Duke Energy and hydro relicensing stakeholders to host open house

Duke Energy News Release:


Duke Energy and hydro relicensing stakeholders to host open house

May 17, 2013

SENECA, S.C. -
Duke Energy and other hydro relicensing stakeholders invite residents to attend a community open house May 22 to learn more about a recently completed agreement-in-principle (AIP) related to future operations for the Keowee-Toxaway Hydroelectric Project.

The AIP is a non-binding agreement among stakeholders outlining proposed hydroelectric operations, lake level management, recreational amenities, regional drought response and other considerations for the next 30 to 50 years.

The agreement is a major milestone toward shaping future operations of Lake Jocassee and Lake Keowee, as well as managing related natural resources.

More than 40 stakeholders representing 22 organizations, agencies and community groups have been working since 2009 to study hydro operations and natural resources in the Keowee-Toxaway Hydroelectric Project, as well as other stakeholder interests and additional factors.

Stakeholders completed the AIP this week after extensive studies and negotiations under way since September 2012.

Duke Energy’s federal license for the Keowee-Toxaway Hydroelectric Project includes Keowee Hydroelectric Station, Lake Keowee, Jocassee Pumped Storage Station and Lake Jocassee.

Those interested in learning more about the contents of the AIP are invited to attend the May 22 open house from 4 to 8 p.m. at the Clemson University Madren Center at 230 Madren Center Drive, Clemson, S.C.

Study information will be available, as will experts who can answer questions and gather input. The AIP and other relicensing information are available at http://www.duke-energy.com/lakes/keowee-toxaway-relicensing.asp.

“These stakeholders spent hundreds of hours learning about relicensing, hydro operations and the broad interests in the community, in addition to their own,” said Ken Kearns, stakeholder team facilitator. “They were well prepared to shape these locally developed recommendations for the new license.”

Stakeholder team members currently are discussing the AIP with their respective constituencies to determine their organizations’ level of support. Duke Energy will invite stakeholder team members to sign the AIP in mid-July and provide their rating of how well the AIP meets their organizations’ interests.

The stakeholder team will then convert the AIP to the official relicensing agreement (RA), a binding contractual agreement among stakeholders.

Duke Energy will invite stakeholder team members to sign the RA in late November 2013, and it will be included with the license application the company will submit to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in August 2014.

Duke Energy Carolinas owns nuclear, coal-fired, natural gas and hydroelectric generation. That diverse fuel mix provides approximately 20,000 megawatts of owned electric capacity to approximately 2.4 million customers in a 24,000-square-mile service area of North Carolina and South Carolina.

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.