The North Carolina Utilities Commission approved the $32 billion merger of Duke Energy and Progress Energy on June 29, 2012. Under the NC Utilities Commission order, the combined company will retain the name, Duke Energy and will be headquartered in Charlotte. Once combined Duke Energy and Progress Energy will be the world’s second-largest private utility, according to Duke Energy.

The North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association (NCSEA) intervened in the merger proceedings.

RALEIGH, NC  — The North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association (NCSEA) remains opposed to the Duke Energy-Progress Energy merger. Wednesday’s Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) order rejecting the companies’ proposal reinforces NCSEA’s stated concerns.

As electricity rates continue to rise, NCSEA shares FERC’s concern that the merger will inappropriately reduce market competition. NCSEA believes that the companies’ offer of a limited amount of wholesale power into eastern North Carolina does little to reduce the merged company’s market power and is not in the public interest.

 “Over the past 11 years, NCSEA has found that the average residential ratepayer has seen their electric bill rise over 300 dollars per year,” said Ivan Urlaub, NCSEA Executive Director. “In attempting to create the country’s largest monopoly, NCSEA is concerned that Duke and Progress have set the stage for additional rate increases that the two utilities have said they will request. To reduce the amount of future rate increases, NCSEA supports measures that allow for limited market competition and provide ratepayers more options and greater control over their energy bills.”

NCSEA filed a brief Nov. 28 at the NC Utilities Commission underscoring its opposition to the Duke Energy-Progress Energy merger in the absence of several important modifications to the final agreement. This is the latest action by NCSEA, which has been involved in the merger docket before the Commission.

Specifically, NCSEA requested that if the merger is approved by the Commission, the utilities should:

• Undertake a pilot program to evaluate the benefits of third-party direct sales of renewable power to small-energy consumers and to;
• Enhance the Public Benefits Fund agreed upon in the initial merger settlement by Duke and Progress by authorizing on-bill financing of energy efficiency measures and providing sufficient funding for existing low-income energy efficiency and bill pay assistance programs.

Duke Energy and Progress Energy hurriedly filed amendments to their $26 billion merger with federal regulators on Monday in a bid to get the deal approved by the end of the year. The filings were made possible by the NC Utilities Comission (NCUC), who ruled earlier on Monday that the utilities did not have to wait the standard 30 days to add safeguards requested by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). The federal regulators ruled last month that the merger raises significant concerns about market concentration, which should be addressed in order for the merger to be approved.

NCSEA continues to be extensively involved with the proposed merger of Duke Energy and Progress Energy.  As part of our opposition to the merged company that will become the nation's largest utility, NCSEA has outlined several recommendations or stipulations that should be incorporated into a settlement, if approved by regulators.  Below are the latest updates from proceedings before the NC Utilities Commission (NCUC) and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).

Earlier today, the NC Sustainable Energy Association (NCSEA) submitted its testimony to the NC Utilities Commission outlining its opposition to the merger of Duke Energy and Progress Energy as it is currently proposed in the settlement reached recently with the Public Staff of the NC Utilities Commission.  In an effort to represent the utility customers of North Carolina, Ivan Urlaub, NCSEA’s Executive Director, discusses the organization’s concerns with the proposed settlement and summarizes several stipulations that should be incorporated into the merger by the NC Utilities Commission. Click here to view Urlaub's testimony.

Merger Update: Shareholders of Duke Energy Corp. and Progress Energy Inc. voted separately Tuesday to approve the merger of the two utilities. More than 90 percent of the votes cast by proxy and in person at the Duke shareholder meeting in Charlotte were in favor of the deal.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR: Beginning on Sept. 20, the NC Utilities Commission  will hold a hearing regarding the proposed merger, which will include the taking of public witness testimony and the testimony of Duke, Progress, the Public Staff, and other intervenors. The hearing will begin at 9am (Commission Hearing Room 2115, Dobbs Building, 430 N. Salisbury Street, Raleigh) and continue as necessary until the conclusion of the case. Click here for more info (see pg. 4).

On January 10, Duke Energy announced that it will buy Progress Energy in an all-stock merger deal worth approximately $26 billion, creating the largest electric utility in the nation with 7.1 million customers, a combined market cap of $36.5 billion, and combined generation capacity of 57,200 megawatts. Below you will find additional information regarding this merger and NCSEA's initial thoughts and plans for being involved in the lengthy regulatory approval process in the coming weeks and months.