The N.C. Utilities Commission ordered Tuesday that some provisions of the 20 confidential settlement agreements filed as part of the Duke Energy-Progress Energy merger be made public.
Motion to Reopen Merger Hearings Remains Unrebutted – News Release from NC WARN
Duke Energy seems to believe it can simply avoid making a substantive argument against NC WARN’s motion to reopen evidentiary hearings based on the utility’s withholding of information in its merger with Progress Energy. Possibly Duke believes the NC Utilities Commission will simply defer to its corporate giant-ness as Florida commissioners did this week in their “welcome Mr. CEO” session with Jim Rogers.
Regulators say Most of Duke’s Merger Secrets Must be Unsealed – News Release by NC WARN
Duke-Progress Merger – A Net Public Soaking? – Issue brief from NC WARN
NC WARN has opposed Duke Energy’s takeover of Progress Energy since it was announced in early 2011 for a variety of reasons. Foremost is that the merger would tend to strengthen Duke’s business model of perpetuating the use of climate-heating fossil fuels and raising customer rates to build unneeded power plants for decades to come.
Duke Energy Formally Dodges Charges it Concealed Billions During Merger Approval Process – News Release from NC WARN
$200 million in upgrades planned at idle Crystal River nuclear power plant – The Tampa Bay Times
Initiative brings solar power to recovery center – The News & Observer
Climate change is here – and worse than we thought – Washington Post OpEd by James Hansen
When I testified before the Senate in the hot summer of 1988, I warned of the kind of future that climate change would bring to us and our planet. I painted a grim picture of the consequences of steadily increasing temperatures, driven by mankind’s use of fossil fuels. But I have a confession to make: I was too optimistic.