RALEIGH, N.C. / ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (March 30, 2005) - In June, Progress Energy will begin installing automated meters for 2.6 million residential customers in Florida and the Carolinas. The technology will provide a less-intrusive meter-reading process for customers, more accurate bills and fewer estimated bills.

The new high-tech meters will have digital displays, instead of dials, and will use secure radio frequency transmissions. Instead of walking door-to-door, meter readers will gather customer electricity-use information by driving near a home in a vehicle that includes a computer and a radio receiver. This will allow each meter reader to read up to 10,000 meters daily, as opposed to the current daily total of about 400.

"We think our customers will be pleased with the results of this technology," said Bill Johnson, president and chief operating officer of Progress Energy. "These meters are more accurate, and our customers will find the technology less intrusive because meter readers will no longer need to access their property. There will be no need for customers to unlock gates or keep their pets indoors on meter-reading days, as is currently the case."

The meters are more accurate and difficult to vandalize, which is expected to reduce cases of energy theft. The new meters also will reduce human error, which means customers will receive fewer estimated bills. And the new system helps eliminate safety concerns for meter reading, including dog bites, bee stings and other injuries and hazards.

Progress Energy is among the first investor-owned utilities to install automated meters on a broad scale. In Florida, the 18-month project will start in St. Petersburg in June, finishing at the end of 2006. In the Carolinas, it will start in September, finishing in early 2007. To meet those schedules, the company will install an average of 7,000 meters every weekday across our territories.

We will notify customers in advance of installation work in their neighborhoods. For most customers, the process will be completed with little or no inconvenience.

Progress Energy expects the $140 million mobile meter reading program to reduce operating expenses in the long term. It will displace roughly 160 full-time positions in Florida and 200 contractor positions in the Carolinas. The positions will be phased out during the installation, and the company will work with bargaining unit leadership to discuss career transition services for full-time employees.

Progress Energy (NYSE: PGN), headquartered in Raleigh, N.C., is a Fortune 250 diversified energy company with more than 24,000 megawatts of generation capacity and $9 billion in annual revenues. The company's holdings include two electric utilities serving more than 2.9 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina and Florida. Progress Energy also includes non-regulated operations covering merchant generation, energy marketing, natural gas exploration and broadband capacity. For more information about Progress Energy, visit the company's Web site at http://www.progress-energy.com.

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Contacts:
Carolinas: 24-hour media line (877) 641-NEWS or 919-546-6189
Florida: 24-hour media line (866) 520-6397