Carolina Power & Light was an electrical generation, transmission, and distribution utility based in Raleigh, North Carolina

Raleigh, North Carolina

Raleigh is the capital and the second largest city in the state of North Carolina as well as the seat of Wake County. Raleigh is known as the "City of Oaks" for its many oak trees. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city's 2010 population was 403,892, over an area of , making Raleigh...

. The company was founded on July 13, 1908 as the result of the merger and buyout of numerous small, private, and financial distressed utilities across the state. Known locally as "CP&L" the company's main operations were in Eastern North Carolina and in parts of northeastern South Carolina and in the Asheville

Asheville, North Carolina

Asheville is a city in and the county seat of Buncombe County, North Carolina, United States. It is the largest city in Western North Carolina, and the 11th largest city in North Carolina. The City is home to the United States National Climatic Data Center , which is the world's largest active...

 area of western North Carolina. The company merged with Florida Progress Corporation

Florida Progress Corporation

Florida Progress Corporation a.k.a. Florida Progress was a utility holding company based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The company was the parent company for Florida Power Corporation which distributed power over many parts of central and north Florida. The company merged with Carolina Power & Light...

 in 2000 to become Progress Energy Inc

Progress Energy Inc

Progress Energy , headquartered in Raleigh, N.C., is a Fortune 500 energy company with more than 21,000 megawatts of generation capacity and $9 billion in annual revenues. Progress Energy includes two major electric utilities that serve approximately 3.1 million customers in the Carolinas and...

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History

In 1908, Raleigh Electric, Central Carolina Power and Consumer Light & Power merged to form Carolina Power & Light.

In 1952, CP&L added southeastern North Carolina with the acquisition of Tide Water Power.

In 1987, CP&L built the Shearon Harris Nuclear Power Plant

Shearon Harris nuclear power plant

The Shearon Harris Nuclear Generating Station is a nuclear power plant with a single Westinghouse designed pressurized-water nuclear reactor operated by Progress Energy. It was named in honor of W. Shearon Harris, former president of Carolina Power & Light...

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After the 2000 acquisition of Florida Progress Corporation, CP&L started calling itself Progress Energy in 2002.