest Virginia for the first time and a new competitive supply source to North Carolina.”

More information on the project can be found at www.patriotextension.com.

ETNG is a unit of Duke Energy Gas Transmission, the Houston-based division of Duke Energy responsible for the company’s North American natural gas pipeline operations. Duke Energy Gas Transmission is a North American leader in developing energy infrastructure and connecting major natural gas supply basins to growing markets. The company’s natural gas operations include more than 18,900 miles of interstate transmission pipeline and 250 billion cubic feet of storage capacity in Canada and the United States. More information about DEGT is available on the Internet at www.degt.duke-energy.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 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.