Exhibit 31(b)




CERTIFICATION






I, Peter M. Scott III, certify
      that:




1. I
      have
      reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of Progress Energy,
      Inc.;




2. Based
      on
      my knowledge, this quarterly report does not contain any untrue statement of
      a
      material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements
      made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements were made,
      not
      misleading with respect to the period covered by this quarterly
      report;




3. Based
      on
      my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial information included
      in this quarterly report, fairly present in all material respects the financial
      condition, results of operations and cash flows of the registrant as of, and
      for, the periods presented in this quarterly report;




4. The
      registrant's other certifying officer and I are responsible for establishing
      and
      maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act
      Rules
      13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and internal control over financial reporting (as
      defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for the registrant and
      we
      have:




a)
          designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused
      such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our
      supervision,  to ensure that material information relating to the
      registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by
      others within those entities, particularly during the period in which this
      quarterly report is being prepared;


b)   
designed
      such internal control over financial
      reporting, or caused such internal control over financial reporting to be
      designed under our supervision, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the
      reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements
      for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting
      principles;


c)    
evaluated
      the effectiveness of the
      registrant's disclosure controls and procedures and presented in this quarterly
      report our conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and
      procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this quarterly report based
      on such evaluation; and


d)   
disclosed
      in this quarterly report any change in the
      registrant’s internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the
      registrant’s most recent fiscal quarter (the registrant’s first fiscal quarter
      in the case of this quarterly report) that has materially affected, or is
      reasonably likely to materially affect, the registrant’s internal control over
      financial reporting; and




5. The
      registrant's other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based on our most
      recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to the
      registrant's auditors and the audit committee of registrant's board of
      directors:




a)    
all
      significant deficiencies and material
      weaknesses in the design or operation of internal control over financial
      reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrant's
      ability to record, process, summarize and report financial information;
      and


b)   
any
      fraud, whether or not material, that involves
      management or other employees who have a significant role in the registrant's
      internal control over financial reporting.




Date:
                May 9, 2006
            By:
/s/
                Peter M. Scott IIIPeter
                M. Scott IIIExecutive
                Vice President and Chief Financial Officer