Continued from the Assets Of Lewis Cass Payseur article.
Payseur also owned “Southern Power Company” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duke_Energy) which is today known as “Southern Company” and owns the control of all power companies in the United States by law that states that only railroads can manufacture electricity.(can’t find any back-up to this, but this would be a biggy)
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. The company has approximately 29,000 employees.[2] Duke Energy’s service territory covers 104,000 square miles (270,000 km2) with 250,200 miles (402,700 km) of distribution lines.[3] 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.[4] 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.[5]
Duke Energy has a controversial environmental record.
Subsidiaries
Duke Energy Carolinas
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
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.[7]
Before the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Duke Power had an overt policy of openly discriminating on the basis of race in hiring and assigning employees at its Dan River plant.[8] In the years following the passage of the Civil Rights Act, Duke Power continued to racially discriminate by implementing education requirements for work placement that did not directly relate to the work being done. The Supreme Court found in Griggs v. Duke Power Co. that this policy violated the law and was discriminatory.
A 1973 labor dispute between mine workers and Duke Power 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.[10][11]
In 2011, Duke Energy worked with Charlotte’s business leader community to help build Charlotte into a smart city. The group called the initiative “Envision Charlotte”. At the time, the group decided on a goal to reduce energy use in the “urban core of the city by 20 percent”. To do so, the group focused on making energy consumption changes to commercial buildings larger than 10,000 square feet.[12]
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.[13][14]
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. Rogers’ retirement was part of an agreement to end an investigation into Duke’s Progress Energy acquisition in 2012.[15]
In 2016, Duke Energy purchased Piedmont Natural Gas for $4.9 billion to become its wholly owned subsidiary.[16] Duke Energy completed selling its remaining power operations in Central and South America for $1.2 billion months afterwards.[17] At one point Duke Energy had more than 4,300 megawatts of electric generation in Latin America.[18] It operated eight hydroelectric power plants in Brazil with an installed capacity of 2,307 megawatts.[19]
The company expects to spend $13 billion upgrading the North Carolina grid from 2017.[20]
New nuclear power plant
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.[21] The plant was approved in 2016.[22]
In August 2017, Duke decided to seek permission from the North Carolina Utility Commission to cancel the project due to the bankruptcy of Westinghouse and “other market activity”, although they will retain the option of restarting the project at some point in the future if circumstances change.[23]
This site would have been 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.
In 2018, Duke Energy decided not to include new nuclear power in its long-range plans.[24]
Headquarters buildings
J.A. Jones designed the first headquarters building, known as the Power Building, which was completed in 1928 at 440 South Church. The Electric Center at 526 South Church Street opened in 1975 with an addition in 1988.[25]
Duke Energy Center at 550 South Tryon Street across the street was announced as the company’s headquarters in 2009[26] and will continue with that role, even after the completion of a tower across the street from the headquarters, which is scheduled to open in 2022. Childress Klein is developing the new building, which will allow Duke to sell its Church Street and College Street buildings, and end its lease at 400 South Tryon.[27] Named Charlotte Metro Tower, the 40-story building is being purchased for up to $675 million by Childress Klein and CGA Capital, in the largest real estate deal in the city’s history, announced in December 2019.
Check out more about Payseur Family History (this link will open a new tab) :-
