CHARLOTTE, N.C., Sept. 26, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Lloyd Yates, Duke Energy's executive vice president of customer operations, has been named to Black Enterprise Magazine's list of the "100 Most Powerful" black executives in corporate America.   

The publication selected executives based on their contributions to company revenues, as well as management responsibility, budget authority, operating responsibility and influence in their respective companies and industries.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 25, 2012

RALEIGH, NC - There’s a new kid on the block at the 2012 Annual Wake County Parade of Homes. Six of them, in fact. Parade veteran Terramor Homes, one of the Triangle’s leading local homebuilders, will be the first builder to enter six ecoHOME Qualified Homes into the yearly open house contest and tour. ecoHOMEis a newly developed program from Morrisville’s Southern Energy Managementthat is designed to help builders maximize their homes’ health, comfort and energy performance with an effective, yet flexible, prescriptive certification process.

HENDERSON -- The distorted glass panes look ideal for home use as shower sliding doors or bathroom windows. But these panels, resembling rows of miniature fun-house mirrors, are not designed to screen out bathing nudes.

Instead, they magnify the intensity of sunlight by 1,100 times to maximize the potential of solar energy – a prospect that’s creating high hopes for a wave of green jobs in rural Vance County.

Durham start-up Semprius on Wednesday marked the opening of its solar panel factory in Henderson, about 45 miles northeast of Raleigh, before an audience of more than 100 investors, customers, officials and employees. Gov. Bev Perdue was on hand, predicting that solar panels assembled here will be shipped to China bearing a “Made in the U.S.A” stamp.

The Randolph Guide ASHEBORO —

ASHEBORO — The North Carolina Zoo has received top honors in the Association of Zoos and Aquariums' (AZA) 2012 Green Award for outstanding environmental consciousness and institutional green practices.

The award was presented at the AZA's annual conference held last week in Phoenix.

“The AZA is very pleased with the efforts the North Carolina Zoo has made in incorporating exceptional green practices into its business model,” said AZA President and CEO Jim Maddy. “The zoo recognizes that how AZA zoos and aquariums operate their facilities is an important part of conservation.”

09/26/2012 | 12:52pm US/Eastern

Thomasville, N.C.(Sept. 26, 2012)-Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. today unveiled the third largest roof mounted solar panel photovoltaic (PV) system in the state of North Carolina.

Old Dominion unveiled the 1.8 megawatt system during an open house event attended by David Congdon, president and CEO of Old Dominion; North Carolina State Rep. Ruth Samuelson; U.S. Rep. Howard Coble; and SunEnergy1 CEO Kenny Habul. The event was held in conjunction with SunEnergy1, the contractor that built the system at Old Dominion's Vault Logistics warehouse located four miles from the company's corporate headquarters

The Georgia Power Advanced Solar Initiative (GPASI) is the largest voluntarily developed solar portfolio from an investor-owned utility in the United States.

Georgia Power, the largest subsidiary of Southern Company (NYSE: SO), filed the GPASI on Sept. 26 with the Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC). If approved, Georgia Power would acquire 210 MW of additional solar capacity through long term contracts over three years.

A new regional coalition will focus on advancing the coastal and offshore wind energy industry in Virginia, the Carolinas, Georgia and Florida.

Members of the group, called the Southeastern Coastal Wind Coalition, will include businesses, industry members, economic developers, academic institutions and nonprofits that support the development of the wind power industry.

Duke Energy expects the same phenomenon that has girls wearing neon will encourage their parents to cut back on electricity.

By the end of the year, the power company plans to let families see how their energy use compares with that of their neighbors.

Duke Energy Corp.’s $711 million natural gas-fired plant in Rockingham County is expected to come online by November or December, the News & Record of Greensboro reports.

The 620-megawatt natural gas plant replaces three coal-fired units run by Duke (NYSE:DUK) at the Dan River Steam Station.

The natural gas plant is located on the station’s site in Eden and will have the capacity to power about 500,000 average-sized homes simultaneously.