Duke Energy Florida to host Perry Solar Facility opening ceremony Oct. 19

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  • 22-acre solar power plant in Taylor County provides customers with 5 megawatts of carbon-free energy

  • Second facility in a strategic, long-range plan to install 35 megawatts of universal solar by 2018, and up to 500 megawatts in the state by 2024

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Duke Energy Florida will host a ceremony to commemorate the completion of its 5-megawatt Perry Solar Facility on Wednesday, Oct. 19 at 10 a.m.

The ceremony will be held at the solar power plant located at 159 North Ellison Road in Perry, Fla., and will feature Taylor County Elementary School teachers and student participants, as well as state and local elected officials.

“The opening of Duke Energy’s solar power plant in Florida exemplifies our commitment to our customers and our community,” said Alex Glenn, Duke Energy state president – Florida. “This is another step in our ongoing strategy to offer cleaner, smarter energy solutions that customers value.”

The solar power plant is adjacent to Taylor County Elementary School, which presented a unique educational partnership opportunity for the company.

As part of the celebration, Duke Energy Florida is providing the school with books; solar car and panel kits for classroom instruction; and a supplemental guidebook with lesson plans and teaching programs that complement current math and science curriculum and align with state standards.

Duke Energy plans to continue the partnership with the Taylor County School District long after the ceremony to further promote solar energy educational initiatives.

“Duke Energy has been a great partner with Taylor County Elementary School, as well as our district,” said Paul Dyal, superintendent, Taylor County School District. “The donated materials for teachers to use in our STEM instruction will help our students as they strive to meet our state standards. We want our students to be exposed to technology – and Duke Energy is making this happen by helping them understand solar energy and what it can do. We are so fortunate to have Duke Energy as an educational partner in the Taylor County School District.”  

Duke Energy Florida’s Perry Solar Facility is the second in a strategic, long-range plan to install 35 megawatts of solar energy by 2018, and up to 500 megawatts of solar energy in the state by 2024, helping ensure residents have increasingly clean and diverse power sources.

The company’s universal solar power plant in Osceola County began operating in May and provides nearly 4 megawatts of energy through 15,000 panels.

Solar projects, such as Perry and Osceola, enable the company to efficiently bring the greatest amount of renewable energy on line for customers in the most economical way.

In addition to building universal solar in the Sunshine State, Duke Energy Florida is helping more than 100 residential and business customers per month install private solar on their property.

In the past five years, the number of customers who have interconnected private solar has increased by more than 400 percent.

The company also established a renewables service center to make it easier for customers to interconnect and is researching various community solar programs that offer all of our customers the opportunity to support more solar generation in Florida.

Over the past eight years, Duke Energy has invested more than $4 billion in wind and solar facilities in 12 states.

News editors

Construction and aerial photos of the universal solar power plant located in Perry and images of other Duke Energy Florida solar projects are available upon request.

About Duke Energy Florida

Duke Energy Florida owns and operates a diverse generation mix, including renewables, providing about 9,000 megawatts of owned electric capacity to approximately 1.7 million customers in a 13,000-square-mile service area.

With its Florida regional headquarters located in St. Petersburg, Fla., Duke Energy is one of the largest electric power holding companies in the United States. It supplies and delivers electricity to approximately 7.4 million customers in the Southeast and Midwest, representing a population of approximately 24 million people. The company also distributes natural gas to more than 1.5 million customers in the Carolinas, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee. Its commercial and international businesses operate diverse power generation assets in North America and Latin America, including a growing renewable energy portfolio.

Headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., Duke Energy is an S&P 100 Stock Index company traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol DUK. More information about the company is available at duke-energy.com

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