Duke Energy's annual Impact Report shares progress toward a cleaner tomorrow that includes affordability and reliability (2024)

Carbon emissions from electric generation are down 48% from2005 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 accountingof its progress toward its sustainable business goals. This year'sreport includes highlights from its 2050 clean energy transitionstrategy, which strives to deliver industry-leading reliability,competitive rates for customers, and accelerated infrastructure andeconomic development to meet the growing needs of its more than 8million customers.

Examples highlighted include the many ways in which Duke Energyoffers customers options for controlling their energy use, as wellas the assistance it provides to its customers in need. Over thepast two years, the company has helped customers access nearly$377 million in financial supportthrough a dedicated agency team of customer advocates. It also hasmade investments in its grid that has resulted in more reliableservice to its customers. In 2023, smart, self-healing gridtechnologies helped Duke Energy's customers avoid more than 1.5million power outages, saving approximately 3.5 million hours oftotal outage time.

In pursuing its clean energy transition strategy, Duke Energyworks alongside its stakeholders as it drives toward delivering acleaner, more diverse mix of energy sources while accounting forthe significant engineering, environmental and socialconsiderations embedded in such a transformation, one of thecountry's largest in the utility sector.

"As the company executes its clean energy transition, it isassembling a sophisticated puzzle," said Katherine Neebe, Duke Energy's chiefsustainability officer. "Each piece – energy generation andstorage, grid modernization, supporting communities and workingwith various stakeholders, multiskilling employees and reducingcarbon emissions – is essential. It's about finding the perfect fitfor each piece to create a final picture that reveals a landscapeof 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 down48% since 2005 and it is on track to meet its interim 50% carbonemission reduction target by 2030. The path to net-zero is notlinear. Duke Energy anticipates some fluctuations in its carbonemissions in the short term as coal is retired and other forms ofgeneration are brought online.
The company is leading the industry with net-zero goals thataddress 95% of the company's Scope 1, 2 and certain Scope 3calculated greenhouse gas footprint.
The company continues to decarbonize its natural gas businessunit with a focus on methane detection and reduction of emissionsrelated to the gas it purchases as well as the downstream carbonemissions related to its customers' consumption of the gas itsells. Duke Energy is also investing in renewable natural gas as animportant tool to tackle greenhouse gas emissions.
Duke Energy advocates for policies that reduce the customerrate impacts of investments in clean energy infrastructure as wellas support the energy transition, such as the InfrastructureInvestment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and federal energy tax credits likethose included in the Inflation Reduction Act.
Duke Energy submitted 15 IIJA-funded applications to reduce thecost of developing and deploying clean energy technologies and gridimprovements in an effort to maintain customer affordability.
The company's economic development team, working with state andlocal authorities, helped attract 15,000 new jobs and $22 billion in capital investment.
Environmental justice is critical to engaging communities inthe clean energy transition and the company is evolving this workby putting its principles in action. In addition, the teamcompleted over 100 initial environmental justice assessments aspart of a holistic approach to project development and execution aswell as the development of statewide and regional environmentaljustice advisory councils across NorthCarolina.
As the energy sector transitions, the company is working toensure its workforce and others in the industry are set up forlong-term success. As part of this commitment, a team workedcollaboratively with various groups to develop a first-of-its-kindjust transition approach resource as a guide for successfulengagement. Transparency and communication will help the companyachieve the most equitable solutions. In 2023, the company and itsFoundation provided $120,000 inemployee-led giving to benefit coal plant communities.
Inclusive actions drive business outcomes to create a workplacewhere everyone thrives. To deliver reliable products and servicesthat meet community needs, the company depends on a skilled anddiverse workforce and continually evolves its hiring practices toattract qualified professionals.

How the company mitigates the risks associated with itsbusiness, while at the same time creating value for its employees,customers and communities, is foundational to creating lastingimpact. It takes time to work through all of the complexities ofthe clean energy transition, and the company is focused on theseopportunities every day.

Duke Energy