Sisters and Brothers,

You either have, or you soon will, receive the attached funding notification in the mail regarding your retirement benefits. Because our retirement plans are covered by ERISA (Employee Retirement Income Security Act) Duke Energy is legally required to provide an annual funding notification to all participants of their plans. As a result of M-35, (Management Proposal 35) the Florida Bargaining Unit Traditional Pension Plan was merged into the Duke Energy Retirement Plan in 2020. Unfortunately, the plan document is entitled, "The Duke Energy Retirement Cash Balance Plan." I understand this may be confusing, however, as you may remember from the contract explanation meetings, this is simply the title of the book which contains multiple different retirement plans, including all of our's. Nothing has changed regarding your earned benefits; our plan has simply been added to their larger book of plans. In fact, according to our attorneys, should the Company sell off assets or split the Bargaining Unit, we're in a much stronger position being a chapter in the book. There are other Traditional Pension plans in the book, along with our's, and all are funded exceptionally well. I hope this eases some concerns. Thank you and please continue working safely.

Fraternally Yours,

Phil

Duke Energy RCBP 2020 Annual Funding Notice.pdf