Duke Energy's 2023 Site Readiness Program Helps Prepare Business, Industrial Sites in an Effort to Spark Economic Growth in Florida

• Eleven high-potential business, industrial sites selected for 2023 program, up from four locations identified last year
• From 2005-2022, the Site Readiness Program has evaluated 28 sites in Florida, resulting in $270 million in new capital investment and 1,040 new jobs

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., Oct. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Duke Energy has selected 11 properties in Florida for inclusion in its 2023 Site Readiness Program, which prepares high-potential business and industrial sites for economic development investments and markets them nationwide to companies looking to expand or relocate their operations.

"Our communities depend on economic growth," said Melissa Seixas, Duke Energy Florida state president. "Duke Energy's Site Readiness Program allows us to play an important role in helping our state, regional and local economic development partners increase the competitiveness of potential industrial land, which in turn results in transformational investment into the communities we serve."

>> Additional Reading: Duke Energy Announces Plans to Build and Operate the Nation's First System Capable of Producing, Storing, and Combusting 100% Green Hydrogen in a Combustion Turbine in Florida

From 2005-2022, the Site Readiness Program has evaluated 28 sites in Florida. There have been six wins of companies that have landed on those properties, resulting in $270 million in new capital investment and 1,040 new jobs into the communities that Duke Energy serves in Florida.

The 2023 Site Readiness Program locations include:

• Archer Industrial Site, Alachua County, North-Central Florida
• Cemex Industrial Site, Hernando County, West Florida
• Gram's Legacy Grove Site, Taylor County, North Florida
• Hamilton 45 Site, Hamilton County, North Florida
• Hunt Brothers Site, Polk County, Central Florida
• Marion County Airport, Marion County, North-Central Florida
• Marlene O'Toole Industrial Park, Sumter County, North-Central Florida
• Monarch Ranch Site, Sumter County, North-Central Florida
• MTI Site, Gulf County, North Florida
• Nutrien White Springs Site, Hamilton County, North Florida
• Sebring Airport Industrial Site, Highlands County, South-Central Florida

"One of the most important priorities of our North Florida region is to develop an inventory of highly competitive sites to market for economic development," said Jeff Hendry, North Florida Economic Development Partnership executive director. "Duke Energy's Site Readiness Program provides robust investment through financial resources, technical assistance and invaluable expertise. This collaboration has taken, and continues to expand, our inventory of competitive sites to an entirely new level."

For 19 consecutive years, Duke Energy's economic development efforts have been recognized by Site Selection magazine in the publication's annual list of "Top Utilities in Economic Development." Since 2001, the Duke Energy economic development team has helped expand or attract 325 companies to Florida, drawing more than 48,000 jobs and over $5 billion in capital investment to the state.

>>Read more about Duke Energy here

Duke Energy Florida

Duke Energy Florida, a subsidiary of Duke Energy, owns 10,500 megawatts of energy capacity, supplying electricity to 1.9 million residential, commercial and industrial customers across a 13,000-square-mile service area in Florida.

Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK), a Fortune 150 company headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., is one of America's largest energy holding companies. Its electric utilities serve 8.2 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky, and collectively own 50,000 megawatts of energy capacity. Its natural gas unit serves 1.6 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Ohio and Kentucky. The company employs 27,600 people.

Duke Energy is executing an aggressive clean energy transition to achieve its goals of net-zero methane emissions from its natural gas business by 2030 and net-zero carbon emissions from electricity generation by 2050. The company has interim carbon emission targets of at least 50% reduction from electric generation by 2030, 50% for Scope 2 and certain Scope 3 upstream and downstream emissions by 2035, and 80% from electric generation by 2040. In addition, the company is investing in major electric grid enhancements and energy storage, and exploring zero-emission power generation technologies such as hydrogen and advanced nuclear.

Duke Energy was named to Fortune's 2023 "World's Most Admired Companies" list and Forbes' "World's Best Employers" list. More information is available at duke-energy.com. The Duke Energy News Center contains news releases, fact sheets, photos and videos. Duke Energy's illumination features stories about people, innovations, community topics and environmental issues. Follow Duke Energy on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook.

SOURCE Duke Energy