RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- North Carolina regulators are holding a hearing on why Duke Energy Corp. suddenly ousted its CEO after merging into the nation's largest electric utility.
The North Carolina Utilities Commission on Thursday quizzed Bill Johnson, the executive who was dropped within hours of Duke's July 2 merger with Progress Energy Inc.
Johnson rejected criticism of his leadership style and said problems with a troubled Florida nuclear were long known.
Those were reasons for the change offered in testimony last week by the man who took over as CEO, Jim Rogers. Rogers is the former chief executive of Duke before the merger and Johnson was CEO of Progress.
Duke has 7 million electricity customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky.
