Duke Energy to Sell Utility-Scale Commercial Renewables Business to Brookfield for $2.8 Billion

• Transaction expected to close by year-end 2023
• Duke Energy to focus on significant regulated clean energy growth opportunities

CHARLOTTE, N.C., June 12, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK) today announced it has reached an agreement to sell its unregulated utility scale Commercial Renewables business to Brookfield Renewable ("Brookfield"), one of the world's largest owners and operators of renewable power and climate transition assets, at an enterprise value of approximately $2.8 billion, including non-controlling tax equity interests and the assumption of debt.

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Duke Energy's expected net proceeds from this transaction are approximately $1.1 billion, subject to certain customary adjustments. Duke Energy will utilize the proceeds to strengthen its balance sheet and avoid additional holding company debt issuances. This will allow the company to focus on the growth of its regulated businesses, including investments to enhance grid reliability and help incorporate over 30,000 megawatts of regulated renewable energy into its system by 2035.

"As one of the country's largest renewable energy operators, Brookfield has the resources to support the continued growth and success of the Commercial Renewables' portfolio," said Lynn Good, Duke Energy chair, president and CEO. "This sale is an important step in our transition into a purely regulated company with significant grid and clean energy investment plans that will deliver benefits to our customers and stakeholders."

The sale agreement for the Commercial Renewables business platform includes more than 3,400 megawatts (alternating current) of utility scale solar, wind and battery storage across the U.S., net of joint venture partners ownership, in addition to operations, new project development, and current projects under construction. The primary operations of the Commercial Renewables business will remain in Charlotte, N.C. and the Duke Energy employees that support the business will transition over to Brookfield to maintain business continuity for its operations and customers.

"With this acquisition, we are adding a scale operating renewable platform with a full suite of in-house capabilities and a proven management team experienced in operations and development," said Connor Teskey, CEO of Brookfield Renewable. "We are also adding to our pipeline of renewable development projects, solidifying our position as one of the largest renewable energy businesses in the U.S. with almost 90,000 megawatts of operating and development assets."

The sale is subject to satisfaction of customary closing conditions, including regulatory approval by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the expiration of the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act. The sale is expected to close by the end of 2023.

Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC and Wells Fargo Securities, LLC are serving as financial advisors to Duke Energy for this transaction. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP is serving as legal counsel to Duke Energy.

Duke Energy also continues to make strong progress on a separate sale underway for its distributed energy business, which is also expected to close by year-end 2023.

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Duke Energy

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 www.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.

Brookfield Renewable

Brookfield Renewable operates one of the world's largest publicly traded, pure-play renewable power platforms. Our portfolio consists of hydroelectric, wind, utility-scale solar and storage facilities in North America, South America, Europe and Asia, and totals approximately 31,600 megawatts of installed capacity and a development pipeline including approximately 131,900 megawatts of renewable power assets, 12 million metric tonnes per annum ("MMTPA") of carbon capture and storage, 2 million tons of recycled material, 4 million metric million British thermal units of renewable natural gas pipeline, a solar manufacturing facility capable of producing 5,000 MW of panels annually and 1 MMTPA green ammonia facility powered entirely by renewable energy. Investors can access its portfolio either through Brookfield Renewable Partners L.P. (NYSE: BEP; TSX: BEP.UN), a Bermuda-based limited partnership, or Brookfield Renewable Corporation (NYSE, TSX: BEPC), a Canadian corporation. For more information please visit https://bep.brookfield.com/ or https://bep.brookfield.com/bepc.

Brookfield Renewable is the flagship listed renewable power company of Brookfield Corporation, a leading global alternative asset manager with over $825 billion of assets under management.

SOURCE Duke Energy