Cliffside Steam Station renamed the James E. Rogers Energy Complex

CHARLOTTE, N.C., Dec. 3, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK) today renamed its Cliffside Steam Station the James E. Rogers Energy Complex.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130322/CL81938LOGO )

Rogers has been chairman, president and CEO of the corporation since its merger with Cinergy in 2006. He stepped down as president and CEO in July, and will leave the board at the end of December.

"Naming our Cliffside site after Jim Rogers is a worthy tribute," said Lynn Good, Duke Energy president and CEO. "Jim has served with distinction the last 25 years as a CEO at Duke Energy or one of its predecessor companies. Unit 6 is one of the cleanest and most efficient coal units in the world, and he played a key role in making the plant a reality." 

Rogers was an outspoken advocate for the modernization project over the course of the permitting and construction of the state-of-the-art, 825-megawatt unit from 2008 to 2012. He decided to retire 1,000 megawatts of older and higher emitting coal units across the Duke Energy Carolinas fleet as a key part of the project, including the four oldest units on the Cliffside site. He also spent countless hours advocating for the project with regulators and other interested groups. 

"I'm honored to have my name associated with this project and those who brought this remarkable power plant and emissions control technology online," Rogers said. "My goal has always been to reduce Duke Energy's emissions footprint without jeopardizing our ability to efficiently meet our customers' power demand, and this project accomplishes that goal."

Located in Mooresboro, N.C., unit 6 began commercial operation in late 2012. It uses a combination of some of the most innovative and effective air emissions controls available anywhere in the world – and achieves emission rates once thought to be impossible.

The 550-megawatt unit 5 is the other operating unit on the site, and was completed in 1972. In an innovative and cost-effective design, it shares scrubber equipment with unit 6 and also has other equipment to reduce emissions.

"I want to thank the leaders of Cleveland and Rutherford counties and our community neighbors for their active support for our project," said the James E. Rogers Energy Complex manager Rick Roper. "We have significantly upgraded our site and reduced our environmental impacts across the board, and our customers will benefit from these investments for decades to come."

The October issue of POWER Magazine named the plant as a POWER Top Plant for 2013.

Photos of the complex: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dukeenergy/11191404554/

About Duke Energy

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 www.duke-energy.com

Contact: Luke Currin 
Office: 980.373.1849 | 24-Hour: 800.559.3853

SOURCE Duke Energy