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Duke Energy , headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina , is an energy company with assets in the United States (primarily North and South Carolina ), Canada and Latin America . The company began in 1900 as the Catawba Power Company when Dr. Walker Gill Wylie and his brother financed the building of a hydroelectric power station at India Hook Shoals along the Catawba River. In need of additional funding to further his ambitious plan for construction of a series of hydroelectric power plants, Wylie convinced James Buchanan Duke to invest in the '''Southern Power Company''', founded in 1905, which later became known as '''Duke Power'''. In 1988 , '''Nantahala Power & Light Co.''', which served southwestern North Carolina, was purchased by Duke and is now operated under the Duke Power - Nantahala Area brand. Duke Power merged with '''PanEnergy''' in 1997 to form Duke Energy. The Duke Power name continued as the electric utility business of Duke Energy until the Cinergy merger. . The facilities include refineries and oil wells throughout the region.]] With the purchase of Cinergy Corporation announced in 2005 and completed on April 3 , 2006 , Duke Energy Corporation's customer base now includes the Midwestern United States as well. The company operates Nuclear Power plants, coal-fired plants, conventional Hydroelectric plants, natural-gas turbines to handle peak demand, and pumped hydro storage. During 2006, Duke Energy also acquired Chatham, Ontario -based Union Gas , which is regulated under the Ontario Energy Board Act (1998). On January 3, 2007, Duke Energy spun off its gas business to form Spectra Energy . Duke Energy shareholders received 1 share of Spectra Energy for each 2 shares of Duke Energy. After the spin-off, Duke Energy now receives the majority of its revenue from its electric operations in portions of North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky, Ohio, and Indiana. The spinoff to Spectra also included Union Gas, which Duke Energy acquired the previous year. Duke Power constructed Lake Norman , north of Charlotte, to aid its hydro- and nuclear electrical production capabilities. NEW NUCLEAR POWER PLANT On March 16, 2006 Duke Power announced that a Cherokee County site had been selected for a potential new Nuclear Power Plant . The site is jointly owned by Duke Power and Southern Company . Duke plans to develop the site for two Westinghouse Electric Company AP1000 (advanced passive) Pressurized Water Reactor s. Each reactor is capable of producing approximately 1,117 megawatts. (See Nuclear Power 2010 Program .) This site will be adjacent to the old site which was never completed and abandoned in the early 80's, and used by James Cameron as a film set for 1989's movie The Abyss . ENVIRONMENTAL RECORD In 1999 the United States Environmental Protection Agency commenced an enforcement action against Duke Energy for failure to comply with the Clean Air Act . Duke asserted that EPA regulations under the law were arbitrarily changed over the course of 25 years. Environmental groups assert that Duke is using loopholes in the law to increase emissions. Initially, Duke prevailed at the trial court level, but in 2006 the case was argued before the Supreme Court ( Environmental Defense v. Duke Energy Corp. (05-848)). The Court unanimously ruled on April 2 , 2007 against Duke Energy in favor of the environmental groups.http://money.cnn.com/2007/04/02/news/companies/duke.reut/index.htm?postversion=2007040210 Researchers at the University Of Massachusetts Amherst have identified Duke Energy as the 46th-largest corporate producer of Air Pollution in the United States, with roughly 36 million pounds of toxic chemicals released annually into the air. Political Economy Research Institute Toxic 100 (Study released May 11, 2006) retrieved 15 Aug 2007 Major pollutants indicated by the study include Sulfuric and Hydrochloric Acid , Chromium compounds, and Hydrogen Fluoride . [http://www.rtknet.org/new/tox100/toxic100.php?company1=7418&chemfac=chem&advbasic=bas Toxics Release Inventory courtesy rtknet.org] GENERATING FACILITIES
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