Legacy Progress Director's Production of Documents (Part 3 ... - NCUC

Rogers taking the helm was ''great news for Florida.""He has been more forward-thinking about clean technologies and efficiency," shersaid.Opponents of the merger took a more'ominous view."Creation ofthe nation's largest electric utility will require enhanced vigilance ... to protect oureconomy, our environmentand'.our,democracy:from a giant corporatiomweli-known for its use ofpolitical muscle to pursue;profits;ahd.expaiisioh," said Jim Warren, executive director of the watchdoggroup N.C. WARN.At the top of Duke's to-do listis a decision about the Crystal River nuclear plant in Citrus County,which broke on Johnson's watch during a botched maintenance and upgrade project. The 42-inchthickconcrete reactor containment building cracked during the project; arid subsequent repairattempts resulted in more cracks.The projecteci cpst for repairs and the purchase of replacement power while the plant sits idleexceeds $2,biiiion. The growing pribe tag and concern that the troubles atCrystal River were worsethan Progress portrayed could be.part of the reasori that Johnson did not get the top job at themerged company, analysts and experts said."It could be the recognition that the cost of the Crystal Riyer plant could be a larger concern thanperhaps! Duke had.realized'wheri they first had undertaken" the merger, said Peter Schwarz,'aneconomic professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.Duke will have to decide whether to repair the 36-year-old Crystal River plant, which Johnson wantedto do, or decommission it. The company is.scheduled to give a status update on the project to theFlorida Public Service Commission ori Aug! 13.J.R. Kelly, the state public counsel who; advocates for consumers, said,;that without Crystal River,Duke would need to develop an alternative source of energy; Erivironrnentalists would like to focus onefficiency measures, but Kelly said the company would likely build a natural gas plant -- whichcustomers would pay for.Duke.also wilfhave to make a. decision on .whether to move forward with a $24 billion project to buildtwoWestinghouse AP1000 nudear reactors in Levy County.Customers already are paying $1,1 billion for the project that expe'rts believe will never get builtbecause of the high cost and the current low price of natural gas.Mark Cooper, senior fellow for ecpriomic analysis at the Institute for Energy and the-Environment atVermontLaw School, put it-this way: "The Levy piant is notgo'ing to:happen:"Duke officiais would not comment about its plans for the Crystal RiVer and Levy County plants.Duke also has its owri troubles.Before the merger, Duke had constructed ari advanced coal-fired plant.in Indjaria. The prbjecf rah $1billion over budget. A top'Duke executive and Indiana's utility regulator lost their jobs after an emailexchange about it.Managing the challenges rests on Rogers, who was named one of Newsweek's "50 Most PowerfulibLEGPGNDIR001150