Reuters: Regulatory News: UPDATE 1-Duke CEO says in settlement talk with NC officials

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UPDATE 1-Duke CEO says in settlement talk with NC officials Aug 2nd 2012, 12:55 Thu Aug 2, 2012 8:55am EDT Aug 2 (Reuters) - Duke Energy is in negotiations with North Carolina utility regulators and the state attorney general over its controversial ousting of its former CEO in the hours after it closed its takeover of Progress Energy, its CEO said on Thursday. Jim Rogers, who was returned to the top job at Duke after the board sought the resignation of his replacement, would not comment on the nature of the talks with the North Carolina Utilities Commission, which held hearings on the surprise CEO switch last month. "I can't speculate on the outcome of the commission's investigations, or on the settlement discussions we're engaged in now," Rogers told Reuters in an interview. He did say that representatives of Bill Johnson, the Progress Energy CEO who was long slated to take the helm of the merged company, were not involved in the negotiations. "We continue to work closely and maintain an open dialogue with the commission, and we'll just work our way through it," he said. Duke's $18 billion purchase of Progress Energy created the nation's largest power utility, but its rapid move to remove Johnson sparked outrage in North Carolina, the company's biggest market. The chairman of the North Carolina utilities commission has said the regulator could revisit its approval of the merger and potentially install Johnson in the CEO job, although such a move was seen as unlikely. Still, the company is likely to face a chill in its relations with the regulator, which sets profit margins of the power utilities in the state. Duke also announced its second-quarter profit rose on revised customer rates in the Carolinas and lower storm restoration costs in a unit. Net income rose to $444 million, or 99 cents per share, in the second quarter, from $435 million, or 98 cents, a year earlier. Operating revenue rose 1.2 percent to $3.57 billion. Those results did not include Progress Energy's results. Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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