Duke Energy Board Had Thoughts of Replacing Johnson Before the Merger

Members of the North Carolina Utilities Commission were caught by surprise when the Progress Energy CEO Bill Johnson was replaced by Duke Energy CEO Jim Rogers just minutes after the merger of the two companies. The commission called a special hearing requiring Rogers to answer questions. The commission gave final approval to the merger with the understanding Johnson would be the new leader of the largest utility in the country. It was clear from Rogers’ testimony Tuesday (7/10) the directors of the Duke Energy board already had their doubts about Johnson at a meeting June 23, well before the July 2 meeting of the newly merged board when Johnson resigned…

Clearly commission Chairman Edward Finley was concerned Duke Energy officials had not told the commission about the concerns over Johnson and he could be ousted…

The vote of the merged Duke Energy board to have Johnson resign was 10-5, the ten being former Duke Energy directors.

The Utilities Commission could change or even halt the merger if it found the change in leadership at the new company violated the spirit of what commission members thought to be the agreement.