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"We are pleased to have come to an agreement with leaders in South Carolina's Department of Health & Environmental Control to further reduce nitrogen oxide emissions at Lee Steam Station," said Ellen Ruff, group vice president of power policy and planning at Duke Power. "The new controls are expected to cost about $7.2 million and follow an earlier investment of $6.2 million in 2001 to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions at the plant. When the new projects are completed by mid-2006, we will have reduced nitrogen oxide emissions at Lee Steam Station by 60 percent since 1997."

Duke Power's Lee Steam Station has a generating capacity of 370 megawatts and is the only coal power plant the company operates in South Carolina. At full capacity the plant can provide electricity to approximately 370,000 homes.

Duke Power's Emission Reductions in North Carolina

Duke Power will be investing $1.5 billion to reduce nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide emissions at its seven coal plants in North Carolina to comply with the state's "Clean Smokestacks" legislation, which was signed into law in June 2002 with Duke Power's full support.

The partnership between Duke Power, environmental organizations and state regulators and elected officials was honored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with its Clean Air Excellence Award in March 2004. The series of construction projects Duke Power will undertake to comply with the legislation represents the largest capital project in North Carolina over the next decade.

Duke Power, a business unit of Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK), 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. In 2004, Duke Power celebrates 100 years of service. 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 North America and selected international markets. 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 . SOURCE Duke Energy