Duke/Progress merger may be costlier than you think

And a big chunk is coming out of your pocket:

The chief executives of Duke Energy and Progress Energy said this afternoon their companies plan to seek rate increases soon to meet a deadline to recover severance payments that will be paid to employees who lose their jobs as a result of the utilities' merger.

Now, I can see the stockholders thinking this is a good idea, but the NC Utilities Commission should have torn up this request on sight. If they allow this fleecing, the Commission should be disbanded. And maybe a little tarring and feathering to boot.

And as for my love/hate relationship with Jim Rogers, what can I say?

The executives said making customers pay for the severance is justified because customers are the ones who will ultimately benefit from the merger.

"The severance cost is the cost I would describe to achieve the savings," Rogers told the commission. "In the longer term, those savings will benefit the customers."

In case you haven't noticed, Einstein, North Carolina is in the clutches of a debilitating recession. Families across the economic board are struggling to keep out of foreclosure, and you want them to (also) pay for your questionable merger? Oh, hell no.