?Who pays Johnson?? on regulators list of questions for Duke Energy

Charlotte Business Journal

N.C. regulators want Duke CEO Jim Rogers to assure them that customers will not pay the price for the boardroom shuffle that led to former Progress CEO Bill Johnson's departure from Duke.

N.C. regulators want answers from Duke Energy Chief Executive Jim Rogers about who made the decision to replace Bill Johnson, what impact the departure will have on the merger and who Duke thinks will pay for Johnson?s $45 million ?golden parachute.?

N.C. Utilities Commission Chairman Ed Finley sent a letter to Progress Energy Carolinas lawyer Len Anthony by email Monday outlining the topics the commission wants to talk to Rogers about at Tuesday?s hearing. The letter was sent to Anthony because he has been the primary contact for the commission throughout the merger hearings.

?The commission reserves the right to add to or subtract from this list,? Finley writes Anthony. ?However the commission wishes to convey this list to you at this time.?

Johnson, former CEO of Progress and briefly CEO of Duke, resigned almost immediately after the $32 billion merger closed July 2. Duke signed agreements with Johnson to prevent disclosure of the reasons the Duke board had for accepting Johnson?s resignation and installing Rogers as the CEO once again. The company has steadfastly declined to answer questions in public about the merger.

Leverage

But the commission may have more leverage than some questioners. It has the authority to revoke its approval of the merger, although that almost certainly won?t happen. But Duke must answer to the commission on a host of regulatory issues, including rate increases.

On the ?potential topics for questions? from Finley are the ones everyone is asking: Who made the decision to replace Johnson, when it was made and what were the reasons for Johnson?s departure?

But it has several specific questions that get to what the impact could be on the merged company, and thus on its customers.

John Downey covers the energy industry and public companies for the Charlotte Business Journal.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/vertical_16/~3/gANTC4t6U4w/who-pays-johnson-on-regulators-list.html

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