Cinergy Receives Top Department of Labor Award

    Business Editors

    CINCINNATI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 18, 2005--The U.S. Department of Labor has honored Cinergy Corp. (NYSE:CIN) with its highest award, the Secretary of Labor's Opportunity Award, for the company's innovative programs and initiatives to promote equal opportunity for all applicants and employees.
    The award was presented to James E. Rogers, Cinergy chairman, president and chief executive officer, on March 17, 2005 at a ceremony in Washington, D.C., hosted by the Labor Department's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs.
    "I am truly honored that our company has been chosen for this most prestigious award," Rogers said. "It is a tribute to the outstanding efforts of our employees in designing ways to give equal opportunity to everyone in the workplace."
    Cinergy management works toward a balanced workforce and inclusion for women, people of color, veterans and people with disabilities. It has also taken a leadership role of the development of women and minority owned businesses in the Greater Cincinnati area.
    U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao said, "They lead by example in creating opportunities for all and they inspire and enable people to pursue the American dream."
    Workplace Quality, which promotes a diverse, healthy and safe workplace, is one of Cinergy's five core principles of sustainability. The four other principles are environmental improvement, social responsibility, economic progress, and ethics and governance. Progress on these principles is why Cinergy was named to the 2005 Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes for the second consecutive year.
    The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, an agency of the U.S. Labor Department's Employment Standards Administration, enforces Executive Order 11246 and other laws that prohibit employment discrimination by federal contractors. The agency monitors federal contractors to ensure that they provide equal employment opportunities without regard to race, gender, color, religion, national origin, disability or veterans' status.
    Cinergy Corp. has a balanced, integrated portfolio consisting of two core businesses: regulated operations and commercial businesses. Cinergy's regulated public utilities in Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky serve 1.5 million electric customers and about 500,000 gas customers. In addition, its Indiana regulated company owns 7,000 megawatts of generation. Cinergy's competitive commercial businesses have 6,300 megawatts of generating capacity with a profitable balance of stable existing customer portfolios, new customer origination, marketing and trading, and industrial-site cogeneration. Cinergy's integrated businesses make it a Midwest leader in providing both low-cost generation and reliable electric and gas service.

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CONTACT: Cinergy Corp. Steve Brash, 513-287-2226 (w) 513-543-7489 (c) Angeline Protogere, 317-838-1338 (w) 317-367-3306 (p) www.cinergy.com

KEYWORD: KENTUCKY INDIANA OHIO INDUSTRY KEYWORD: ENERGY UTILITIES SOURCE: Cinergy Corp.

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