Duke Energy & State Regulators

NC WARN, has accused Duke Energy of “gross incompetence” or “corporate fraud.” The environmental justice group claims the nation’s largest utility company deliberately tried to defraud North Carolinians by submitting a rate hike proposal with expenses including corporate jet travel and political contributions.

The principal players battling over Duke Energy Carolinas’ proposed 5.1% rate hike had significantly different ideas about what this week’s hearing before the N.C. Utilities Commission was about. For Duke, the hearing was about $3.8 billion in new costs it must cover. For the commission’s public staff, it was about the how the agency’s proposed rate settlement balances Duke’s needs with those of customers. For the N.C. attorney general’s office, the hearing was about what return on equity Duke will be allowed and whether customers can afford it. For watchdog group NC WARN, it was about whether Duke can be trusted to honestly report costs and whether regulators will police the utility.

Duke Energy Carolinas defended its handling of disputed charges in its North Carolina rate case Thursday, saying most of them were justified even as it made further concessions.

Duke Energy witnesses testifying in the company’s rate hearing before the N.C. Utilities Commission on Thursday defended the company against accusations by the witness for watchdog group NC WARN that it was seeking to charge customers for more than $20 million worth of costs that should be paid by shareholders.

Errors and omissions in charges Duke Energy Carolinas included in its rate case now before state regulators point to poor company oversight, a consultant for a Durham advocacy group testified Wednesday.

NC WARN alleges Duke Energy Carolinas wants to charge customers for $22 million worth of spending that the watchdog group contends ought to be paid by shareholders and should not be included in the utility’s rates.

Evidentiary hearings began Monday afternoon at the N.C. Utilities Commission, which heard evidence from supporters and opponents of Duke Energy’s proposed $200 million rate increase. Questioning in day two of the hearing has primarily focused on how much money Duke Energy Carolinas will earn with the company’s proposed return on equity, a measure of profit.

By John Murawski Advocacy groups made their last-minute public appeal Monday to block Duke Energy’s third rate increase request in the past four years, as rate hearings got underway in Raleigh before the N.C. Utilities Commission. NC WARN, AARP, Greenpeace and others staged a rally outside the state office building …

By Bruce Henderson RALEIGH — Duke Energy’s North Carolina president on Monday acknowledged the company made errors in charges that it tried to pass on to customers, including $326,000 in political contributions. Paul Newton was the first witness Monday in a hearing in Duke’s rate case before the North Carolina …