CHARLOTTE, N.C., May 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/

Duke Energy Carolinas today announced it will purchase the entire electricity output of the nation's largest photovoltaic solar farm to be built in Davidson County, N.C., north of Charlotte.

Under agreements signed with SunEdison, customers of Duke Energy Carolinas are expected to receive more than 16 megawatts of power from the solar farm beginning no later than Dec. 31, 2010. The agreements run for 20 years.

"We said we wanted to lead the way in the development of more renewable energy and we meant it," said Keith Trent, group executive and chief strategy, policy and regulatory officer. "Today's agreements, coupled with the other significant initiatives across our company, clearly demonstrate that renewable energy has an important place in our power generation portfolio."

The SunEdison agreements are a result of a request for proposals, or RFP, that Duke Energy issued in April 2007. It was the first RFP of its kind in North Carolina and was specifically designed for potential renewable providers.

In addition to purchasing renewable energy from other providers, Duke Energy is advancing plans for its own distributed solar generation program. Distributed generation is energy created close to where it is used, rather than being produced in large power plants and sent to customers over the power grid. The company plans a filing with the North Carolina Utilities Commission in the near future that will seek approval for the program, and the authority to recover its investment. Under the plan, Duke Energy would install and operate distributed solar generation on customer rooftops and other spaces.

Duke Energy is also adding wind power to its generation portfolio. In April 2008, a wind farm in Indiana began supplying 100 megawatts of power to Duke Energy customers. In 2007, Duke Energy Generation Services entered the wind energy business and expects to have its first projects (about 180 megawatts) online later this year. Other wind development projects of more than 3,000 megawatts are planned in eight different western and southwestern states.

In 2007, Duke Energy supported the development of the new Renewable and Energy Efficiency Portfolio Standard (REPS) in North Carolina. It requires the utility to satisfy 12.5 percent of its customers' power needs with renewables or energy efficiency by 2021. Specific solar requirements are implemented in 2010. By 2018, at least two-tenths of one percent of total retail sales must come from solar energy. In Ohio, the company also supported that state's new advanced energy portfolio standard, which sets a requirement of 12.5 percent of a utility's sales to be met with renewable energy sources by 2025.

Broader use of renewable energy is part of Duke Energy's comprehensive plan to create a sustainable energy future for the Carolinas while the company continues to work to reduce its environmental footprint. The plan includes building new power plants; robust energy efficiency programs to reduce demand; and supporting state and federal energy policies that encourage the development of new technology. Together, these initiatives will allow Duke Energy to continue to meet customers' need for power in an environmentally sound way.

Duke Energy's Carolinas' operations include nuclear, coal-fired, natural gas and hydroelectric generation. That diverse fuel mix provides nearly 21,000 megawatts of safe, reliable and competitively priced electricity to more than 2.3 million electric customers in a 24,000-square-mile service area of North Carolina and South Carolina.

Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK), one of the largest electric power companies in the United States, supplies and delivers electricity to approximately 4 million U.S. customers in its regulated jurisdictions. The company has approximately 35,000 megawatts of electric generating capacity in the Midwest and the Carolinas, and natural gas distribution services in Ohio and Kentucky. In addition, Duke Energy has more than 4,000 megawatts of electric generation in Latin America, and is a joint-venture partner in a U.S. real estate company. 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.

Sun Edison LLC is North America's largest solar energy services provider and operates across a global marketplace. SunEdison provides solar-generated energy at or below current retail rates to a broad and diverse client base of commercial, municipal and utility customers. For more information about SunEdison, please visit www.sunedison.com.

SunEdison Photovoltaic Solar Power Farm

Fact Sheet

Aggregate Capacity: 18 MW (AC), or 21.5 MW (DC), is the nameplate

combined size of facilities making up the PV Solar

Farm.

The expected capacity delivered to Duke Energy

customers is 16.1 MW (AC).

Total Output: 16.1 MW of photovoltaic (PV) solar capacity produces

approximately 28,210,000 kilowatt hours (kWh) in its

first year, the equivalent of powering 2,647 homes

for one year.

Over 20 years, 16.1 MW of PV solar capacity will

produce an estimated 513,685,000 kWh, the equivalent

of powering 48,206 homes for one year.

Characteristics: Solar PV power plants are independent of fossil fuel

use, use little to no water in operation, and

produce no noise.

Photovoltaic, literally 'Photo' (light) and

'voltaic' (electricity), means the use of sunlight

(photons) to generate electricity. Most solar

photovoltaic systems use solar panels to create

solar electricity. Photons from sunlight elevate

electrons into a higher state of energy, creating

electricity.

Location: Davidson County, North Carolina

Project Timeline: The PV solar farm will consist of 36 individual

solar PV facilities, located at a single site

Construction is anticipated to start early 3rd

Quarter, 2009

Targeted commercial operation date is December 31,

2010

Capital Costs: Zero. Under this project, Duke Energy pays no

upfront capital costs.

SunEdison will develop, finance, build, operate,

monitor and maintain the clean solar power plant

under a solar power services agreement (SPSA) with

Duke Energy. There are no up-front capital costs to

Duke Energy or rate payers.

Environmental Impact: In one full year of production, 16.1 MW of PV solar

power offsets 32,328,660 lbs of C02. This is the

equivalent of taking 3,168 cars off the road for one

year.

Over 20 years, the project would offset 598,026,392

lbs of C02, which is the equal to taking 58,607 cars

off the road for one year.

CONTACT: Paige Sheehan

Phone: 704-382-6982

24-Hour: 704-382-8333

SOURCE Duke Energy

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