Business Customers Rank Duke Power Highest in the South and in the Nation in Overall Satisfaction

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Duke Power ranks highest in the South among 52 utilities nationwide in overall customer satisfaction of electric utility business customers according to J.D. Power and Associates 2006 Electric Utility Business Customer Satisfaction Study. Duke Power was also highest in the nation in the study.

The J.D. Power and Associates Electric Utility Business Customer Satisfaction Study is based on interviews with representatives of more than 12,000 U.S. businesses that spend between $500 and $50,000 each month on electricity. Interviews featured utilities which serve more than 50,000 business accounts -- representative of nearly 11 million business customers in the United States.

Six factors comprise overall customer satisfaction in the study:  power quality and reliability, customer service, company image, billing and payment, price and communications.

“We’re honored to be ranked as the nation’s highest for delivering the desired customer experience to small and mid-size business customers, and we’re pleased that our services are providing real value to our customers,” said Sandra Meyer, Duke Power’s group vice president of customer service, sales and marketing. “Today’s announcement validates our pledge to customers to do it right the first time, take ownership and follow through. This recognition is also a testament to the thousands of customer service employees, line technicians, business account managers and other employees who have worked tirelessly to provide our customers with superior customer service.”

Duke Power has a long tradition of serving customers well, but has enhanced its focus and efforts in recent years. In addition to having a dedicated Small Business Center (1-877/385-3722) to serve business customers, Duke Power has: 

• increased its focus on economic development in the Carolinas, which is contributing to new jobs in the service area;
• created collaborative approaches to helping businesses solve challenges and increase profitability; and
• enhanced MyDukePower.com, a personalized on-line site for business customers that brings together a suite of energy-related tools, resources and services to help customers manage business energy needs.

In 2005, Duke Power was recognized with several customer service awards, including:

• ranked highest in the southern United States for residential customer electric service according to J.D. Power and Associates 2005 Electric Utility Residential Customer Satisfaction Study  
• ranked first in the Southeast and third in the United States in the 2005 Key Account National Benchmark Survey for large manufacturing and institutional customer satisfaction 
• certified for call center excellence by J.D. Power and Associates for providing “An Outstanding Customer Service Experience”
• named one of the “Top 10 Utility Companies of the Year” by Site Selection magazine for economic development.

For more details about the 2006 Electric Utility Business Customer Satisfaction Study, visit www.jdpower.com.

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:	Marilyn Lineberger
Phone:	704/382-6848
24-Hour Phone:	704/382-8333, option 1
e-mail:	mmlinebe@duke-energy.com