Court dismisses Duke's appeal of power-sale ruling - CharlotteObserver.com

By Bruce Henderson
bhenderson@charlotteobserver.com

Posted: Thursday, Nov. 18, 2010

"Duke signed a contract with Orangeburg in 2008. Despite being outside Duke's territory, the city would have bought power at the same rates that Duke offered its N.C. retail customers, saving $10 million a year.

The commission's customer advocacy arm, its Public Staff, argued that N.C. customers could be hurt by the deal and others like it. If Duke signed many such wholesale contracts, the Public Staff said, the utility might have to build new power plants. If those wholesale customers later bought power from other utilities, Duke's retail customers could be stuck paying for those plants."