as nyse duk s & p 500 component dow jones utility average component industry energy founded 1904 founders james buchanan duke benjamin newton duke headquarters charlotte north carolina u.s. area served duke energy ohio ohio kentucky duke energy indiana indiana duke energy carolinas north carolina south carolina duke energy progress north carolina south carolina duke energy florida florida duke energy puerto rico puerto rico piedmont natural gas north carolina south carolina tennessee key people lynn good chairman president and ceo products electricity generation transmission and distribution natural gas revenue 23.459 billion fy 2015 1 operating income 5.367 billion fy 2015 1 net income 2.831 billion fy 2015 1 total assets 120.976 billion 2015 1 total equity 41.41 billion fy 2013 2 number of employees 29 188 eoy 2015 website www.duke energy.com duke energy headquartered in charlotte north carolina is an electric power holding company in the united states with assets also in canada and latin america . contents 1 overview 1.1 subsidiaries 2 history 2.1 new nuclear power plant 3 environmental record 4 generating facilities 4.1 green biomass fired 4.2 nuclear 4.3 coal fired 4.4 hydroelectric 4.4.1 conventional hydro 4.4.2 pumped storage hydro 4.5 oil and gas fired 4.6 solar farms 4.7 wind farms 5 awards 6 criticism 6.1 taxes 7 see also 8 references 9 external links overview edit based in charlotte north carolina duke energy owns 58 200 megawatts of base load and peak generation in the united states which it distributes to its 7.2 million customers . duke energy s service territory covers 104 000 square miles 270 000 km2 with 250 200 miles 402 700 km of distribution lines . 3 in addition duke energy has more than 4 300 megawatts of electric generation in latin america . 4 it operates eight hydroelectric power plants in brazil with an installed capacity of 2 307 megawatts . 5 almost all of duke energy s midwest generation comes from coal natural gas or oil while half of its carolinas generation comes from its nuclear power plants . during 2006 duke energy generated 148 798 332 megawatt hours of electrical energy . duke energy renewable services ders a subsidiary of duke energy specializes in the development ownership and operation of various generation facilities throughout the united states . this segment of the company operates 1 700 megawatts of generation . 240 megawatts of wind generation were under construction and 1 500 additional megawatts of wind generation were in planning stages . 6 on september 9 2008 ders updated its projections for future wind power capacity . by the end of 2008 it would have over 500 mw of nameplate capacity of wind power online and an additional 5 000 mw in development . 7 subsidiaries edit duke energy carolinas formerly duke power duke energy ohio formerly cincinnati gas & electric company via cinergy duke energy kentucky formerly union light heat & power via cinergy duke energy indiana formerly public service indiana via cinergy duke energy florida formerly florida power company via progress energy duke energy progress formerly carolina power and light via progress energy duke energy renewables duke energy retail duke energy international history edit duke energy center in charlotte 2010 the company began in 1900 as the catawba power company when dr. walker gill wylie and his brother financed the building of a hydroelectric power station at india hook shoals along the catawba river near india hook south carolina . in need of additional funding to further his ambitious plan for construction of a series of hydroelectric power plants wylie convinced james buchanan duke to invest in the southern power company founded in 1905 . in 1917 the wateree power company was formed as a holding company for several utilities that had been founded and or owned by duke his family or his associates and in 1924 the name was changed to duke power . in 1927 most of the subsidiary companies including southern power company catawba power company great falls power company and western carolina power company were merged into duke power although southern public utilities 100 % owned by duke power maintained a legally separate existence for the retail marketing of duke generated power to residential and commercial customers . 8 a 1973 labor dispute between mine workers and duke energy was the subject of the documentary harlan county usa . the film documents the use of gun thugs to intimidate striking workers . in 1988 nantahala power & light co. which served southwestern north carolina was purchased by duke and is now operated under the duke power nantahala area brand . duke power merged with panenergy a natural gas company in 1997 to form duke energy . 9 the duke power name continued as the electric utility business of duke energy until the cinergy merger . duke energy field services near palestine texas . the facilities include refineries and oil wells throughout the region . with the purchase of cinergy corporation announced in 2005 and completed on april 3 2006 duke energy corporation s customer base grew to include the midwestern united states as well . the company operates nuclear power plants coal fired plants conventional hydroelectric plants natural gas turbines to handle peak demand and pumped hydro storage . during 2006 duke energy also acquired chatham ontario based union gas which is regulated under the ontario energy board act 1998 . on january 3 2007 duke energy spun off its gas business to form spectra energy . duke energy shareholders received 1 share of spectra energy for each 2 shares of duke energy . after the spin off duke energy now receives the majority of its revenue from its electric operations in portions of north carolina south carolina kentucky ohio and indiana . the spinoff to spectra also included union gas which duke energy acquired the previous year . citation needed on july 3 2012 duke energy merged with progress energy inc with the duke energy name being retained along with the charlotte north carolina headquarters . 