BUSINESS BRIEF
Duke Energy to shed Midwest power plants
2/17/2014CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Duke Energy says it will get out of the wholesale power-generation business in the Midwest because the financial results are too volatile.
The company owns a stake in 11 power plants in Ohio and one each in Illinois and Pennsylvania.
Duke said Monday that it will take an accounting charge of between $1 billion and $2 billion on its first-quarter results, scheduled for release today. The write-down will be considered a special item and won’t affect Duke’s adjusted earnings per share, the company said.
Last week, Ohio regulators rejected a $729 million Duke rate-increase request. Duke had said the decision in that case could influence whether the company sold its generation business in the state.