Duke Energy wants customers to pay for its $1 billion coal ash cleanup bill

[Redfairen]

As public pressure builds to dig up coal ash from waste lagoons in North Carolina, Duke Energy is facing a potentially massive cleanup bill that the Charlotte electric utility has been trying to dodge.

Early indications suggest Duke’s price tag could approach $1 billion, based on ash removal expenses in South Carolina. Deciding who pays the bill – Duke’s customers or its shareholders – would pose another challenge.

New details on Duke’s coal-ash strategy are expected to emerge this week when the power company responds to a state demand for internal documents detailing options for handling the incinerated waste. The documents, due March 15, will cover specifics on Duke’s cost estimates and other calculations that state officials want to review so they can decide how to deal with ash pits that are contaminating groundwater.

Duke CEO Lynn Good said Friday that Duke would seek to recover the cost through customer rates. Billing Duke’s customers for such an extensive cleanup operation would require approval from the N.C. Utilities Commission. Customer bills wouldn’t be affected immediately, and Good noted it’s an issue “that will unfold over time. ”

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2014/03/08/4751913/duke-energys-1-billion-cleanup.html

[Shrike47]

1. Of course they do. Management always wants to pass on the cost of their bad decisions.

[SomethingFishy]

2. Duke Energy should pull itself up by it's bootstraps..

Oh yeah you wanted to be a fucking person? Well here's how "people" get treated.

Oh you fucked up? Fuck you, pay for it.
Oh it was an accident? Fuck you, pay for it.
Oh it was an act of god? Get off your lazy ass and... pay for it.
Oh you need help? Fuck you, pay for it, we have weapons to build and terrorists to kill.

Yeah Corporations want all the rights and privileges of being a person. Right up until it cost them money.

[SharonAnn]

3. On the good side, maybe people will understand that they are paying for mismanagement.

Perhaps if people understand that they have to pay the dollar "costs" incurred by pollution, they'll gain a better understanding of how the game is rigged against them.

[KamaAina]

4. Are the Utilities Commision members appointed by McCrony?

If so, y'all hold on to your wallets down there. I wouldn't be surprised to find out that he's still on Duke Energy's payroll.

[moondust]

5. And anybody who doesn't like it can just switch energy companies!

You know, competition and all...