South Carolina regulators have approved a merger agreement for Duke Energy Corp. and Progress Energy Inc. as they create the nation's largest utility company.
/ FILE
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- South Carolina regulators have approved a merger agreement for Duke Energy Corp. and Progress Energy Inc. as they create the nation's largest utility company.
The South Carolina Office of Regulatory Staff said Tuesday that Charlotte, N.C., -based Duke and Raleigh, N.C.,-based Progress promised the deal will save retail customers in South Carolina and North Carolina at least $650 million in the first five years of the merger.
The deal also protects South Carolina customers from spending that both companies are undertaking at a Florida nuclear power plant and an Indiana coal-fired plant.
North Carolina regulators have approved a similar arrangement.
The settlements advance a merger that still requires approval by public utility regulators in both states.
The companies announced the merger in January and shareholders approved it last month.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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