Regulator Warns Duke Could Face Sanctions on Deal

By REBECCA SMITH And VALERIE BAUERLEIN Updated July 20, 2012, 7:13 p.m. ET

RALEIGH, N.C.—Duke Energy Corp.'s lead director said Friday her board jettisoned incoming CEO Bill Johnson because he withheld information from the company's board.

Her remarks agitated the head of the state's utilities commission. In a tense exchange, North Carolina Utilities Commission Chairman Edward S. Finley reminded Duke lead director Ann Gray that his board has the power to rescind its approval for the $26 billion merger of Duke and Progress Energy Inc., completed July 2, if it concludes that Duke misled state officials when it promised to make Mr. Johnson, formerly Progress's CEO, head of the combined utility.

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