DUKE ENERGY
Jim Rogers, Chairman, President & CEO
By John Galles
  
                        
Rotarians were proud to receive Jim Rogers as their speaker on July 28th. Rogers has more than 20 years experience as chief executive officer in the electric utility industry. He was named President and chief executive officer of Duke Energy following the merger of Duke Energy and Cinergy in April 2006. Before the merger, Rogers served as Cinergy's chairman and chief executive officer for more than 11 years. Prior to the formation of Cinergy, he joined PSI Energy in 1988 as the company's chairman, president and CEO. He has extensive experience in the energy arena and has testified before Congress over 20 times. He has been chosen by the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce for their 2009 Citizen of the Carolinas to be awarded in December.
 
Job one for Rogers and for Duke Energy is to provide affordable and reliable energy 24 hours a day, seven days a week and 365 days each year. He views his role historically and also has developed his vision between two centuries. He spoke about the 20th century as the years in which affordable and reliable energy was created and delivered universally throughout the United States. In the 100 years since 1909, we have witnessed cleaner energy since the original energy production by coal, wood and kerosene. Now fuels still include coal, but are also produced by solar, wind and other renewable energy sources. He called the 20th century the electrification of America. That electrification enabled many of the subsequent technologies that we have experienced over our lifetimes. From the refrigerator to computers and the internet, they are all fueled by electricity. He says retrospectively with some caution that we can all declare "Mission Accomplished."
 
The 21st century will be a much tougher challenge. He remarked that consumers look at the bill for electricity, investors look at the dividend or the growth in their asset values, but he views the most critical test to be the grandchildren's test…the test of posterity. Will the decisions of the next century be viewed by our grandchildren as good and healthy decisions? To face that challenge, he says that he has committed to serve five more years as head of Duke Energy. His aspirations for the next century are two. First, he wants to modernize the energy production process and to de-carbonize the electric industry by 2050. Second, he wants to encourage and enhance the delivery of energy so that communities, businesses, homes and families can direct power to their own needs in an efficient and affordable manner.
 
Rogers continued that he realizes that Duke has a big carbon footprint and that 71% of its power production is derived from burning coal. He describes the billions of dollars that Duke has invested in cleaning its production facilities, advancing the science and technology of power production and the construction of new plants that are more efficient and have substantially smaller carbon footprints. He acknowledges that nuclear power is necessary and that Duke is committing over $20 billion to new nuclear plants. He went on to speak about Dukes involvement with solar and wind and other renewable energy processes. He encourages "Cathedral" thinking. That is thinking that looks at the scope and impact from above. His recent trips to China suggest that we must reconnect with the American "can-do" spirit if we want to keep up with growth.
 
Rogers then took questions and said that the proposed rate increases were important and necessary for Duke to continue its activities. He mentioned that Duke had not had a rate increase since 1991 and that the state of North Carolina had forced a 4% reduction in rates two years ago. He said with all the projects and costs they had undertaken, they simply needed the rate increase. He also added that Duke's rates were 35% below the industry average. He thanked the Rotary for its attention.
 
   
Head Table: Jon Hannan, Carol Hardison, John Snyder, Joni Davis, Brent Royal, Tracy Grooms;
Invocation: Tom Robertson;
Visitors & Guests: Bill Bradley; Health & Happiness: Leland Park; Song: Gregg Walker; Piano: Thomas Moore; Photos: Bert Voswinkel

• Rob Thomas introduced new member Tom Stowe. Tom, a former member of the Peachtree Corners Rotary Club in Georgia, is President of Stowe & Stowe, CPAs, PA and can be reached at tom@stowefirm.com.
            
• Rotarians in the paper: Tony Zeiss talked about how CPCC is dealing with high demand; Benton Bragg discussed the market's uncertainty and crisis management. Bob Finley also contributed to the story on the market; Ronnie Bryant and the Charlotte Regional Partnership are hosting an Energy Investors Forum; Alan Adler commented on developing a strategic plan to deal with homelessness; and Natalie English presented an opinion on the minimum wage increase.
   
• In addition to managing money, the Benton Bragg family has been busy with their family garden. Look for Benton, Alice and the three kids at the Davidson Farmers Market where they're selling tomatoes, broccoli, lettuce, cucumber, watermelon and flowers that have been planted and taken care of by the children. The kids also give a portion of their proceeds to the Loaves & Fishes food pantry at Ada Jenkins Center.
   
• HOST FAMILY UPDATE: Luther Moore is glad to report all three host families are in place for the youth exchange student arriving from the Czech Republic. However, only one family is locked in for Leo, who arrives from France and is enrolled at Charlotte Country Day School. Time frames needed are winter (late November to end of March) and spring (April until he leaves for home). Contact Luther Moore or Ed Wadsworth for additional information.
 
• Andy Hallett (Denise Hallett) and Lili Driggs (Ed Driggs) attended the District's "Seminar for Tomorrow's Leaders" training at Catawba College. The program, which replaces RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Award), provides rising Junior and Senior High students a weekend of training to boost their self confidence, learn about team building, leadership styles and communication skills.
 
• George Robinette had surgery a couple weeks ago and was at Rotary this week looking like the picture of health.