Duke Energy Asks Carolinas Customers to Help Save Power

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Weather forecasts across the Carolinas are calling for high temperatures near 100 degrees, with heat indexes expected to reach well over the century mark. In the face of such extreme conditions and the possibility of record energy use in our area, Duke Energy is again asking customers to help save power.

During a heat wave in mid-July, the company issued a similar request for voluntary energy conservation and the customer response was significant. Small actions by thousands of people resulted in lower than expected demand for power which helped Duke Energy ensure there was sufficient electricity to meet all customers’ critical needs. The company is asking customers to help again.

Energy conservation is a great way to reduce power bills anytime, but it’s particularly important when demand for energy is so high. Below are some of the steps customers can take:

• If it doesn’t interfere with the health or safety of the occupants, raise the setting on, or turn off, room and central air conditioners. Where possible, use fans: air that is circulating, even warm air, is more comfortable than still air.
• Avoid using appliances such as dishwashers, clothes washers and dryers until the evening hours, when the temperature begins to drop. 
• If possible, avoid preparing hot meals in the kitchen during the day. Cooking adds heat to the house, which increases the discomfort level and makes air conditioners work harder.
• Close curtains, drapes or blinds during the day to reduce heat buildup.
• Use lighting sparingly. Bulbs, particularly incandescent bulbs, produce heat.

More information on energy conservation and efficiency is available on our web site at www.duke-energy.com.

Demand for power continues to grow in the Carolinas. Duke Energy typically adds 40,000 to 60,000 new customers each year. One of the company’s top priorities is to determine the most efficient and environmentally sound way to meet our customers’ growing demand for electricity over the next 10 to 15 years. That’s why we are considering several options:

• Constructing a nuclear power plant in the Carolinas
• Constructing a modern and state-of-the-art pulverized coal-fired plant and retiring older, less efficient coal units in the Carolinas
• Pursuing additional energy efficiency and conservation measures to reduce our customers’ demand for electricity
• Pursuing renewable power plant technologies.

For more information about Duke Energy’s efforts to serve customers’ growing power demand, see the Web site Duke-Energy.com/newgeneration.

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. Duke Energy’s Carolinas operations deliver safe, reliable and competitively priced electricity to more than 2.2 million electric customers in a 22,000 square mile service area of North Carolina and South Carolina. A diverse fuel mix of nuclear, coal-fired, hydroelectric and combustion-turbine generation provides approximately 19,900 megawatts of regulated generating capacity. 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.

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