Duke Energy is going to pay $146 million to settle a lawsuit. The subject matter is that the regulators are so picky, their directives cannot be derived as logical conclusion from fact. Therefore, lawyers who like high-stakes odds have a good chance taking up either side of the case, if that makes any sense. The settlement is to be paid by Duke’s insurers and shareholders, out of stashes they have that are totally isolated from any contact by ratepayers. The problem is that Duke fired CEO Bill Johnson. Johnson had been CEO of Progress Energy before the merger. The regulators had approved the acquisition on terms that included keeping Johnson in his CEO post. The class-action lawsuit will pay lawyers big and maybe give shareholders damaged by the firing $3.16* each. Additional hearings are expected to force Duke to pay more lawyers $30 million, with maybe $1.94* going to ratepayers and low-income assistance programs. Terms also call for the replacement of several other top dogs.
________________
*This is a wild guess. No data is provided.
