I am deeply honored by the trust the board has placed in me to lead Duke Energy. I have a high degree of confidence in the strength of our company's leadership and dedicated employees.
Lynn Good
Effectiveness comes from those qualitative things that give you the ability to network, communicate, and lead people toward an outcome they can't see.
When I was growing up, we had a widow living next door to us. So the habit was that if we went to the grocery store, we called her first. If we cut our yard, we cut her yard, no questions asked.
Leadership is a journey - you never arrive.
You were in the midst of a chaotic, unfair, didn't-know-how-it-was-going-to-end story, and the only thing you could do was... keep moving.
I don't see a sea change by 2020, but I see migration in the direction of modernization and more flexibility in the generating system going forward.
I am honored to be named chairman of Duke Energy's board and privileged to lead our company forward for our customers, employees, and shareholders.
For 2015, Duke Energy's employees safety record received the top rank among large utilities as recognize by EEI.
Leaders play a unique role in periods of crisis and chaos. Because if you don't, you're not going to harness the power of all the people behind you.
Our nation's power plant fleet must include a mix of solar, wind, hydro, natural gas and nuclear plants.
If you can, anticipate that life is going to be full of detours.
We see natural gas as an important part of the electricity generation mix for many decades to come.
Through Duke Energy's strong balance sheet and electric generation expertise, and Piedmont's understanding of natural gas markets and proficient operations, the combined company will be well-positioned for a future that may require additional natural gas infrastructure and services to meet the needs of our customers.
There's nothing about Lynn Good at age 30 or age 35 that would have said, 'I am setting my sights on being a CEO.'
I'll be the first one to tell you I burn coal... That fossil generation and the nuclear generation, frankly, is necessary in order for me to provide power.
Fracking has been a real technological change that has caused great innovation in our business, and we've had the benefit of very low gas prices for our customers as a result of that.
If we're going to be serious about decarbonizing the bulk-power system, nuclear has to be part of the conversation.
People who love what they do get after it every day.
I believe that nuclear needs to be a part of the solution if the U.S. really wants to be aggressive about reducing carbon.
I respect passionate views.
As we look ahead, we see increasing opportunities for Duke in natural gas - not just for producing electricity, but in providing gas for our customers. We have been investing in renewables as well throughout the U.S.
The enthusiasm around carbon capture and sequestration was probably greater before the shale-gas discovery and the low prices were so prevalent.
There is growing demand for renewable energy.
As we continue to move to a lower-carbon future, we will also continue to work constructively with states to identify customer solutions that preserve the reliability and affordability that our communities expect.
Our highest priorities are safe operations and the well-being of the people and communities we serve.
Utilities fall in love with their assets, and that's a danger we need to avoid.
Nuclear is an important part of the heritage of Duke. We operate the largest regulated nuclear fleet in the U.S. We love the diversity of the generation.
We don't believe carbon capture is a proven, scalable, commercially available technology.
We are accountable for what happened at Dan River and have learned from this event.
2013 was a year of great accomplishment for Duke: our first full year as a combined company.
As you think about developing people through their careers, you're looking for that transition from being the smartest person in the room - and caring so much about that - to being the most effective.
Over the long term, we should develop and implement new technologies to capture and store coal's carbon emissions. We also must make our electric grid more resilient.
An investor in Duke Energy is expecting a dividend payment. That's roughly 70 to 75 percent of the earnings I produce. The business that goes with that level of dividend is a business that has more predictability, more stability.
I don't believe you can absolutely have it all.
We should be building more nuclear today.
There are no coal plants on the drawing board for Duke, which leaves us with gas, renewables, and nuclear.
If you feel like there is going to be an emotional reaction that won't be helpful to resolve the situation, anger or other things, disarm the situation in some way, and you can use different techniques to do that.
I find, at times, people underestimate me. That's really an asset.
I love nuclear.
More than 40 percent of the electricity we generated in the Carolinas in 2015 was from carbon-free sources.
When you're in a crisis, there's really no playbook.
If we just isolate distributed solar all by itself, it does not work without the utility around it. And so the utility needs to be paid for the services it provides.
Natural gas is an important part of delivering energy, whether you're producing power or other solutions for customers.
All options to produce, transmit, and store electricity should be considered, driven by clear price signals and constructive government policy.
On two occasions, utility executives I'd never met had looked at me and said, 'I thought you'd be bigger!' In a way, I took that as a compliment!
I can be incredibly focused, and I can appear impatient. So I've learned to slow down, get to know people, and provide more context. There's nothing wrong with getting to the point pretty quickly, but it's also helpful to give people an opportunity to talk about their work.
We are setting a new standard for coal ash management and implementing smart, sustainable solutions for all of our ash basins.
If we are not more efficient, we put ourselves in a position where prices need to rise or profits deteriorate in a way that makes us less attractive to investors.
I will work to ensure Duke Energy is positioned to continue its track record of outstanding customer service and operational and financial excellence.
The closing of ash basins is really part of decommissioning a coal plant.
