May 8--Duke Energy filed an ambitious energy conservation plan Monday to cut electricity demand, reduce greenhouse gases and still allow the Charlotte utility to turn a profit.

The plan represents a turnaround for the company and chief executive Jim Rogers, who only months ago relegated energy efficiency to a smaller role. Under the proposal, customers would pay extra on their monthly bill for new programs created by the utility, including incentives to buy energy-efficient appliances. The amount of the fee hasn't been determined. The aggressive action, which state regulators would have to approve, is another example of a major corporation in an unlikely collaboration with environmentalists to address global warming in a way shareholders can tolerate. As a result, the utility would build fewer power plants and continue mothballing its older, dirtier coal-fired operations.

Duke is pledging to shut down a megawatt of coal-fired production for every megawatt saved through the efficiency programs -- up t 800 megawatts, or typically enough to power about 500,000 homes. After four years, Duke hopes to reduce demand by up to 1,700 megawatts. Coal-fired plants are unpopular with environmentalists because they emit harmful greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, which are blamed for global warming. North Carolina is far behind the country in spending on energy efficiency programs because its electricity rates are about 20 percent below the national average. Consumers do not have a financial incentive to save.

The American Council for an Energy eff cient Economy in 2006 found the state ranks 46th in spending on the programs. In its earlier long-range planning, Duke allowed for only about 200 megawatts a year in power savings from energy efficiency. Other utilities in states including California also rely on energy-efficiency programs. But in those states, conservation-minded customers are often rewarded with a lower power bill. But Duke's plan could mean higher rates. That's because it's asking the N.C. Utilities Commission to let it recoup some of the lost profits from selling less electricity. Duke says the unusual arrangement makes sense for North Carolina, where rates aver ge about 7 cents per kilowatt hour, compared with California's 15 cents.

Under the plan, however, customers could wind up saving more than the extra cost Duke could add to bills, said Ted Schultz, the company's vice president of Energy Efficiency. "That's the real trick," he said. "It really depends on your level of participation. Your bill could be lower than it was today." Energy efficiency programs have been a goal of environmentalists who have opposed Duke's efforts to build new coal-fired plants at its Cliffside power plant, about 55 miles west or Charlotte. Duke had wanted two 800-megawatt units, but state regulators approved only one. Duke said it is still mulling whether to build.

Environmentalists also are pushing for renewable energy, such as wind and solar, to play a larger role in Duke's plans to provide power to the growing state and Charlotte region, where the utility adds 50,000 new customers a year. For Duke CEO Rogers, an epiphany came after a Feb. 22 dinner in Raleigh. A few months after he vigorously defended the $3 billion Cliffside project in commission testimony, he invited 14 environmentalists to dinner. He said he asked them what he should do as chief executive of the largest utility in the state. Each insisted Duke give renewable energy sources and energy efficiency programs a much larger role.

They talked and debated the issue. At the same time, Rogers was serving as co-chairman of the National Action Plan for Energy Efficiency, an Environmental Protection Agency panel, he said. It was serendipity, he said in an interview Monday. Duke last month called for bids to buy electricity from companies that use wind, sun and other renewable energy sources. And Monday it submitted its efficiency plan. "It opened up my eyes," Rogers said of his dinner. "I did see both sides of it. I guess I became increasingly aware of what could be done." Ways to Save Duke Energy's plan to save waves of power over the next four years includes: --Offering customers "financial incentives" to buy energy efficient appliances.

--An $8 a month savings in exchange for intermittently turning off customers' air conditioning and possibly other energy-hungry appliances, such as pool pumps. --In-home energy audit for ways to save energy. --Coupons and other incentives to use energy efficient fluorescent bulbs. ------ ------