Duke Energy named one of North America's top sustainable companies for 16th straight year

CHARLOTTE, N.C., Nov. 15, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Duke Energy has been named to the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) for North America for the 16th consecutive year as the company leads one of the largest clean energy transformations in the country.

"Being recognized for 16 continuous years on the DJSI for North America is incredibly validating," said Katherine Neebe, Duke Energy's chief sustainability officer and president, Duke Energy Foundation. "It shows our clean energy transformation is delivering what many of our stakeholders expect. This underscores that our business success can also drive progress on important societal outcomes, like climate change and diversity, equity and inclusion."

Since 1999, the DJSI has evaluated the sustainability of leading companies worldwide.

In selecting the top performers in each business sector, the DJSI reviews companies on several general and industry-specific topics related to economic, environmental and social dimensions.

Among the topics are corporate governance, innovation management, environmental policy, climate strategy, human capital development and corporate citizenship.

The index is compiled annually by S&P Global.

Since 2007, Duke Energy has published an annual Sustainability Report that shares our progress on important issues and helps hold us accountable to achieve our goals. The 2020 report is available online.

Some of the company's environmental, social and governance highlights:

• The company is on track to achieve its goals of reducing carbon emissions from electricity generation by at least 50% from 2005 levels by 2030 and net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
• Duke Energy reached the 10,000-MW renewable energy milestone this year, and the company is on track to reach 16,000 MW by 2025 and 24,000 megawatts by 2030.
• The company's economic development team helped attract nearly 18,000 new jobs and $9.1 billion in capital investment to its service territories.
• The company's overall carbon dioxide output is down more than 40% since 2005. The company has retired 54 coal units since 2010.
• Duke Energy has committed to reducing methane emissions to net-zero by 2030 for our natural gas distribution companies.
• The company's environmental justice principles is part of how we are engaging communities through the clean energy transition.
• The company launched a sustainable financing framework to help attract billions of dollars of investments in eligible green and social projects to drive the clean energy transition.
• Duke Energy continues to offer excellent value to customers with high reliability and retail electric rates below the national average in all customer categories ? residential, commercial and industrial.

In addition, since 2020, Duke Energy and its Foundation have donated more than $11 million to COVID-19 relief efforts, and more than $8 million has been committed by the Duke Energy Foundation to social justice and racial equity organizations.

About Duke Energy

Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK), a Fortune 150 company headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., is one of the largest energy holding companies in the U.S. It employs 30,000 people and has an electric generating capacity of 51,000 megawatts through its regulated utilities, and 3,000 megawatts through its nonregulated Duke Energy Renewables unit.

Duke Energy is transforming its customers' experience, modernizing the energy grid, generating cleaner energy and expanding natural gas infrastructure to create a smarter energy future for the people and communities it serves. The Electric Utilities and Infrastructure unit's regulated utilities serve approximately 7.7 million retail electric customers in six states ? North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky. The Gas Utilities and Infrastructure unit distributes natural gas to more than 1.6 million customers in five states ? North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Ohio and Kentucky. The Duke Energy Renewables unit operates wind and solar generation facilities across the U.S., as well as energy storage and microgrid projects.

Duke Energy was named to Fortune's 2020 "World's Most Admired Companies" list, and Forbes' 2019 "America's Best Employers" list. More information about the company is available at duke-energy.com. The Duke Energy News Center contains 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.

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SOURCE Duke Energy