Duke Energy, which completed its merger with Cinergy in April, said Friday it will sell its commercial marketing and trading business to lower its risk profile. The affected operations include Cinergy Marketing and Trading LP and Cinergy Canada Inc., along with some subsidiaries and affiliates.

Duke’s commercial group’s services include power, natural gas, coal and emission commodity trading, as well as risk management, asset management and energy portfolio management.

“The strategic decision to exit the marketing and trading operation is aligned with our continued focus on lowering the company’s risk profile,” said CEO James E. Rogers in a statement. “It is also consistent with the decision Duke Energy made in September 2005 to wind-down the trading associated with its North American wholesale power operations” (see Daily GPI, Sept. 14, 2005).

Earlier this month, Duke completed the sale of the wholesale power generation assets outside of the Midwest of Duke Energy North America (DENA) to a subsidiary of LS Power Equity Partners for $1.6 billion (see Power Market Today, May 5).

“While we’re moving to monetize this piece of the business, we remain committed to the power, gas and coal marketing and trading operations that optimize our commercial asset position in the Midwest,” Rogers said.

The exit is not expected to have a material impact on Duke’s ongoing earnings. Duke will continue to own and operate a diverse fuel mix of wholesale power generation assets, which total about 8,700 MW in the Midwest.

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