• North Carolina regulators on Friday approved Duke Energy's merger with Progress Energy, making the new company the largest electric utility in the U.S.
• The N.C. Utilities Commission ruling came shortly after 1 p.m., according to a report from The News and Observer.
• The Raleigh-based Progress will become a subsidiary of Duke in the merger, which the two companies hope to close by July 1, bring their combined customer total to 7.1 million.

From the article:

State regulators on Friday approved the merger between Progress Energy and Duke Energy. ...