DUKE ENERGY ANNOUNCES CLOSE OF 25-PERCENT UNDIVIDED INTEREST SALE IN INDIANA FACILITY

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Duke Energy announced it completed the sale last Friday of a 25-percent undivided interest in the Duke Energy Vermillion merchant energy facility to Wabash Valley Power Association Inc., a generation and transmission cooperative headquartered in Indianapolis, Ind. The sale, announced last August, is valued at $44.4 million.

The Vermillion facility is a 640-megawatt, simple-cycle natural gas-fired peaking plant located in Vermillion County, Ind., and has been in operation since June 2000.  Duke Energy will continue to own the remaining 75-percent of the plant.

Duke Energy is a diversified energy company with a portfolio of natural gas and electric businesses, both regulated and unregulated, and an affiliated real estate company. Duke Energy supplies, delivers and processes energy for customers in North America and selected international markets. In 2004, the company celebrates a century of service with the 100th anniversary of its electric utility Duke Power. Headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., Duke Energy 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.

Contact:	Kate Perez
Phone:	713/627-6527, Cell: 713/822-8418
24-Hour Phone:	704/382-8333
e-mail:	kcperez@duke-energy.com