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Delivering Electricity

Electricity - everyone uses it. Power generation is a complex process and delivering electricity to your home or business is dependent on sophisticated distribution systems. Duke Energy wants you to have a general understanding of our power production process and how the combination of generating stations, poles and power lines work together to make your days and nights more comfortable and convenient.

Power Generating Stations (1)
Duke Energy produces electricity at our nuclear, fossil-fueled and hydroelectric generating stations.

Transmission Lines (2)
From the generating stations, large amounts of electricity are transported on transmission lines - between 66,000 and 161,000 volts - to local substations.

Substations (3)
Next, substations - banks of electrical equipment - convert the transmission line voltage to lower levels that are appropriate for distribution power lines, which are used in local communities. Substations also control the flow of electricity and protect the lines and equipment from damage.

Distribution Power Lines (4)
Distribution power lines, which can be installed above ground or underground, carry between 12,000 and 34,000 volts of electricity to your neighborhood.

Your Home or Business (5)
A transformer (6) converts the distribution-level voltage to levels that can be used inside your home or business. This voltage is carried from the transformer through an underground or overhead power line -- also referred to as a service drop (7) -- to individual meters (8). That voltage ranges from 120 to 480 volts.