Duke Energy and Progress Energy today filed a new plan to save their planned merger, telling state regulators they would spend up to $150 million on new transmission projects and contract to sell electricity to wholesale buyers.
The N.C. Utilities Commission has up to 30 days to review the plan, which would then go to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The federal agency's concerns over the merger's effects on competition for wholesale power prompted today's filing.
"What we're offering today is designed to address specifically what FERC said we needed to address in December," when it rejected the utilities' previous plan to resolve competition concerns, said Duke spokesman Tom Williams.
The companies also have to satisfy state regulators, who will be focused on keeping costs low for customers. Duke and Progress said they will work with the N.C. Public Staff and South Carolina's Office of Regulatory Staff, which advocate for consumers, over the next few months.
Final agreement on the plan, they said, will depend on resolving how its costs are reflected in customer rates.
The utilities said they will build up to eight transmission projects to expand the ability to bring more wholesale power into the Carolinas. The projects would be built over three years and cost about $75 million to $150 million.
They will also sell wholesale power to third parties. Unlike the previous plan, which offered power that had no guarantee of buyers, the utilities say they expect to sign contracts with buyers before filing the merger plan with FERC.
The N.C. commission still has to approve the merger itself, and South Carolina's commission has to accept a joint-operating agreement between Duke and Progress.
