15- COMMON STOCK
At Duke Energy's annual meeting of shareholders held on April 15, 1999, shareholders approved an amendment to the Articles of Incorporation to increase the authorized common stock from 500 million to 1 billion shares.
In 1996, the Board of Directors authorized Duke Energy to repurchase up to $1 billion of its common stock during the period beginning February 1996 and ending February 2001. No repurchases of common stock were made in 1999, 1998 or 1997, and none are anticipated in the future.