DUKE POWER SEEKS POWER SUPPLIES FROM COMPETITIVE WHOLESALE MARKET

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Duke Power has issued a “Request For Proposals” (RFP) to wholesale power suppliers and power marketers to potentially supply the company with up to 350 megawatts of peaking and intermediate load electricity beginning in 2007 and up to 1,500 megawatts of peaking and intermediate capacity beginning in 2009. The intent of the RFP is to enable Duke Power to evaluate the competitive wholesale power market to help meet its customers’ growing need for electricity.

Peaking power is used during the times of highest electricity demand, generally in the winter and summer months. Intermediate load power is used on a more regular basis to meet electricity demand as it increases throughout the day.

“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 peaking and intermediate electricity in our service territory in North Carolina and South Carolina,” said Ellen Ruff, Duke Power’s group vice president of planning and external relations. 

Duke Power’s diverse portfolio of highly efficient power plants combined with the company’s prudent use of the competitive wholesale power market have played an important role in keeping Duke Power’s rates 21 percent below the national average.

Wholesale electricity suppliers interested in participating in the RFP can do so via Duke Power’s web site at dukepower.com by clicking on the About Us section and selecting Suppliers.

Duke Power, a business unit of Duke Energy, is one of the nation’s largest electric utilities and provides safe, reliable, competitively priced electricity and value-added products and services to more than 2 million customers in North Carolina and South Carolina. The company operates three nuclear generating stations, eight coal-fired stations, 31 hydroelectric stations and numerous combustion turbine units. Total system generating capability is approximately 19,900 megawatts. More information about Duke Power is available on the Internet at: http://www.dukepower.com.

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 the Americas. 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:	Tom Williams
Phone:	980/373-4743
24-Hour Phone:	704/382-8333
e-mail:	tcwillia@duke-energy.com