Progress Energy Florida Selects 10 Public Schools Serving as Emergency Shelters to Receive Free Solar Installations and Battery Backup Systems
Progress Energy Florida, a subsidiary of Duke Energy, has selected 10 public schools serving as emergency shelters to receive no-cost solar installations and battery backup systems through the utility’s SunSense Schools program.
- (1888PressRelease) August 16, 2012 - The effort is part of the utility’s expanded SunSense® Schools solar energy program, which provides no-cost solar installations for up to 10 public schools and one post-secondary institution in Progress Energy Florida’s service territory per year through 2014. Each participating school will receive a 10-kilowatt (kW) solar installation with battery backup.
“The SunSense Schools program helps bridge our goal of increasing renewable energy education and adoption with our desire to provide customers the electricity they want and need in all weather conditions,” said Vincent Dolan, Duke Energy state president -- Florida. “While we work to make critical resources available to a growing number of the state’s emergency shelters, we’re hopeful some of the bright, young minds exposed to solar energy through our SunSense® program will be inspired to become the innovators who determine how Florida’s electricity needs will be met for decades to come.”
The selected schools applied to participate in the utility’s program earlier this year. Participants were chosen based on key categories such as their commitment to energy efficiency and renewable energy education, a location that maximizes geographic distribution throughout Progress Energy’s service territory, the number of students and the school’s shelter capacity.
The 2012 SunSense Schools program participants are:
• Branford Elementary School, Branford, Suwannee County
• Chasco Elementary School, Port Richey, Pasco County
• Citrus high School, Inverness, Citrus County
• Citrus Springs Middle School, Citrus Springs, Citrus County
• Davenport School of the Arts, Davenport, Polk County
• DeBary Elementary School, DeBary, Volusia County
• High Springs Community School, High Springs, Alachua County
• Palm Harbor Middle School, Palm Harbor, Pinellas County
• Sanderlin Middle School, St. Petersburg, Pinellas County
• River Springs Middle School, Orange City, Volusia County
More information about the SunSense program and details on how schools can apply is available at progress-energy.com/sunsense.
To date, Progress Energy has installed solar arrays on and provided associated educational materials to 28 Florida schools through SunSense® Schools and its predecessor programs.
The focus on schools serving as emergency shelters was part of a 2011 expansion to the utility’s SunSense® program. Other program components include incentives toward residential and commercial solar photovoltaic (PV) installations, Solar Water Heating with EnergyWise, and Solar Water Heating for Affordable Housing. The expanded solar offerings will be in place through 2014.
Alternative energy technologies, such as those included in the SunSense program – combined with energy efficiency and state-of-the-art plants – collectively form the balanced solution strategy Progress Energy believes is necessary to best meet its customers’ short- and long-term energy needs.
More information about Progress Energy Florida can be found at www.progress-energy.com.
Progress Energy Florida
Progress Energy Florida, a subsidiary of Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK), provides electricity and related services to more than 1.6 million customers in Florida. The company is headquartered in St. Petersburg, Fla., and serves a territory encompassing more than 20,000 square miles including the cities of St. Petersburg and Clearwater, as well as the Central Florida area surrounding Orlando. Progress Energy Florida is pursuing a balanced approach to meeting the future energy needs of the region. That balance includes increased energy-efficiency programs, investments in renewable energy technologies and a state-of-the-art electricity system. More information is available at www.progress-energy.com.
Headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., Duke Energy is a Fortune 250 company traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol DUK. More information about the company is available at: www.duke-energy.com.
Media contact via 24-Hour media line: 800-559-3853
Follow Progress Energy Florida on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ProgEnergyFL
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