As protestors lined the sidewalk outside the company's uptown headquarters, Duke Energy Corp. shareholders grilled chief executive Jim Rogers for nearly 90 minutes about the company's decision to build a new coal-fired power plant in the Blue Ridge foothills.
The grilling came at the end of the Charlotte-based utility's annual shareholders' meeting, where a new board of directors was elected and Rogers spoke about future plans.
But questions from shareholders were mostly about building an 800-megawatt coal-fired power unit at the company's Cliffside plant about 55 miles west of Charlotte. Duke produces about 70 percent of its electricity from coal in its five-state territory.
Holly Garrett, 25, told Rogers she was concerned with mountaintop removal in Appalachian mining, which can destroy habitats. She asked Rogers if he could guarantee a stop to the practice. Duke buys coal from independent suppliers.
"I wish I had that kind of power," Rogers said.
"You do ... you're the CEO," she replied.
"I can't guarantee that," said Rogers, who said he would work on the issue.
One shareholder questioned the company's future liability from continuing to rely on coal while knowing it can harm the environment and mankind. Most climate scientists believe carbon dioxide released from burning the fossil fuel is a major contributor to global warming.
The shareholder likened it to tobacco companies' continuing to market cigarettes after knowing they were harmful to users.
Rogers said the company was protected because it wasn't breaking any laws and the carbon dioxide was not regulated.
Some shareholders said they were concerned about Duke's tepid stock performance over the past several years and didn't want the company to be distracted by issues of global warming. Rogers said the stock was performing better than fellow utilities such as Raleigh-based Progress Energy.
Progress stock is down nearly 15 percent in the past year; Duke's is down 6 percent. Neither fared better than the sector: the S&P Utilities Index fell 2.5 percent in that period.
Two dozen sign-bearing protesters stood outside Duke's corporate headquarters in the morning as shareholders arrived for the meeting.
Signs protested Cliffside for its role in global warming, air pollution and mountaintop removal.
Despite delays or cancellations of some 50 new coal plants nationwide, "here we are fighting to be the last, or one of the last, to build one," said protester Sally Thomas, whose husband, Zack, is a Duke shareholder. "I think what we're doing is crazy, business-wise."
Thomas said she worries about pollution's effect on her grandchildren. Federal regulators say pollution triggers asthma attacks in North Carolina each summer, when levels of ozone partly fueled by power plants soar.
