- Carbon emissions from electric generation are down 48% from
2005 levels
- Since 2022, helped customers access nearly $377 million in financial support
CHARLOTTE, N.C., April 24,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK)
today released its 2023 Impact Report, its 18th annual accounting
of its progress toward its sustainable business goals. This year's
report includes highlights from its 2050 clean energy transition
strategy, which strives to deliver industry-leading reliability,
competitive rates for customers, and accelerated infrastructure and
economic development to meet the growing needs of its more than 8
million customers.
Examples highlighted include the many ways in which Duke Energy
offers customers options for controlling their energy use, as well
as the assistance it provides to its customers in need. Over the
past two years, the company has helped customers access nearly
$377 million in financial support
through a dedicated agency team of customer advocates. It also has
made investments in its grid that has resulted in more reliable
service to its customers. In 2023, smart, self-healing grid
technologies helped Duke Energy's customers avoid more than 1.5
million power outages, saving approximately 3.5 million hours of
total outage time.
In pursuing its clean energy transition strategy, Duke Energy
works alongside its stakeholders as it drives toward delivering a
cleaner, more diverse mix of energy sources while accounting for
the significant engineering, environmental and social
considerations embedded in such a transformation, one of the
country's largest in the utility sector.
"As the company executes its clean energy transition, it is
assembling a sophisticated puzzle," said Katherine Neebe, Duke Energy's chief
sustainability officer. "Each piece – energy generation and
storage, grid modernization, supporting communities and working
with various stakeholders, multiskilling employees and reducing
carbon emissions – is essential. It's about finding the perfect fit
for each piece to create a final picture that reveals a landscape
of sustainable and interconnected solutions."
Other report highlights and insights include:
- Duke Energy continues to decarbonize to meet its climate goals.
The company's carbon emissions from electric generation are down
48% since 2005 and it is on track to meet its interim 50% carbon
emission reduction target by 2030. The path to net-zero is not
linear. Duke Energy anticipates some fluctuations in its carbon
emissions in the short term as coal is retired and other forms of
generation are brought online.
- The company is leading the industry with net-zero goals that
address 95% of the company's Scope 1, 2 and certain Scope 3
calculated greenhouse gas footprint.
- The company continues to decarbonize its natural gas business
unit with a focus on methane detection and reduction of emissions
related to the gas it purchases as well as the downstream carbon
emissions related to its customers' consumption of the gas it
sells. Duke Energy is also investing in renewable natural gas as an
important tool to tackle greenhouse gas emissions.
- Duke Energy advocates for policies that reduce the customer
rate impacts of investments in clean energy infrastructure as well
as support the energy transition, such as the Infrastructure
Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and federal energy tax credits like
those included in the Inflation Reduction Act.
- Duke Energy submitted 15 IIJA-funded applications to reduce the
cost of developing and deploying clean energy technologies and grid
improvements in an effort to maintain customer affordability.
- The company's economic development team, working with state and
local authorities, helped attract 15,000 new jobs and $22 billion in capital investment.
- Environmental justice is critical to engaging communities in
the clean energy transition and the company is evolving this work
by putting its principles in action. In addition, the team
completed over 100 initial environmental justice assessments as
part of a holistic approach to project development and execution as
well as the development of statewide and regional environmental
justice advisory councils across North
Carolina.
- As the energy sector transitions, the company is working to
ensure its workforce and others in the industry are set up for
long-term success. As part of this commitment, a team worked
collaboratively with various groups to develop a first-of-its-kind
just transition approach resource as a guide for successful
engagement. Transparency and communication will help the company
achieve the most equitable solutions. In 2023, the company and its
Foundation provided $120,000 in
employee-led giving to benefit coal plant communities.
- Inclusive actions drive business outcomes to create a workplace
where everyone thrives. To deliver reliable products and services
that meet community needs, the company depends on a skilled and
diverse workforce and continually evolves its hiring practices to
attract qualified professionals.
How the company mitigates the risks associated with its
business, while at the same time creating value for its employees,
customers and communities, is foundational to creating lasting
impact. It takes time to work through all of the complexities of
the clean energy transition, and the company is focused on these
opportunities every day.
Duke Energy
Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK), a Fortune 150 company headquartered in
Charlotte, N.C., is one of
America's largest energy holding companies.
The company's electric utilities serve 8.4 million customers in
North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Indiana, Ohio
and Kentucky, and collectively own
approximately 54,800 megawatts of energy capacity. Its natural gas
utilities serve 1.7 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Ohio and Kentucky.
Duke Energy is executing an ambitious clean energy transition,
keeping reliability, affordability and accessibility at the
forefront as the company works toward net-zero methane emissions
from its natural gas business by 2030 and net-zero carbon emissions
from electricity generation by 2050. The company is investing in
major electric grid upgrades and cleaner generation, including
expanded energy storage, renewables, natural gas and nuclear.
More information is available
at duke- energy.com and the Duke Energy News
Center. Follow Duke Energy
on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook,
and visit illumination for stories about the people and
innovations powering our energy transition.
Contact: Shawna Berger
24-Hour: 800.559.3853
Twitter: @DE_ShawnaB
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SOURCE Duke Energy