EXHIBIT 99.1


     MEDIA CONTACTS                                 INVESTOR CONTACT

KEITH POSTON,                                       BOB DRENNAN,
CP&L Energy                                         CP&L Energy
919/546-6189                                        919/546-7474

MELANIE FORBRICK,
Florida Progress Corporation
727/820-5023

            CP&L Energy's Acquisition of Florida Progress Completed

RALEIGH, NC and ST. PETERSBURG, FL (November 30, 2000) - CP&L Energy's (CP&L)
[NYSE: CPL] acquisition of Florida Progress Corporation (FPC) [NYSE: FPC] was
officially completed today. On Monday, December 4, 2000, CP&L Energy will
announce a new name and brand for the combined company, along with a new NYSE
ticker symbol. The company will begin trading under the new ticker symbol on
Monday, December 11, 2000. Until that date, the new company will trade under
CP&L's current symbol, CPL.

"We believe the combination of CP&L and Florida Progress will create and grow
value that our shareholders can count on," said William Cavanaugh, chairman,
president and CEO of CP&L Energy. "The tireless work of employees at both
companies to complete this combination, which was ongoing for the past fifteen
months, continued while those same employees provided the stellar service to
customers and communities that has characterized both CP&L and Florida
Progress."

"We are very pleased to close on this combination today, just fifteen months
after announcing the agreement," said Richard Korpan, chairman, president and
CEO of Florida Progress. "Accomplishing this feat on schedule serves to reaffirm
our commitment to deliver on our promises to our customers and our shareholders
and exceed their expectations."

On Tuesday, four new directors were elected to the Board of the combined company
effective at close. They are W.D. "Bill" Frederick, Jr., Frederick Enterprise
Group; Richard Korpan, Florida Progress Corporation; Richard A. Nunis, retired
chairman, Walt Disney Attractions, Inc.; and Jean Giles Wittner, Wittner
Companies. They join Edwin B. Borden, The Borden Manufacturing Company; David L.
Burner, The BF Goodrich Company; William Cavanaugh; CP&L Energy; Charles W.
Coker, Sonoco Products Company; Richard L. Daugherty, N.C. State University
Research Corporation; Estell C. Lee, The Lee Company; William O. McCoy, Franklin
Street Partners; E. Marie McKee, Corning Incorporated; John H. Mullin, III,
Ridgeway Farm; and J. Tylee Wilson, retired chairman and CEO, RJR Nabisco, Inc.


William Cavanaugh will be chairman, president and CEO of the combined company.
The combination will create one of the nation's 10 largest energy companies
based on a generating capacity of more than 19,000 megawatts and 2.8 million
customers in the Carolinas and Florida.

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the
safe harbor provisions of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The
forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties.
Discussion of factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from
management's projections, forecasts, estimates and expectations may include
factors that are beyond the companies' ability to control or estimate precisely.
Factors include, but are not limited to, actions in the financial markets,
actions of regulatory agencies, weather conditions, economic conditions in the
companies' service territories, fluctuations in energy-related commodity prices,
conversion activity, other marketing efforts and other uncertainties. Other risk
factors are detailed from time to time in the companies' SEC reports.

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