“The RFP process allows Duke Power to evaluate if regional power plants or power marketers can provide economic solutions that meet the increasing demand for electricity in our service territory in North Carolina and South Carolina,” said Ellen Ruff, Duke Power’s senior vice president of asset management. “In recent years, Duke Power has evaluated whether to secure power on the competitive wholesale market or build our own power plants. Having a variety of choices ultimately helps to ensure that we can meet our customers’ demand for electricity as economically as possible.”

Duke Power’s nuclear power plants had a capacity factor of 95.2 percent in 2002, and the company’s coal-fueled plants were commercially available 98 percent of the time in 2002. These results combined with the company’s prudent use of the competitive wholesale power market have played an important role in keeping Duke Power’s rates at 1986 levels.   

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 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.