“We believe and quite clearly show that the commission held this transaction to a much different standard than they have held other merger transactions. When we proposed to acquire Progress Energy, we looked at the market power concern and did our own study and applied the previous standards that have been used in every merger since 1996. And low and behold, the commission said you have cleared some of the standards, but there are a few that you don’t. We are saying you are basically applying different rules to us,” said Williams.

 About a month ago, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission found that the proposed merger between Duke and Progress Energy contained “market power” or too much dominance in certain jurisdictions in the Carolinas. The commission also offered options for the utility companies to follow. Williams said the merger would provide cheaper electricity rates for its customers over time.

 “The commission’s concern is that the power prices would be very high during peak times and the cities, the municipalities and the co-ops, the rural and small city electricity providers, would be subject to high prices. What we are saying is a way to address that is we will sell you power into that market at a fixed price plus ten percent, really at cost plus ten, so it wouldn’t be at a high price. We are following the methodology that the commission said would work. The commission said if you want to fix it, this is how you can fix it,” said Williams.

If the $26 billion merger is approved, it would create the largest utility company in the United States, based in Charlotte. Other state and federal regulatory commissions must also sign off on the deal.