Duke Energy
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| Duke Energy Corporation | |
|---|---|
| Type | Public |
| Founded | 1904 |
| Headquarters | Charlotte, North Carolina, Cincinnati, OH, United States |
| Area served | Duke Energy Ohio: Ohio, Kentucky Duke Energy Indiana: Indiana Duke Energy Carolinas: North Carolina, South Carolina |
| Key people | James Buchanan Duke Benjamin Newton Duke |
| Industry | Public Utility |
| Products | Electricity generation, transmission and distribution, natural gas |
| Revenue | USD $15,184 million[1], (2006) |
| Operating income | USD $2,967 million[2] (2006) |
| Net income | USD $1,863 million[3] (2006) |
| Total assets | USD $49.0 billion |
| Employees | 18,109 |
| Website | Duke Energy |
Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK), headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, is an energy company with assets in the United States, Canada and Latin America.
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[edit] Overview
Duke Energy owns and operates 36,000 megawatts of base-load and peak generation that it distributes to its 4 million customers. Duke Energy's service territory covers 47,000 square miles with 106,000 miles of distribution lines.[4] Almost all of Duke Energy's Midwest generation comes from coal, natural gas or oil, while half of its Carolinas generation comes from its nuclear power plants. During 2006, Duke Energy generated 148,798,332 megawatt-hours of electrical energy.
Duke Energy Generation Services (DEGS), a subsidiary of Duke Energy, specializes in the development, ownership and operation of various generation facilities throughout the United States. This segment of the company operates 6,600 megawatts of generation. 240 megawatts of wind generation are under construction and 1,500 additional megawatts of wind generation are in planning stages.[5]
[edit] History
The company began in 1900 as the Catawba Power Company when Dr. Walker Gill Wylie and his brother financed the building of a hydroelectric power station at India Hook Shoals along the Catawba River. In need of additional funding to further his ambitious plan for construction of a series of hydroelectric power plants, Wylie convinced James Buchanan Duke to invest in the Southern Power Company, founded in 1905, which later became known as Duke Power. In 1988, Nantahala Power & Light Co., which served southwestern North Carolina, was purchased by Duke and is now operated under the Duke Power - Nantahala Area brand. Duke Power merged with PanEnergy in 1997 to form Duke Energy. The Duke Power name continued as the electric utility business of Duke Energy until the Cinergy merger.
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With the purchase of Cinergy Corporation announced in 2005 and completed on April 3, 2006, Duke Energy Corporation's customer base now includes the Midwestern United States as well. The company operates nuclear power plants, coal-fired plants, conventional hydroelectric plants, natural-gas turbines to handle peak demand, and pumped hydro storage. During 2006, Duke Energy also acquired Chatham, Ontario-based Union Gas, which is regulated under the Ontario Energy Board Act (1998).
On January 3, 2007, Duke Energy spun off its gas business to form Spectra Energy. Duke Energy shareholders received 1 share of Spectra Energy for each 2 shares of Duke Energy. After the spin-off, Duke Energy now receives the majority of its revenue from its electric operations in portions of North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky, Ohio, and Indiana. The spinoff to Spectra also included Union Gas, which Duke Energy acquired the previous year.
[edit] New nuclear power plant
On March 16, 2006 Duke Power announced that a Cherokee County, SC site had been selected for a potential new nuclear power plant. The site is jointly owned by Duke Power and Southern Company. Duke plans to develop the site for two Westinghouse Electric Company AP1000 (advanced passive) pressurized water reactors. Each reactor is capable of producing approximately 1,117 megawatts. (See Nuclear Power 2010 Program.)
On Decemember 14, 2007 Duke Power submitted a Combined Construction and Operating License to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, with an announcement that it will spend $160 million in 2008 on the plant with a total cost of 5-6 billion dollars.[6]
This site will be adjacent to the old site which was never completed and abandoned in the early '80s, and used by James Cameron as a film set for the 1989 movie The Abyss.
