Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in any forward-looking statement include, but are not limited to: state, federal and foreign legislative and regulatory initiatives, including costs of compliance with existing and future environmental requirements; state, federal and foreign legislative and regulatory initiatives including costs of compliance with existing and future environmental requirements, as well as rulings that affect cost and investment recovery or have an impact on rate structures; costs and effects of legal and administrative proceedings, settlements, investigations and claims; industrial, commercial and residential growth in Duke energy’s service territories, customer base or customer usage patterns; additional competition in electric markets and continued industry consolidation; political and regulatory uncertainty in other countries in which Duke energy conducts business; the influence of weather and other natural phenomena on Duke energy’s operations, including the economic, operational and other effects of storms, hurricanes, droughts and tornados; the timing and extent of changes in commodity prices, interest rates and foreign currency exchange rates; unscheduled generation outages, unusual maintenance or repairs and electric transmission system constraints; the performance of electric generation and of projects undertaken by Duke energy’s non-regulated businesses; the results of financing efforts, including Duke energy’s ability to obtain financing on favorable terms, which can be affected by various factors, including Duke energy’s credit ratings and general economic conditions; declines in the market prices of equity securities and resultant cash funding requirements for Duke energy’s defined benefit pension plans; the level of creditworthiness of counterparties to Duke energy’s transactions; employee workforce factors, including the potential inability to attract and retain key personnel; growth in opportunities for Duke energy’s business units, including the timing and success of efforts to develop domestic and international power and other projects; construction and development risks associated with the completion of Duke energy’s capital investment projects in existing and new generation facilities, including risks related to financing, obtaining and complying with terms of permits, meeting construction budgets and schedules, and satisfying operating and environmental performance standards, as well as the ability to recover costs from customers in a timely manner or at all; the effect of accounting pronouncements issued periodically by accounting standard-setting bodies; and the ability to successfully complete merger, acquisition or divestiture plans.