Duke Energy celebrates 10th consecutive year on Dow Jones Sustainability North America Index

CHARLOTTE, NC – Duke Energy has been named to the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) for North America for the 10^th consecutive year.

In the electric utility sector, 17 North American companies were evaluated for the index, and four were selected.

“This honor belongs to our 28,000 employees who serve our customers and communities, and help make Duke Energy a more sustainable company,” said Jennifer Weber, Duke Energy’s executive vice president, external affairs and strategic policy.

Since its launch in1999, the DJSI has tracked the financial performance of corporate sustainability leaders worldwide.

In selecting the top performers in each business sector, the DJSI reviews companies on several general and industry-specific topics related to economic, environmental and social dimensions.

Among them: Corporate governance, environmental policy, climate strategy, human capital development and corporate citizenship.

The index is compiled annually by S&P Dow Jones and Zurich-based RobecoSAM (Sustainable Asset Management). More information is available athttp://www.sustainability-index.com/.

Duke Energy publishes an annual Sustainability Report that summarizes its efforts to advance energy efficiency, develop renewable energy, reduce emissions and more.

The 2014 report is available online at: http://sustainabilityreport.duke-energy.com.

Some of the highlights covered:

• Duke Energy has invested more than $4 billion in wind and solar facilities.
• As part of Duke Energy’s generation fleet modernization program, the company retired about 4,400 megawatts of older coal-fired units. Along with recent and planned coal retirements, that number will grow to nearly 6,300 megawatts of coal capacity retired over the next few years – about a quarter of the company’s earlier coal fleet.
• The company has made substantial progress toward improving coal ash management practices, and implementing a long-term strategy to manage the closure of coal ash basins across the Duke Energy system.
• Duke Energy’s fleet modernization and environmental controls investments have helped reduce sulfur dioxide emissions by 85 percent and nitrogen oxide emissions by 64 percent since 2005.
• The company is on track to meet its goal of owning or purchasing 6,000 megawatts of wind, solar and biomass generation capacity by 2020.

• Since 2006, about 58,000 customers across 96 communities have received energy efficiency improvements through the Residential Neighborhood and Neighborhood Energy Saver programs.
• Duke Energy has distributed nearly 61 million energy-efficient bulbs throughout its service areas. That’s enough energy saved to power nearly 192,000 homes and offset the carbon output of 352,000 passenger cars.

You can follow Duke Energy on social media:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/DukeEnergy

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DukeEnergy

Headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., Duke Energy is a Fortune 250 company traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol DUK. More information about the company is available at http://www.duke-energy.com/.