Duke Energy : Ohio plans Open House to answer questions on proposed natural gas pipeline

• Revised design and proposed routes to be outlined Thursday at Crowne Plaza Hotel in Blue Ash

• Presentation will be made at 6 p.m. and repeated at 7:30 p.m.

CINCINNATI - Duke Energy Ohio will hold its fourth Open House in conjunction with the filing of its application for the Central Corridor Pipeline Extension project with the Ohio Power Siting Board (OPSB).

The public informational meeting Thursday in Blue Ash will outline the company's revised natural gas pipeline design and proposed routes.

'Duke Energy has been in business for 180 years in Cincinnati, and has enjoyed serving our customers with safe and reliable natural gas,' said Jim Henning, president of Duke Energy Ohio and Kentucky. 'This new pipeline is critical for us to continue safely meeting the natural gas needs of all our customers in this region, both today and for generations to come,' he added.

In September, the company submitted a revised proposal to the OPSB to construct a natural gas pipeline that was significantly smaller, both in size and pressure, as compared to the original design.

The new design would include a pipeline with a 20-inch diameter that would operate at approximately 400 pounds per square inch (psi). The original design called for a 30-inch pipe with an operating pressure of approximately 600 psi, which was larger than what the company had installed in the past.

The new proposed pipeline will be similar in size and pressure to the hundreds of miles of high-pressure, large-diameter pipelines that Duke Energy Ohio safely operates every day to deliver natural gas to its customers.

As a result of recent discussions with local communities and businesses, as well as ongoing engineering field work, Duke Energy has also made some modifications to its preferred and alternate routes since its recent OPSB filing.

As described in an amendment filed last week, the preferred route corridor has been adjusted in four areas to:

• Avoid business access issues in the Millington Court area;

• avoid construction of deep bore pits in front yards in the Floral Avenue area;

• avoid impacts to retaining walls on residential properties near Jewish Hospital; and

• improve constructability and diminish disruption in the Kenwood Country Club area.

The amendment also adjusted the alternate route corridor near Summit Park to avoid land use impacts.

The construction of this natural gas pipeline is critical to enable Duke Energy to retire its 50-year-old propane peaking plants, which are near the end of their useful life.

On cold winter days, the peaking plants supply over 50,000 customers in Hamilton County with natural gas to heat their homes, schools and places of business.

The new pipeline is also needed to better balance the supply of gas on the system, decreasing reliance on natural gas that enters the Duke Energy system from a single source in Kentucky.

Contrary to what has been said by some about this project being built to supply natural gas to the Gulf, the natural gas that travels through these pipelines, including the proposed CCPE, will only be used locally, to benefit the company's residential and business customers in the region.

The company was required to submit a preferred and an alternate route. Both routes are shown at this link. The OPSB will review the application and ultimately decide the final route. The board may also suggest modifications.

Duke Energy Ohio will construct and operate this approximately 14-mile natural gas pipeline following industry-best engineering and safety practices and in full compliance with state and federal regulations. Currently, Duke Energy safely operates more than 14,000 miles of natural gas pipelines and service lines in its Ohio and Kentucky service territory.

For more information about the Central Corridor Transmission Pipeline Extension, see the company's website at: http://www.duke-energy.com/centralcorridor.

About Duke Energy

Headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., Duke Energy is an S&P 100 Stock Index company traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol DUK. More information about the company is available at duke-energy.com.

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Media contact: Sally Thelen

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