Whatever the forecast, comprehensive storm plan assures readiness

RALEIGH (May 13, 2010) - Hurricane season begins June 1, but at Progress Energy, hurricane planning season is year-round. The company’s comprehensive storm-response plan ensures that employees and equipment are ready for whatever Mother Nature brings.

Progress Energy has a detailed plan in place to activate employees directly involved with power restoration quickly and decisively in response to major storms. The plan also enables the company to mobilize thousands of other employees who train outside their normal jobs for storm-specific duties in support of restoration efforts.

“Here in the Carolinas, hurricanes are a fact of life,” said Lloyd Yates, president and CEO of Progress Energy Carolinas. “We all hope for the best, but we have to plan for the possibility of major storms damaging the electric system our customers depend on. We know our customers rely on us to restore service quickly after storms and to keep them informed.”

Progress Energy employees perform a variety of jobs during storms, from arranging staging and logistical details to assessing storm damage, answering customer calls, and, most visibly, repairing damage and restoring power throughout the company's 34,000-square-mile service area. This companywide focus has enabled Progress Energy to reduce outage times and speed restoration significantly over the years.

Progress Energy has enhanced its storm response in the Carolinas with four state-of-the-art mobile command centers that will be positioned in the hardest hit areas following a storm. The mobile command centers feature satellite communication and full network and internet access, allowing field personnel to effectively manage the flow of thousands of employees from numerous utilities from a single staging site.

“The mobile command centers give us the ability to have a full command-and-control facility locally anywhere on our system,” said Yates. “This new technology will accelerate our storm response efforts by enabling better management of our field resources.”

Progress Energy’s commitment to excellence in storm response has earned the utility the Emergency Response Award from the Edison Electric Institute (EEI) five times in the program's 11-year history. Progress Energy also won the EEI Emergency Assistance Award for its role in aiding utilities and citizens in Texas and Ohio following Hurricane Ike in 2008, and in the Gulf Coast region after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005.

“We are proud of our past efforts, but we work continually to practice and refine our storm plan to ensure that our response is safer and better every time,” said Yates. “We also encourage our customers to take time at the start of hurricane season to make sure they have their own storm plan in place.”

Numerous forecasters predict an active hurricane season in 2010. Progress Energy offers these tips to prepare for a storm:
• Create (or inventory and update) an emergency supply kit containing the following items: portable radio with fresh batteries, flashlight, candles or lamps, matches, first-aid kit, non-cordless landline phone, canned or packaged food that can be prepared without cooking or refrigeration, several days' supply of drinking water, medicine and cash.
• Review your insurance policy and put a copy in your supply kit along with copies of other important paperwork.
• Review your evacuation plan and decide where you will stay if you need to leave your home. Don't forget to include your pets in the plan. Many shelters don’t accept animals.
• Plan to move someone who relies on electric-powered life-support equipment to a facility outside of the storm's projected path to avoid the risk of an extended power outage.
• Check outside your home for trees or shrubs that need to be trimmed or appear weak. Don’t trim near power lines. Call a professional for this potentially dangerous work.

Progress Energy also sends updates on storm-related outage restorations via Twitter. Customers can follow Progress Energy at www.twitter.com/progressenergy.

Progress Energy customers who lose power during a storm should call the 24-hour automated outage line at 800-419-6356. This service provides the same information available from customer service associates and is the fastest way to report a power outage. This technology also offers an option to allow customers to receive a call when new information becomes available regarding power restoration. This state-of-the-art automated system is capable of accepting more than 125,000 calls per hour during widespread outages.

For additional storm information and safety tips, visit the Progress Energy website at www.progress-energy.com/storm.

Progress Energy (NYSE: PGN), headquartered in Raleigh, N.C., is a Fortune 500 energy company with more than 22,000 megawatts of generation capacity and approximately $10 billion in annual revenues. Progress Energy includes two major electric utilities that serve about 3.1 million customers in the Carolinas and Florida. The company has earned the Edison Electric Institute's Edison Award, the industry's highest honor, in recognition of its operational excellence, and was the first utility to receive the prestigious J.D. Power and Associates Founder's Award for customer service. The company is pursuing a balanced strategy for a secure energy future, which includes aggressive energy-efficiency programs, investments in renewable energy technologies and a state-of-the-art electricity system. Progress Energy celebrated a century of service in 2008. Visit the company’s website at www.progress-energy.com.