Tagged: Duke Energy

Duke Energy hosted its annual shareholder meeting in Uptown Thursday, one day before the company releases its first quarter earnings report. CEO Jim Rogers pronounced the company healthy and profitable, but the meeting was also a rare opportunity to berate the CEO.

Duke Energy reported modest earnings for 2012 of about $3 per share – but the number would have been much lower if Duke hadn't raised electric rates in the Carolinas by 7 percent last year. WFAE's Julie Rose reports on this classic case of conflicting interests – where pain for ratepayers means profit for investors:

Duke Energy says it will close down a troubled nuclear plant in Florida – called Crystal River – rather than try to repair it at a cost of billions.  Making that decision has preoccupied Duke and its investors ever since the company merged with Progress Energy and inherited the Florida plant.  

"From the beginning of the merged company, the resolution of the nuclear plant issue has been among the company's top priorities, if not the company's top priority," says Duke Energy spokesman Mike Hughes. 

Duke Energy wants to raise rates again on its North Carolina customers – this time by nearly 12 percent for residential users.  WFAE's Julie Rose reports on the company's latest request to state regulators.

We knew this rate hike request was coming, but we didn't know how large it would be. Last time around, Duke asked to raise residential rates by 17 percent but settled for just over 7 percent when it finally took effect a year ago.  Now Duke Energy is proposing another 11.8 percent increase for residential customers.