Progress Energy

FERC Says Merger Would Further Entrench Duke Energy Monopoly

Submitted by Paul Chesser on Fri, 10/07/2011 - 10:05

Jim Rogers photoThe merger hearings for Duke Energy and Progress Energy before the North Carolina Utilities Commission were supposed to be the last major hurdle for the deal to be approved, but now the concerns of a small coastal city and a federal government regulatory agency have cast last-minute doubts. It turns out the demands by environmental groups for Duke to pay more money into weatherization boondoggles were minor irritants compared to the threat posed by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

Duke Energy Juggernaut Won't Stop Shakedown Artists

Submitted by Paul Chesser on Mon, 09/26/2011 - 11:02

Jim Rogers photoIf it wasn’t already obvious, then a report in Friday’s Raleigh News & Observer about the merger hearings between Duke Energy and Progress Energy into the nation’s largest utility makes it clear: That Duke’s strategy is continued growth into “a political juggernaut.”

That’s what came out of the final day of testimony about the deal before the North Carolina Utilities Commission, which appears to be the final major hurdle for the merger’s approval. The N&O cited “hints” by company executives about “further acquisitions down the road,” in which Duke would wield even more power than they do now.

Duke - Progress Merger Provides Shakedown Opportunity for Activists

Submitted by Paul Chesser on Wed, 09/14/2011 - 15:49

Rogers photoIt seemed the merger of Duke Energy and Progress Energy into the nation’s largest (by several measures) utility would sail through by the end of this year, but several activists in North Carolina have intervened at the last minute. The moves by environmental groups to extract funds for their pet projects out of the deal would make shakedown artists proud. Among the organizations – who have myriad methods of wringing dollars from taxpayers through lawsuits and corporate campaign-type pressure tactics – are Sierra Club, Environmental Defense Fund, and Southern Environmental Law Center.

Duke Energy Can Burn Forests for ‘Green’ Credits

Submitted by Paul Chesser on Wed, 08/10/2011 - 16:20

forest fire photoIt’s (once again) the law of unintended consequences for Green groups: In order to fulfill a 2007 state mandate that they derive 12.5 percent of electricity from so-called “renewable” sources, a North Carolina appeals court has ruled that Duke Energy – which will soon be more or less the only investor-owned utility in the Tar Heel state – may burn whole trees to comply with the regulation.

Are 'Green' Corporate Rankings a Scam?

Submitted by Paul Chesser on Wed, 05/11/2011 - 15:38

money handshake imageRankings, ratings and scorecards are often only vehicles for environmental groups to draw attention to their cause (as with Greenpeace), and more often than not they are given legitimacy – even when they conflict with other likeminded groups – since a sympathetic media likes to amplify their agenda.

And then there are the operatives who just want to make a buck off the “Green” scam with the creation of faux rankings. Such appears to be the case with GreenBusiness Works, which last week published its 2011 “Southeastern Corporate Sustainability Rankings.”

Campaign Launched to Remove Duke Energy CEO Jim Rogers

Submitted by Paul Chesser on Mon, 04/04/2011 - 09:25

Jim Rogers photoFree-market minded grassroots activist group FreedomWorks has set up an online petition that calls upon Duke Energy's board of directors to fire CEO Jim Rogers:

Due to ethical and business issues that have damaged the reputation of Duke Energy and put shareholders and ratepayers at risk, we urge you to exercise your fiduciary responsibility as board members and dismiss Jim Rogers from his position as chief operating officer (Rogers is actually CEO).

Duke Energy CEO Rogers Plays Politics With Shareholder Money; $10M Credit Line for Democrats

Submitted by Paul Chesser on Wed, 03/16/2011 - 10:04

Jim Rogers/windmill photoWell, the second-largest banking city in the nation won the rights to host the Democratic National Convention in 2012, so you think the big TARP beneficiaries based in Charlotte might be the ones to step up to guarantee the funds for DNC to do its thing. You know, maybe Bank of America, which is the largest financial institution by assets in the country. Or Wachovia, now Wells Fargo, which has a lot of civic pride and survived thanks to the government intervention.

Duke Energy's Jim Rogers Should Listen to His New Partner

Submitted by Paul Chesser on Wed, 02/16/2011 - 11:00

electric plugProgress Energy CEO Bill Johnson, whose company will (pending approval) be swallowed by larger electric utility Duke Energy, has been making the media rounds. He has discussed the planned merger, which he says is necessary because of looming capital projects that will be needed to meet electricity demand, but he also warned regulators in Washington of the dangers posed by the heightened government regulatory environment:

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