electric utilities

July 27, 2012 - Duke Energy is facing a credit downgrade, shareholder lawsuits, multiple investigations, and a legal move to reopen the regulatory proceedings that allowed it to take over Progress Energy in the first place.

July 3, 2012 - Environmental and press watchdogs say Duke Energy is violating public records laws by keeping secret the special rate deals it negotiated with 17 major customers to win their support for the merger, which got final regulatory approval yesterday. In addition, regulators are questioning a surprise change in leadership at the newly merged company.

July 2, 2012 - An analysis of Chinese names on a petition urging the Obama administration to oppose strict regulations for toxic coal ash reveals hundreds of bogus monikers including "Big Steamed Bun" and "Come to China Donkey." Who's behind the petition, and what big energy interests are they fronting for?

May 2, 2012 - A watchdog group has filed a petition with North Carolina regulators seeking to change the way the power giant sets its rates, which dramatically favor energy-hungry data centers run by well-heeled companies like Google, Apple and Facebook over residential customers and small businesses.

April 30, 2012 - Embroiled in controversy for its role in passing "Stand Your Ground", the American Legislative Exchange Council also worked to block federal regulation of toxic power plant waste that's contaminating groundwater supplies across the country -- and it turns out that the group has close ties to major coal ash polluters.  

January 12, 2012 - A new EPA database unveiled this week reveals the nation's biggest emitters of greenhouse gases -- and Southern power plants top the list.

December 15, 2011 - Federal regulators have ruled that the plan to create the nation's largest electric utility could allow the company to act anti-competitively. The decision comes after major environmental groups struck a deal that would have required the merged company to promote greener power.