Duke Merger Future Clouded by Rift With State Regulators
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Duke Energy Inc. faces a divided board, alienated regulators and demoralized employees as state officials investigate management upheaval following its $17.8 billion takeover of Progress Energy Inc.
Distrust and disagreement between the two now-joined companies was stoked by an 18-month merger process, with tensions flaring between chief executive officers in the six months before the deal closed July 2, Duke directors and Progress’s ousted CEO said at hearings before the North Carolina Utilities Commission last week.