Dive Summary:

• Opponents of Duke Energy’s recent rate hike request in North Carolina are demanding the utility pay a penalty for erroneous charges, including political money Duke admitted to accidentally bundling in the rate hike and $22 million worth of spending that NC WARN, a watchdog group, contends should be paid by shareholders.
• NC WARN testified against Duke Energy Carolinas in a Raleigh, North Carolina-based hearing Wednesday to decide the fate of Duke’s latest rate request. The group is demanding the utility take a $10 million per year penalty for incorrect charges. Pending the N.C. Utilities Commission's final ruling, that penalty will drop Duke’s 10.2% rate of return currently proposed in its request to 10.1%.
• Duke says that there are no large, incorrect charges in its rate proposal. But NC WARN contends there is almost $25 million for stock-based executive compensation bundled into the rate hike and should not be passed to customers because they did not involve cash payments.

From the article:

“It is not unusual for utilities to assign part of the costs of executive salaries to customers. In the North Carolina, Duke has reduced the customers' share of those costs by 50%, company spokeswoman Lisa Parrish says.”