Duke Energy
Canvas Category OEM : Utility
We are one of the largest electric power holding companies in the U.S., providing energy to 7.9 million customers in six states. We have approximately 51,000 megawatts of power generating capacity in the Carolinas, Midwest and Florida – and a natural gas distribution system serving more than 1.6 million customers in Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee and the Carolinas. Our commercial business owns and operates a diverse portfolio of renewable energy facilities. We are transforming our customers’ experience, modernizing our energy grid and generating cleaner energy to create a smarter energy future for our customers and communities.
Assembly Line
How America’s Factory Whisperer Chooses the Perfect Location
The job is a blend of data-crunching, on-the-ground investigation and hard-nose negotiating. Caldwell figures there are around 850 distinct data points that can sway a siting decision. Transportation, housing, quality of life, cost of living, utility rates — it’s all relevant, as are the nitty-gritty details of the site itself — its size, shape and location, and what’s in the water, soil and natural habitats.
Caldwell and her staff of 17 are constantly hunting for a site’s “fatal flaw.” How hard is it to get permits from various layers of local government? How much electricity, sewer, water and natural gas can be piped into a site? What’s the local labor force like now, and how might it look in 20 years when the facility will presumably still be operating? Is the region a place you’d actually want to be, where your most valuable employees would be willing to relocate?
Each visit to a potential site is an all-day marathon of meetings on crucial details from utility connections and transportation logistics to construction and labor costs — plus chats with a succession of officials at various levels of government.
Caldwell explained her view of the global competitive landscape to 20 local economic development officials dining on steak and salmon. “What I hear all the time is how much cheaper China is than the US. It’s not,” she said, showing them a PowerPoint slide ranking more than 30 countries on their estimated operating costs including labor, electricity, water and transportation. The US landed in the middle, only slightly more expensive than China.