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Progress Energy Florida Announces Authorization To Purchase Long-Lead Materials for Levy County Nuclear Plant

Posted on: Monday, 7 April 2008, 15:00 CDT

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., April 7, 2008 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Progress Energy Florida, a subsidiary of Progress Energy , today announced that it has signed a letter of intent (LOI) with Westinghouse Electric Company and The Shaw Group Inc.'s Power Group. The LOI authorizes the purchase of long-lead-time materials for up to two Westinghouse AP1000 reactors at the Levy County, Florida site. The company has not yet entered into an Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) contract.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20020923/CHM008LOGO-c )

"This is a prudent next step that will help us remain on schedule and preserve favorable pricing for key components," said Jeff Lyash, president and CEO of Progress Energy Florida. "The need for electricity is driving our schedule, and we are committed to providing safe, reliable power to our customers now and in the future. We believe that carbon-free nuclear power is an investment in securing our state's energy future, and today's announcement is another milestone in meeting that objective."

Westinghouse President and CEO Steve Tritch complimented Progress Energy Florida for its foresight in moving to pursue long-lead materials. "This agreement brings the U.S. new-build renaissance one step closer to implementation," he said. "We look forward to a strong and mutually supportive relationship with our valued customer."

"Clearly, the resurgence of nuclear power generation is under way, and Progress Energy is a leader in planning new nuclear power plant construction. This project would help diversify Florida's energy portfolio and help meet the growing demand for electricity in an emission-free and cost-effective manner," said J.M. Bernhard Jr., Shaw's chairman, president and chief executive officer.

Progress Energy Florida submitted a filing with the Florida Public Service Commission (PSC) on March 11, 2008, outlining its need for additional electricity and proposing to meet that need with two nuclear units in Levy County. The PSC has scheduled hearings on the project in late May, and the company has previously stated an expectation to file a Combined Operating License (COL) application with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) sometime this summer. No final decision has been made to proceed with the Levy County project.

If approved and built, the project would be among the first nuclear plants in the country to be constructed on a greenfield site in more than 30 years, and would involve development of one of the single largest transmission infrastructure projects in Florida's history.

In 2006, Progress Energy Florida announced the selection of 3,100 acres in southern Levy County for the potential construction of nuclear reactors. The company has been a longstanding partner in the county's growth and development. The site's proximity to the company's existing Crystal River nuclear plant will provide opportunities for efficiencies in shared support functions at both facilities.

Nuclear power is one of three critical components of the company's balanced solution to meeting its customers' energy needs over the long term, which also includes the use of renewable energy sources, and one of the nation's best energy efficiency programs.

Progress Energy Florida, a subsidiary of Progress Energy , provides electricity and related services to 1.7 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. For more information about Progress Energy, visit the company's Web site at http://www.progress-energy.com/.

The Shaw Group Inc., a 20 percent owner of Westinghouse Electric Company, is a leading global provider of technology, engineering, procurement, construction, maintenance, fabrication, manufacturing, consulting, remediation and facilities management services for government and private sector clients in the energy, chemicals, environmental, infrastructure and emergency response markets. A Fortune 500 company with nearly $6 billion in annual revenues, Shaw is headquartered in Baton Rouge, La., and employs approximately 27,000 people at its offices and operations in North America, South America, Europe, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region. For further information, please visit Shaw's Web site at http://www.shawgrp.com/.

Westinghouse Electric Company, a group company of Toshiba Corporation, is the world's pioneering nuclear power company and is a leading supplier of nuclear plant products and technologies to utilities throughout the world. Westinghouse supplied the world's first PWR in 1957 in Shippingport, Pa. Today, Westinghouse technology is the basis for approximately one-half of the world's operating nuclear plants, including 60 percent of those in the United States.

Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Information:

This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements, by their very nature, involve assumptions, risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results or outcomes to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements. For example, the company's decision on whether to move forward with nuclear generation construction will depend on a variety of factors that are each subject to change, such as the political and regulatory environments, financing options available to fund construction and the overall cost of nuclear generation construction and the associated transmission facilities. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date such statement is made, and we undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statement or statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which such statement is made.

Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20020923/CHM008LOGO-cAP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com

Progress Energy Florida

CONTACT: Progress Energy Florida: 24-hour media line, +1-866-520-6397;Westinghouse: Vaughn Gilbert, +1-412-374-3896; The Shaw Group: Sean Clancy,+1-225-987-7129

Web site: http://www.progress-energy.com/

Source: PRNewswire-FirstCall

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