We believe we have a responsibility to protect the environment while fulfilling our obligation to provide affordable, reliable electric service.

Successfully resolving the placed-in-service issue has been a top priority for the company, so we are very pleased by the outcome. This positive ruling removes a major uncertainty for the company and will allow our management team to focus on strategic uses of the cash benefits provided by the synthetic fuel tax credits.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission performed the on-site portion of its evaluation of security at the Harris Plant this week. While the NRC has not completed its assessment and provided us with its conclusions, the inspectors did not identify any concerns requiring our immediate attention while on-site. Once complete, we will act immediately on any insights the agency may provide.

Selecting a site for possible nuclear generation expansion, first in North Carolina and later in Florida, is part of our planning process to ensure we have the energy our customers need in the future.

Even with more conservation and energy-efficiency programs, energy use will continue to grow as more people move to this region. To meet that growing demand for electricity, we'll need to add significant new power generation.

We had a very successful year in 2005, with ongoing earnings of $3.33 per share, significantly exceeding our 2005 guidance of $2.90 to $3.20 per share. These positive results reflected the benefit of positive weather as well as actions our management took to manage costs.