Duke Energy Renewables has completed two south Texas wind farms that are its biggest ever with a combined capacity of 402 megawatts.

The Duke Energy commercial business added 800 megawatts of green energy to its portfolio in 2012, with five new wind projects and three solar farms. The addition of the Texas projects, Los Vientos I and II, puts its total renewable capacity at more than 1,700 megawatts. Duke says that’s enough to power about 500,000 homes.

The Los Vientos I output and renewable energy credits are sold to CPS Energy, a municipally-owned electric and gas utility in San Antonio. Austin Energy, a community-owned electric utility, is buying the output and credits of Los Vientos II. Duke owns three other wind farms in Texas, two in Kansas and one in Pennsylvania. Bruce Henderson

Levine: Family Dollar can weather payroll tax hike

Howard Levine, the CEO of Matthews-based Family Dollar, said Monday that the payroll tax increase now hitting American workers is not a major challenge for the business.

The 2 percentage point increase, the result of the expiration of the payroll tax holiday, is expected to have a bigger impact on Family Dollar and other discounters’ core customers as they’re more likely to be living paycheck-to-paycheck. Analysts have said this will hurt discount retailers.

Levine said on CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” morning program that he doesn’t think the tax will be a significant drag on his company.

“We’ve been through many economic scenarios that were much more challenging than this one,” he said, although he added the payroll tax is “certainly not a positive.” Ely Portillo

Daimler leases Gaston site for warehousing, assembly

Daimler Trucks North America has signed a lease for 310,000 square feet in Gastonia, in what brokers say marks the largest industrial lease signed in Gaston County during the past five years.

A Daimler Trucks spokesman said the building, on Fairview Drive, will be used for warehousing, light manufacturing and assembly for the Freightliner division. Freightliner makes parts for trucks and buses and currently has two plants in the area, one in Gastonia and one in Mount Holly.

David Goode, broker in charge for NAI Southern Real Estate, represented Daimler Trucks North America. He said the lease is a culmination of a 1 1/2-year search to identify the right location for the facility. Kerry Singe

Apple stock drops on iPhone 5 production cut

Apple Inc. declined Monday to the lowest price in 11 months after the Nikkei newswire reported that production of the iPhone was cut on weak demand.

Apple ordered about half the 65 million iPhone 5 displays it originally targeted for this quarter, Nikkei said, citing an unnamed executive at a component maker. Manufacturing curbs have been widely known since December, according to Steven Milunovich and Mark Moskowitz, analysts at UBS and JPMorgan Chase, respectively.

Order cuts may be due to suppliers becoming more adept at building the latest iPhone, Moskowitz wrote in a note to clients Monday.

The stock fell 3.6 percent to $501.75 in New York, the lowest closing price since Feb. 15.

Apple is also facing increasing competition from manufacturers using Google Inc.’s Android software, including Samsung Electronics Co. Android phones are gaining users in emerging markets because they are cheaper than the iPhone. Bloomberg News