10 11 duke announced on june 18 2013 that ceo jim rogers was retiring and lynn good would become the new ceo . rogers has been ceo and chairman since 2006 while good was chief financial officer of duke since 2009 having joined duke in the 2006 cinergy merger . roger s retirement was part of an agreement to end an investigation into duke s progress energy acquisition in 2012 . 12 new nuclear power plant edit main article william states lee iii nuclear generating station on march 16 2006 duke power announced that a cherokee county south carolina site had been selected for a potential new nuclear power plant . the site is jointly owned by duke power and southern company . duke plans to develop the site for two westinghouse electric company ap1000 advanced passive pressurized water reactors . each reactor is capable of producing approximately 1 117 megawatts . see nuclear power 2010 program . on december 14 2007 duke power submitted a combined construction and operating license to the nuclear regulatory commission with an announcement that it will spend 160 million in 2008 on the plant with a total cost of 5 billion to 6 billion . 13 this site will be adjacent to the old site which was never completed and abandoned in the early 1980s and used by james cameron as a film set for the 1989 movie the abyss . environmental record edit in 1999 the united states environmental protection agency commenced an enforcement action against duke energy for making modifications to very old and deteriorating coal burning power plants without getting permits under the clean air act . duke asserted that a modification under the clean air act did not require a permit . environmental groups asserted that duke was using loopholes in the law to increase emissions . initially duke prevailed at the trial court level but in 2006 the case was argued before the supreme court environmental defense v. duke energy corp. 05 848 . the court unanimously ruled on april 2 2007 that the modifications allowed the power plants to operate for more hours increasing emissions so clean air act permits were needed . 14 in 2002 researchers at the university of massachusetts amherst identified duke energy as the 46th largest corporate producer of air pollution in the united states with roughly 36 million pounds of toxic chemicals released annually into the air . 15 major pollutants included sulfuric and hydrochloric acid chromium compounds and hydrogen fluoride . 16 the political economy research institute ranks duke energy 13th among corporations emitting airborne pollutants in the united states . the ranking is based on the quantity 80 million pounds in 2005 and toxicity of the emissions . 17 this change reflects the purchase of fossil fuel heavy cinergy which occurred in 2005 . this article needs additional citations for verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . june 2008 learn how and when to remove this template message in early 2008 duke energy announced a plan to build the new 800 megawatt cliffside unit 6 coal plant 55 miles 89 km west of charlotte north carolina . the plan has been strongly opposed by environmental groups such as rising tide north america rainforest action network the community based canary coalition as well as the southern environmental law center which has threatened to sue duke if it does not halt construction plans . on april 1 activists locked themselves to machinery at the cliffside construction area as part of fossil fools day . duke energy has been one of the most vocal advocates citation needed for a cap and trade system to combat global co2 emissions 18 and the company s ceo jim rogers thinks the company will profit from cap and trade . citation needed the company left the national association of manufacturers in part over differences on climate policy . 18 19 in a joint venture with the french based global energy firm areva under the nominal name of adage duke energy has planned a green biomass burning facility in mason county washington and is negotiating with forestland owners to secure the 600 000 tons of wood debris it needs yearly to fuel its 250 million biomass plant . the joint venture between electric power company duke energy and global nuclear services giant areva was created to build wood waste to energy power plants around the country . adage president reed wills announced the first northwest outpost will be in the struggling timber town of shelton washington . the following pollutants are provided by duke areva adage in their application for permit to the department of environmental protection for a similar type of plant in florida . 247 tons per year particulate matter 239 tons per year particulate matter 10 233 tons per year particulate matter 2.5 249 tons per year nox nitrogen oxides 246 tons per year so2 sulfur dioxide 248 tons per year co carbon monoxide 40 tons per year h2so4 sulfuric acid mist 63 tons per year voc volatile organic compounds 29 tons per year f fluorides 20 generating facilities edit this list is partially complete due to the july 3 2012 merger with progress energy . green biomass fired edit shelton biomass facility proposed nuclear edit catawba nuclear station mcguire nuclear station oconee nuclear station shearon harris nuclear power plant h. b. robinson nuclear generating station brunswick nuclear generating station crystal river nuclear power plant retired february 2013 william states lee iii nuclear generating station future coal fired edit allen steam station asheville steam electric plant belews creek steam station beckjord power station cayuga generating station cliffside steam station crystal river energy complex east bend station edwardsport station gallagher station gibson station lee steam station marshall steam station mayo plant miami fort power station purchased by dynegy 2014 riverbend steam station retired roxboro steam plant wabash river station