Duke agreed to pay if merger cost big customers

Published: August 24, 2012 

— Duke Energy said it agreed to reimburse some of its largest wholesale customers if they incurred costs stemming from the utility’s merger with rival Progress Energy.

The utility on Friday filed documents with the North Carolina Utilities Commission related to its merger side deals. The agreements focus on “hold harmless” provisions with wholesale customers for costs they incurred or could incur because of the merger for up to 5 years, such as legal fees or the severance costs for future employee layoffs.

Duke inked deals with several of its biggest North Carolina customers, including smaller retail electricity providers as Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corporation and Piedmont Electric Membership Corporation.

Duke officials had argued that the information included in the agreements constituted trade secrets. But the Utilities Commission ruled earlier this month the deals have no commercial value, so disclosing them wouldn’t give anyone else an economic advantage. The documents had been sought by several media outlets under public requests.

Days after approval by North Carolina regulators, Duke Energy and Progress Energy completed their merger in July, sealing a deal to create the nation’s largest electric company. But hours after the deal was completed, Duke Energy’s board ousted the CEO it promised to keep throughout the 18-month process of combining the two Fortune 500 energy companies headquartered in North Carolina.

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