Appeals Court Endorses Backroom Deal by Duke, Regulators
Statement by Director Jim Warren:
Durham, NC – Today the NC Court of Appeals ruled against NC WARN’s appeal of a Utilities Commission investigation of the 2012 Duke Energy merger with Progress Energy.
In doing so, the Court has endorsed backroom deal-making between state regulators and corporations.
In late 2012, then-Duke CEO Jim Rogers told the news media that he and Commission Chairman Ed Finley met three times privately to resolve issues pertaining to the investigation.
Those private meetings were also used to wipe away several other merger issues worth billions of dollars that NC WARN asserts should be subject to open review.
We are considering an appeal to the NC Supreme Court, where our appeal of the main merger case is pending.
