CIN Cinergy Corp

Cinergy Corp. (NYSE:CIN) Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer told Congress today that even if he and a multitude of scientists are wrong on global warming, the outcomes from developing new environmental technologies, greater energy efficiency and lower dependence on foreign oil are still positives that cannot be argued with. Testifying before the House Science Committee on Cinergy's voluntary efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, Rogers reiterated the company's belief that we will operate in a carbon-constrained world in the future. While additional scientific work remains to refine our knowledge of climate science, he said it is indisputable that the earth is getting warmer and the cause is a combination of human and natural processes. "Whatever emission reduction approach is adopted, I believe that coupling it with legitimate methods of advancing technology is crucial," Rogers said in his written testimony. "Getting these technologies into the marketplace earlier and more effectively is an issue that I believe is often overlooked." He said the U.S. needs to develop technology funds that will offset the cost of meeting emission reduction targets by spreading the costs through the entire economy and by helping the U.S. regain its lost momentum in leading the energy efficiency technology race. Rogers added that much of the focus on research and development is too heavily weighted to the research side and that more emphasis is needed on deployment of technology as well as development. He pointed to estimates on the costs of Integrated Combined Cycle Gasification, a promising technology, as being 10 to 20 percent greater than conventional coal-fired generation and said that these costs will come down only if appropriate incentives are made to deploy five or more facilities over the next decade. He also pointed out that Congress should look to simplicity in developing emission reduction goals. "A program that allows companies to make a forward-looking commitment, meet it, and be able to trade emissions that are below the target eliminates much unneeded bureaucracy of traditional cap and trade allowance schemes," Rogers said. "The President has begun a viable program of voluntary reductions, but I think Congress can go further by working on a program of reachable goals." Cinergy Corp. has a balanced, integrated portfolio consisting of two core businesses: regulated operations and commercial businesses. Cinergy's regulated public utilities in Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky serve 1.5 million electric customers and about 500,000 gas customers. In addition, its Indiana regulated company owns 7,000 megawatts of generation. Cinergy's competitive commercial businesses have 6,300 megawatts of generating capacity with a profitable balance of stable existing customer portfolios, new customer origination, marketing and trading, and industrial-site cogeneration. Cinergy's integrated businesses make it a Midwest leader in providing both low-cost generation and reliable electric and gas service. This document includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Forward-looking statements are based on management's beliefs and assumptions. These forward-looking statements are identified by terms and phrases such as "anticipate", "believe", "intend", "estimate", "expect", "continue", "should", "could", "may", "plan", "project", "predict", "will", and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to be materially different from the results predicted. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in any forward-looking statement include, but are not limited to, unanticipated weather conditions; unscheduled generation outages; unusual maintenance or repairs; unanticipated changes in costs; environmental incidents, including costs of compliance with existing and future environmental requirements; electric transmission or gas pipeline system constraints; legislative and regulatory initiatives; additional competition in electric or gas markets and continued industry consolidation; financial or regulatory accounting principles; political, legal, and economic conditions and developments in the countries in which we have a presence; changing market conditions and other factors related to physical energy and financial trading activities; the performance of projects undertaken by our non-regulated businesses and the success of efforts to invest in and develop new opportunities; availability of, or cost of, capital; employee workforce factors; delays and other obstacles associated with mergers, acquisitions, and investments in joint ventures; and costs and effects of legal and administrative proceedings, settlements, investigations, and claims. Please refer to the company's SEC filings for additional information concerning factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update the information contained herein.