[edit] Environmental record
In 1999 the United States Environmental Protection Agency commenced an enforcement action against Duke Energy for failure to comply with the Clean Air Act. Duke asserted that EPA regulations under the law were arbitrarily changed over the course of 25 years. Environmental groups assert that Duke is using loopholes in the law to increase emissions. Initially, Duke prevailed at the trial court level, but in 2006 the case was argued before the Supreme Court (Environmental Defense v. Duke Energy Corp. (05-848)). The Court unanimously ruled on April 2, 2007 against Duke Energy in favor of the environmental groups.[7]
In 2002, researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst have identified Duke Energy as the 46th-largest corporate producer of air pollution in the United States, with roughly 36 million pounds of toxic chemicals released annually into the air.[8] Major pollutants indicated by the study include sulfuric and hydrochloric acid, chromium compounds, and hydrogen fluoride.[9] In 2008 Duke Energy rose to the 13th position in the list, more than doubling its release of toxic chemicals to 80 million pounds per year.[10]
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In early 2008, Duke Energy announced plans to build the new, 800-megawatt Cliffside coal plant 55 miles West of Charlotte, North Carolina. The plans have been strongly opposed by various environmental groups such as Rising Tide North America, Rainforest Action Network, the community based Canary Coalition as well as The Southern Environmental Law Center which has threatened to sue them if they do not halt plans for construction. On April 1st, activists locked themselves down to machinery at the Cliffside construction area as part of Fossil Fool's Day. In May 2008, Duke CEO, James Rogers, was grilled by his own shareholders who questioned the company's reliance on coal and involvement with the controversial mountain top removal coal mining in Appalachia.
[edit] Generating facilities
[edit] Nuclear
- Catawba Nuclear Station
- McGuire Nuclear Station
- Oconee Nuclear Station
- Cherokee Nuclear Power Plant - Abandoned
- William States Lee III Nuclear Generating Station - Future
[edit] Coal-fired
- Allen Steam Station
- Belews Creek Steam Station
- Beckjord Power Station
- Buck Steam Station
- Cayuga Station
- Cliffside Steam Station
- Dan River Steam Station
- East Bend Station
- Edwardsport Station
- Gallagher Station
- Gibson Station
- Lee Steam Station
- Marshall Steam Station
- Miami Fort Power Station
- Riverbend Steam Station
- Wabash River Station
- William H. Zimmer Power Station
[edit] Hydroelectric
[edit] Conventional hydro
- Bridgewater Hydro Station
- Cowans Ford Hydro Station
- Fishing Creek Hydro Station
- Great Falls & Dearborn Hydro Stations
- Keowee Hydro Station
- Lake Wylie Hydro Station
- Lookout Shoals Hydro Station
- Markland Hydro Station
- Mountain Island Hydro Station
- Oxford Hydro Station
- Rhodhiss Hydro Station
- Rocky Creek & Cedar Creek Hydro Stations
- Wateree Hydro Station
[edit] Pumped-storage hydro
- Bad Creek Pumped-Storage Generating Station
- Jocassee Pumped-Storage Generating Station
[edit] Oil and gas-fired
- Buzzard Roost Station
- Cayuga Combustion Turbine Station
- Connersville Peaking Station
- Henry County Peaking Station
- Lincoln Combustion Turbine Station
- Madison Peaking Station
- Miami-Wabash Peaking Station
- Mill Creek Combustion Turbine Station
- Noblesville Station
- Rockingham Station
- Wabash River Repowering Station
- Wheatland Peaking Station
- Woodsdale Station
[edit] References
- ^ DUK - Duke Energy Corporation - Google Finance
- ^ DUK - Duke Energy Corporation - Google Finance
- ^ DUK - Duke Energy Corporation - Google Finance
- ^ http://www.duke-energy.com/pdfs/Oct_fact_sheet_rev.pdf
- ^ Overview - Duke Energy
- ^ UPDATE 1-Duke Energy files to build new nuclear power plant | Reuters
- ^ Supreme Court Says EPA Can Regulate Greenhouse Gases
- ^ Political Economy Research Institute Toxic 100 (Study released May 11, 2006) retrieved 15 Aug 2007
- ^ [http://www.rtknet.org/new/tox100/toxic100.php?company1=7418&chemfac=chem&advbasic=bas Toxics Release Inventory courtesy rtknet.org]
- ^ PERI - Political Economy Research Institute: Toxic 100 Index
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Duke Energy
- Company History
- Spectra Energy
- Union Gas
- Transcript of Oral Arguments before the Supreme Court, Environmental Defense v. Duke Energy Corp. (05-848)
