Dive Summary:

• Monday, Duke Energy said that $326,000 in political contributions to various groups was mistakenly added to a rate hike of more than $200 million a year for customers in North Carolina.
• The political funds included donations to the Republican Governors Association, the North Carolina and South Carolina Republican parties, and the group Strategies for the Global Environment. “ The miscoded invoices were simply a mistake, and customers are not being asked to pay those costs," Paul Newton, president of Duke Energy's North Carolina operations, told the North Carolina Utilities Commission.
• Duke Energy’s revelation came as the commission held open hearings to decide whether to grant Duke a rate hike of $205 million annually for two years, then $235 million afterwards. The rate hike is about half of the $446 million a year Duke requested back in February. In June, Duke settled on a reduced hike with the commission's Public Staff representing consumer interests.

From the article:
“Duke Energy said it sought the rate increase primarily to pay it back for its past investments in cleaner power plants and other equipment needed to deliver power. The company's rate increase request said it included recovering about $2.2 billion already invested on upgrading nuclear plants, converting a power plant in Eden from coal to cleaner and cheaper natural gas, and building the coal-burning Cliffside plant in Mooresboro.”