How Largo’s conversion to an electric fleet, with assistance from Duke Energy, is part of a broader plan to use renewable energy
Blog
The Largo Police Department in Florida just got more efficient. The force recently added two new Zero electric motorcycles to its fleet, part of the city’s transition to all-renewable energy.
The city’s commitment to an electric light-duty fleet by 2030 is part of the Largo Environmental Action Plan. Largo plans to convert to 100 percent renewable energy as a government by 2035 and as a community by 2050.
Jeff Baker and his Florida teammates spread message of diversity and inclusion
Blog
The St. Pete Pride parade, which attracted 265,000 people in 2019, hasn’t been held for two years because of the coronavirus pandemic. But when participants march again, members of Florida’s new Duke Energy WeR1 employee resource group will be among them.
For Jeff Baker, it’s a matter of personal and professional pride. In his 16 years at Duke Energy, he said he has never felt discriminated against at work because of his sexual orientation. But he also never realized how many allies he and his LGBTQ+ co-workers have.
CHARLOTTE, N.C., June 23, 2021 /3BL Media/ - Duke Energy continues to expand solar power in North Carolina with construction starting on its 22.6-megawatt (MW) Stony Knoll Solar power plant. Once completed, it will be the largest solar plant in Surry County.
The project will be owned and operated by Duke Energy Sustainable Solutions.* The project was selected as part of the competitive bidding process established by 2017’s solar legislation in North Carolina.
Grants include $100,000 for Purdue Center for Regional Development; $13,000 for Indiana Farm Bureau
Press Release
PLAINFIELD, Ind., June 14, 2021 /3BL Media/ - Two Duke Energy Foundation grants totaling more than $113,000 will help improve broadband internet access in underserved areas in 15 Indiana counties.
The foundation has awarded a grant of $100,000 to the Purdue Center for Regional Development to work with counties to develop “digital inclusion plans” to assess broadband access and needs. The targeted counties will receive $5,000 each to develop the plans.
Study focuses on the socioeconomic, environmental and operational benefits of integrating Malta’s 100-megawatt, 10-hour pumped heat energy storage system into existing infrastructure.
A grant from the U.S. Department of Energy is funding the year-long study.
Press Release
Study focuses on the socioeconomic, environmental and operational benefits of integrating Malta’s 100-megawatt, 10-hour pumped heat energy storage system into existing infrastructure.
A grant from the U.S. Department of Energy is funding the year-long study.
Duke Energy’s XR Lab builds programs to improve safety, training and recruitment
Blog
While they used to work for video game studios, the artists and software engineers of Duke Energy’s XR Lab are now designing virtual reality programs to help keep their teammates safe.
Duke Energy’s priority is safety, and virtual reality will allow trainees to learn utility basics with reduced risk. Wearing a headset, the trainee is engaged in a virtual environment that looks like a video-game version of their work area. The designers make the training as realistic as possible from the virtual safety gear they wear to the interactive controls on equipment.
There’s a cure for your range anxiety about electric vehicles: more charging stations.
Most EV owners charge at home, but across the nation, and especially in Duke Energy’s service areas, public charging stations are becoming more common.
“The big thing people need to understand,” said Michael Frost, who owns a Volkswagen e-Golf, “is to not be overly concerned with public charging accessibility daily, because people charge at home most of the time. I leave the house with a full tank every morning.”
Keowee Hydro Station marks 50 years of generating clean, renewable energy
Blog
By Mikayla Kreuzberger, illumination Contributor
While it’s relatively young for a hydropower plant, Keowee Hydro Station tells the story of a much larger energy project for the beautiful northwest corner of South Carolina.
Duke Energy built the plant and the Keowee Dam along the Keowee River in the late 1960s and early 1970s to create Lake Keowee in Pickens County at the foothills of the Blue Ridge mountains.