DUKE ENERGY SELLS NEW MEXICO FACILITY

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Duke Energy has sold its Luna merchant project to PNM Resources, Tucson Electric Power and Phelps Dodge Corporation for $40 million. Total sale proceeds and tax benefits for this transaction will be approximately $125 million.

The sale includes the partially completed 570-megawatt, combined-cycle generating facility located near Deming, N.M., that is currently in a construction deferral. Duke Energy has one other facility in a deferred construction status, Grays Harbor in Washington state.

“With the sale of the Luna project, we are continuing to deliver on our plan to divest our partially completed merchant facilities, further reducing our exposure in the merchant sector,” said Fred Fowler, president and chief operating officer of Duke Energy.

This year, Duke Energy has announced or closed asset sales that will provide the company with approximately $3.1 billion in proceeds including $750 million in tax benefits, and $840 million in debt reductions, significantly exceeding its 2004 divestiture target. 

A reconciliation of any non-GAAP measures in this release to the most directly comparable GAAP measures is available on our investor relations Web site at: http://www.duke-energy.com/investors/publications/gaap/.

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: http://www.duke-energy.com.

Contact:	Pat Mullen
Phone:	805/595-5597
24-Hour Phone:	704/382-8333
e-mail:	pwmullen@duke-energy.com