Duke Energy 2010 Annual Report Download - page 11

DUKE ENERGY’S COMMERCIAL BUSINESSES
Our Commercial Power and International business segments contributed around
$900 million or approximately 23 percent of our total adjusted segment EBIT
(earnings before interest and taxes) in 2010. We executed on our strategies in each
of our Commercial Businesses:
■INTERNATIONAL: Our international business, consisting mostly of hydroelectric generation
plants in Brazil and a combination of hydro and fossil generation in Peru and other
Latin American countries, has provided consistent earnings growth. Favorable pricing
and exchange rates helped drive an approximate 20 percent increase in adjusted
segment earnings in 2010.
■MIDWEST GENERATION: Our Ohio generation teams achieved record safety and production
results in 2010. Financial results were boosted by Duke Energy Retail, our competitive
retail business in Ohio, which grew from a cold start in spring 2009 to a company
with 17 employees and more than 100,000 customers. Duke Energy Retail serves
approximately 60 percent of the switched load from Duke Energy Ohio as well as
customers from outside our Ohio franchise territory. This is an outstanding achievement
and demonstrates our team’s hard work and diligent execution to retain margin in the
competitive Ohio environment.
■RENEWABLE ENERGY: Duke Energy now has more than 1,000 MW of commercial
renewable energy on line, with two major projects — the Top of the World Windpower
Project in Wyoming and the Kit Carson Windpower Project in Colorado — completed
and in service at the end of 2010. Long-term power purchase agreements support
both projects. Our commercial solar business also grew in 2010. We added the Blue
Wing Solar Project in Texas, a 14-MW installation, complete with a 30-year power
purchase agreement.
A CULTURE OF SAFETY
A culture of “safety first” is foremost in everything we do as a company.
A safe company helps drive productivity and efficiency.
In 2010, Duke Energy achieved its best ever employee safety
performance, measured by our total incident case rate, which improved
10 percent from 2009. Specifically, our regulated fossil/hydro fleet
reduced its safety incidents in 2010 by approximately 25 percent; our
Midwest generation fleet and our International operations reduced their
safety incidents, by half and by 75 percent, respectively. Each of these
fleets set all-time historic safety records for employees.
The 3R program in our U.S. fossil/hydro generation plants is one
example of how we continually strengthen our safety culture. The Rs
stand for Reduce risk, Remove exposures to hazards and Reinforce safe
behavior. Introduced in 2010, the program encourages and rewards
employees and contractors for reporting potential hazards. Anyone at a plant can
record problems they observe and recommend corrective action or initiate a work order
to address the issue. This simple checklist has improved safety across our plants.
Another example is the “Fresh Eyes” concept at our Ohio plants. Two workers started
the program with a common sense premise: It’s easier to see safety violations at other
plants than it is to see problems in the plants where we work. Simple and cost-effective,
this program gives employees the option of visiting plants that are not their own to inspect
for potential safety issues. They offer a “fresh eyes” perspective. This program drove more
than 200 safety improvements in 2010, and inspired many of our partners at jointly-
owned facilities to embrace the program as well.
Duke Energy’s Gina Whittle,
Ron Gill and Donald Dickinson
(from left to right) taking a
“fresh eyes” look at practices in
our W.M. Zimmer coal station
in Ohio.
DUKE ENERGY CORPORATION / 2010 ANNUAL REPORT
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