Duke Energy Reaches Settlement Agreement with Key Consumer Groups on Edwardsport Plant Costs; Will Take Q1 Pretax Charge of $0.20 per Share

Duke Energy DUK Indiana today announced a settlement agreement with some of the state's key consumer groups involved in regulatory proceedings dealing with the company's Edwardsport coal gasification power plant. The proposal, which was filed with state regulators, is subject to Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC) approval. Participants in the settlement, which covers all phases of the Edwardsport subdocket proceedings, are the Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor, the Duke Energy Indiana Industrial Group and Nucor Steel-Indiana. The joint intervenor group, consisting of the Citizens Action Coalition, Sierra Club, Save the Valley and Valley Watch, is not part of the settlement. As a result of the settlement provisions, Duke Energy expects to take pretax charges of approximately $420 million (20 cents per share) in the first quarter of 2012. These charges will be reflected as a "special item" and, therefore, excluded from adjusted diluted earnings per share. The company had previously recorded pretax charges of $265 million related to the project.