In 2012, Duke and Progressive Energy merged to create the new Duke Energy, the largest regulated utility in the U.S., with approximately 7 million customers across six states. The case for the merger included $650 million in guaranteed cost savings and a very aggressive customer service integration plan. Duke was able to integrate the customer service technologies and operations spanning several data centers, 6 states and 8 contact centers in just 12 months. All areas of the project had to seek innovation to meet the required timeframes of this aggressive project.