CHARLOTTE, N.C., March 25 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --

• Share the Warmth campaign results in nearly $2.4 million for assistance agencies
• Customer contributions increase by more than 7.6 percent over previous year
• Since 1985, $28 million has been distributed to local agencies

As people across the Carolinas struggled with the cost of staying warm during one of the coldest winters in years, Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK), its customers, and its foundation have worked together to Share the Warmth with $2,380,253 in donations to local assistance agencies.

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"This unusually cold winter during an economic recession made it especially hard for many of our customers to make ends meet," said Alisa McDonald, vice president of the Duke Energy Foundation.

"That made it imperative for us to help on a corporate and philanthropic level," she said. "Additionally, the outpouring of financial support from our customers reinforced something so many of us living in the Carolinas already knew:  Ours is a community of caring, committed, and generous people."

One hundred percent of Share the Warmth campaign contributions go to help people struggling with energy bills. The Share the Warmth program is funded through customer contributions, Duke Energy Carolinas' off-system sales, and the Duke Energy Foundation, which matches the first $500,000 in total customer contributions. These funds are distributed by local assistance agencies.

Share the Warmth began in 1985. Since that time, more than $28 million has been distributed to local agencies in North Carolina and South Carolina. The 2010 campaign started in November 2009, when Duke Energy alerted customers to the program and how to help through mailings and other outreach.

Additional information on Share the Warmth is available at http://www.duke-energy.com/community/programs/share-the-warmth.asp.

Duke Energy Carolinas owns nuclear, coal-fired, natural gas and hydroelectric generation. That diverse fuel mix provides approximately 19,000 megawatts of electricity capacity to approximately 2.4 million customers in a 22,000-square-mile service area of North Carolina and South Carolina.

Duke Energy is one of the largest electric power holding companies in the United States. Its regulated utility operations serve approximately 4 million customers located in five states in the Southeast and Midwest, representing a population of approximately 11 million people. Its commercial power and international business segments own and operate diverse power generation assets in North America and Latin America, including a growing portfolio of renewable energy assets in the United States.

Headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., Duke Energy is a Fortune 500 company traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol DUK. More information about the company is available on the Internet at: www.duke-energy.com.

SOURCE Duke Energy