Duke Energy 2010 Annual Report Download - page 7

LETTER TO STAKEHOLDERS (CONTINUED)
stakeholders — our customers, investors, employees, and the communities in which we
work and live. Integration planning has begun so that we can ensure a smooth transition
and increase productivity gains in all aspects of our business.
At the same time, we will continue to focus on execution of our 2011 financial
and operational objectives as a stand-alone company.
RELIABLE PERFORMANCE
Our fleet and grid performed admirably in 2010. Confronted with record-breaking
temperatures — both winter and summer — Duke’s operating teams met the challenge
of high load requirements. For example, the regulated fossil generation fleet had commercial
availability of approximately 88.7 percent. The company’s nonregulated Midwest generation
fleet also met customers’ needs while establishing record highs for total generation.
Industry data show that our nuclear fleet is among the most reliable in the nation
at delivering low-cost baseload power. During 2010, our nuclear capacity factor was
approximately 95.9 percent, which eclipsed the company’s previous annual record of
approximately 95.2 percent in 2002.
Additionally, in 2010 Duke Energy’s Oconee Nuclear Station became the nation’s
first nuclear plant to receive Nuclear Regulatory Commission approval to transition from
an analog to a digital plant safety system. Upgrading these systems will help prevent
unnecessary shutdowns and result in more reliable and simplified operations. The digital
upgrade for all three Oconee units will be complete by 2013.
Strong productivity, operational performance and efficiency are good for our customers
and communities. Investors also benefit when we reduce costs and increase profitability.
Duke Energy does business in a way that is good for
people, the planet and profits. Our strategy was affirmed
in 2010, as Duke Energy earned a place on the Dow
Jones Sustainability World Index. We were one of only
15 electric utilities around the globe to be named to this
elite index. Duke Energy also earned a place on the Dow
Jones Sustainability North America Index for the fifth year
in a row. You can read about our sustainability plan on
Page 6 of this report. Our 2010|2011 Sustainability Report,
available at www.duke-energy.com, has more details.
INVESTING FOR OUR FUTURE:
MODERNIZATION STRATEGY
Duke Energy is making decisions today for future energy
investments. These decisions are critical to our mission
to deliver affordable, reliable and clean energy. Power
plants take years to permit and construct and require
enormous amounts of capital to be invested over several
years. We recover these investments through customer
rates over the 30- to 40-year operating lives of our
baseload power plants.
Our customers enjoy reliable power today because of
investment decisions made many decades ago. In the Carolinas, for example, Duke Energy
has not built any new baseload generating plants since 1986. Over the past decade, we
have invested roughly $5 billion to significantly reduce sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide
emissions. And, we anticipate more stringent environmental regulations to come. As a
FLEET MODERNIZATION THROUGH 2020
(capacity in megawatts)
Carolinas Modernization Indiana Modernization
2,500
2,000
1,500
1,000
500
0 Additions Retirements Additions Retirements
Cliffside Unit 6
Buck and Dan River Gas Plants
Cliffside Retirement
Commitments
Other Planned Retirements
Edwardsport
Wabash River
Legacy Edwardsport
Remaining units to be
evaluated for retirement/
controls
DUKE ENERGY CORPORATION / 2010 ANNUAL REPORT
5