Company Partnering With The Home Depot on Energy-Efficiency Program RALEIGH, N.C., Sept. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Progress Energy Carolinas is partnering with The Home Depot on a program to provide discounted ENERGY STAR(R)-qualified compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) at selected The Home Depot locations in Progress Energy Carolinas' service territory. (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20020923/CHM008LOGO-c ) The N.C. Utilities Commission approved the program earlier this week. The program will begin Oct. 1 and last until Dec. 30 or while supplies last. Up to 200,000 ENERGY STAR-qualified CFLs will be sold as part of the program. "We're committed to energy efficiency and want to make it easy and cost- effective for our customers to use energy wisely," said Lloyd Yates, president and CEO - Progress Energy Carolinas. "This project will allow us to increase awareness and use of CFLs among our customers in the Carolinas." The CFL program is one part of the company's balanced solution to addressing future energy needs, which includes energy efficiency, alternative and renewable energy and state-of-the-art power plants. ENERGY STAR-qualified CFLs use about 75 percent less energy than incandescent bulbs and produce 75 percent less heat. In addition, the bulbs can last 6,000-10,000 hours, six to 10 times longer than incandescent bulbs. Customers will be able to visit The Home Depot locations in Progress Energy Carolinas' service territory (list below) and purchase multipacks of the most commonly used CFLs (40-watt, 60-watt and 100-watt equivalents) at a discounted price. Progress Energy will use information from the program to evaluate the potential of CFLs for reducing energy demand and usage. These results will be used to determine the potential system impacts and cost effectiveness of CFLs on a full-scale basis with Progress Energy Carolinas' 1.4 million customers. Discounted ENERGY STAR-qualified CFLs will be available at the following The Home Depot locations: Asheville, N.C. 127 Acton Circle 795 Fairview Road Cary, N.C. 2031 Walnut Street Florence, S.C. 3051 West Radio Drive Fuquay-Varina, N.C. 901 East Broad Street Garner, N.C. 2540 Timber Drive Jacksonville, N.C. 479 Western Boulevard Knightdale, N.C. 1020 Shoppes at Midway Drive Raleigh, N.C. 9517 Strickland Road 4901 Capital Boulevard Wilmington, N.C. 210 Eastwood Road Progress Energy, headquartered in Raleigh, is a Fortune 250 energy company with more than 21,000 megawatts of generation capacity and $10 billion in annual revenues. The company includes two major utilities that serve more than 3.1 million customers in the Carolinas and Florida. Progress Energy is the 2006 recipient of the Edison Electric Institute's Edison Award, the industry's highest honor, in recognition of its operational excellence. The company also is the first utility to receive the prestigious J.D. Power and Associates Founder's Award for customer service. Progress Energy serves two fast-growing areas of the country, and the company is pursuing a balanced approach to meeting the future energy needs of the region. That balance includes increased energy efficiency programs, investments in renewable energy technologies and a state-of-the-art electricity system. For more information about Progress Energy, visit the company's Web site at http://www.progress-energy.com/. http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20020923/CHM008LOGO-c http://photoarchive.ap.org/ DATASOURCE: Progress Energy CONTACT: Corporate Communications 24-Hour Media Line, +1-919-546-6189 Web site: http://www.progress-energy.com/

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