Duke Energy completes implosion at retired H.F. Lee coal plant

GOLDSBORO, N.C., June 20, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Duke Energy Progress this morning imploded the boilers at the retired H.F. Lee Steam Plant as part of the company's plans to retire and demolish several of its older coal plants across the state.

This was the second implosion event at the site; the first occurred in December 2013, taking down the two smokestacks.

With the implosion process completed, the company will begin restoring the site, which involves filling, grading and seeding the land. The company plans to complete this phase by mid-2015 and will continue to own and steward the land in the future.

The H.F. Lee coal plant began operating in 1951 and has been replaced by the new 920-megawatt natural gas plant on-site that began serving customers in 2012.

"This demolition event is bittersweet, from a historical perspective," said Millie Chalk, Duke Energy's district manager. "It marks the end of a plant that has reliably served the region for more than 60 years, while also symbolizing a 'passing of the torch' to the new natural gas plant. From the environmental perspective, the transition is very positive."

Duke Energy's investment in five new combined-cycle and clean coal plants, including the one located at the H.F. Lee Energy Complex, totals $9 billion.

Because of this investment, the company was able to retire seven of its 14 coal plants in the state by the end of 2013.

Each of the retired coal plants enters the company's decommissioning program with the ultimate goal of fully dismantling the structure and returning the site to ground level.

Video footage of today's implosion event is available at http://youtu.be/YZHmyF0-NCU.

Pictures of the implosion event, as well as the old coal plant and new natural gas plant are available at https://www.flickr.com/photos/dukeenergy/sets/72157638807460714/.

Customers interested in learning more about the decommissioning project can visit duke-energy.com/coal-decommissioning.

About Duke Energy Progress

Duke Energy Progress, a subsidiary of Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK), provides electricity and related services to nearly 1.5 million customers in North Carolina and South Carolina. The company is headquartered in Raleigh, N.C., and serves a territory encompassing more than 34,000 square miles including the cities of Raleigh, Wilmington and Asheville in North Carolina and Florence and Sumter in South Carolina. More information is available at www.progress-energy.com.

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: Catherine Butler
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SOURCE Duke Energy