RALEIGH, N.C. (May 12, 2004) -- Progress Energy President and CEO Bob McGehee was elected chairman of the company's board of directors today following the annual shareholders meeting. McGehee replaces Bill Cavanaugh, who had served in the role since 1999 and retired from the board at this meeting.

"Bob has shown tremendous leadership at Progress Energy and throughout the industry," said Progress Energy board member Charles Coker. "Bob has earned the confidence of the board, and his experience, vision and business acumen will help Progress Energy reach even greater levels of performance."

McGehee became chief executive officer of Progress Energy, Inc. on March 1, 2004. He was president and chief operating officer from October 2002 to March 2004. He also served as president and chief executive officer of the Progress Energy Service Company, LLC, executive vice president, general counsel of Progress Energy, Inc., and chief administrative officer -- Administrative Services & Corporate Relations Group of Carolina Power & Light Company (CP&L). McGehee joined CP&L May 20, 1997, as senior vice president and general counsel.

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 2.8 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina and Florida. Progress Energy also includes nonregulated operations covering competitive generation, energy marketing, natural gas production, fuel extraction, rail services 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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