Duke Energy selects six companies to receive Power Partner award

CHARLOTTE, N.C., Aug. 20, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- For the 25th consecutive year, Duke Energy has selected six outstanding organizations to receive the company's prestigious Power Partner award.

Duke Energy established the Power Partner award in 1992 to honor businesses and other organizations that achieve exemplary results in categories that include solutions innovation, community excellence, economic development, sustainability innovation and storm restoration. Each of the 2018 Power Partners will be recognized at individual award ceremonies later this year.

"The innovation and achievements of our large business customers seem to grow exponentially each year," said Chris Edge, vice president of large business customers at Duke Energy. "This year is no exception, as this distinguished group of award winners highlights incredible success stories that mutually benefit Duke Energy, our communities and the respective winning organizations."

The 2018 Power Partner award-winning organizations include:

• Bausch + Lomb, Greenville and Woodruff, S.C., and Tampa, Fla.
  Category: Solution Innovation – Enterprise

Bausch + Lomb sought to protect their mission-critical operations from power outages. They decided to work with Duke Energy to provide on-site backup power solutions at the company's Greenville eye care solutions plant, Woodruff distribution center and the Tampa pharmaceutical eye care solutions plant. This ensures these important facilities have the highest level of reliability available.

• Enbridge, Batesville, Ind.
  Category: Solution Innovation – Mid-Market

Enbridge worked with Duke Energy to complete an innovative solution in a very short time frame which resolved operational concerns and resulted in savings of over $2 million. Both companies had aging transformers and Enbridge was able to transition from 34.5-kilovolt service to 69-kilovolt service. In addition, Enbridge repurposed a Duke Energy transformer destined for retirement. Also, Duke Energy could forego replacing a transformer and was also able to remove five miles of overhead power lines that were no longer needed. This project was completed in eight months, while similar projects typically require 18 months to two years to complete. 

• Publix, Lakeland, Fla.
  Category: Storm Restoration

When Hurricane Irma struck Duke Energy's service territory in Florida, Duke Energy mobilized crews, not only from across its enterprise, but from many parts of the U.S., to begin restoration efforts. But the storm affected such a large footprint of Florida, the utility faced a seemingly insurmountable challenge: How to refuel arriving utility trucks? Publix was key in setting up a staged refueling station in a Publix parking lot near the interstate highway that enabled crews to refuel their vehicles as they made their way into the state. This staged refueling station allowed crews, upon arrival, to immediately begin restoration efforts with their vehicles fully fueled and ready to go.

• Palmetto Health Tuomey, Sumter, S.C.
  Category: Community Excellence

Palmetto Health Tuomey has worked with Duke Energy for the past five years to develop and implement a student career forum designed to connect students with businesses in Sumter County, S.C. This program has introduced more than 1,000 middle- and high-school students to 45 area businesses, sharing with students the requirements and benefits of various careers. This program not only helps students understand what it takes to obtain employment in the local workforce, it also helps address employee recruitment challenges for businesses in Sumter County.

• Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, Hebron, KY
  Category: Economic Development

The Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, also known as CVG, is the fastest-growing airport in North America. It is expanding passenger travel to a projected 9 million passengers by 2021 by attracting a diverse list of passenger carriers. In 2017, CVG helped recruit Amazon's largest air hub to the airport, which will make it the largest employer in Northern Kentucky. The unprecedented growth CVG is experiencing is worth celebrating as it continues to have a $4.4 billion annual impact on the local economy.

• City of Asheville/Buncombe County, Asheville, N.C.
  Category: Innovation in Sustainability

In 2016, the city of Asheville and Buncombe County worked with Duke Energy to convene the Energy Innovation Task Force aimed at achieving three goals: Avoid or delay the need for a new peaking power plant in western North Carolina; promote energy efficiency and demand-side management; and create programs through close community engagement. The Energy Innovation Task Force's Blue Horizon program, for example, is a coordinated effort to engage all customers (residential, commercial and industrial) in helping build a cleaner and smarter energy future for the region. Taking a leadership role, Asheville and Buncombe County also participate in Duke Energy's demand side management program and are working with Duke Energy on a utility-scale renewable energy project.

About Duke Energy

Headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK) is one of the largest energy holding companies in the U.S., with approximately 29,000 employees and a generating capacity of 49,500 megawatts. The company is transforming its customers' experience, modernizing its energy grid, generating cleaner energy and expanding its natural gas infrastructure to create a smarter energy future for the people and communities it serves.

The company's Electric Utilities and Infrastructure unit serves approximately 7.6 million retail electric customers in six states – North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky. Its Gas Utilities and Infrastructure unit distributes natural gas to approximately 1.6 million customers in five states – North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Ohio and Kentucky. Its Commercial Renewables unit operates a growing renewable energy portfolio across the U.S.

A Fortune 125 company, Duke Energy was named to Fortune's 2018 "World's Most Admired Companies" list and Forbes' 2018 "America's Best Employers" list.

More information about the company is available at duke-energy.com. The Duke Energy News Center includes news releases, fact sheets, photos, videos and other materials. Duke Energy's illumination features stories about people, innovations, community topics and environmental issues. Follow Duke Energy on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook.

Contact: Lew Middleton
Office: 317.838.1505 | 24-hour: 800.559.3853

SOURCE Duke Energy

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