Dive Brief:

• Big pension funds and other investor groups called on Duke Energy's board to launch a four-part investigation of the Feb. 2 coal ash spill at the Dan River plant site and issues that have arisen in the aftermath.
• “These events, and Duke’s response to them, have shaken investors’ confidence in Duke and its board," a group of shareholders led by the Nathan Cummings Foundation said in a letter. They want investigators to look at allegations under review by a federal grand jury and political activities regarding regulatory and enforcement efforts at the company’s coal ash facilities. They also want to hear recommendations to ensure the company is in compliance with current regulations and best practices regarding its handling of coal ash.
• The group includes heavy-hitters like the pension funds of California and five other states and Calvert Investments.

Dive Insight:

Duke's ash woes have finally generated shareholder alarm, something that seemed inevitable as allegations about ash sites multiplied over the last six weeks. A new one appears to come up almost every day. Thursday, for example, state officials expressed unhappiness that Duke waited two weeks to tell them about a crack in a dam near the Cape Fear River. Environmentalists who have pursued the utility's ash disposal issues for years now may have powerful allies, though investor groups worry about more than "doing the right thing" -- they have to see their investments protected. Financial implications of Duke's troubles are unclear so far.