Axios Raleigh: “The Whatley campaign did not give a stance to Axios on the Duke Energy rate proposal.”
New reporting is highlighting that as Duke Energy threatens rate hikes on North Carolina families, DC insider Michael Whatley – who has up to $445,000 invested in Duke Energy – refuses to “give a stance.” This comes as recent reporting exposed Whatley for spending more than a decade lobbying for utility companies including Duke Energy and “argu[ing] in favor of rate increases.”
As Whatley’s investments stand to see “boost[ed] profits,” Whatley is once again personally profiting at the expense of North Carolina families, who are already “stretched thin” by skyrocketing energy bills.
Axios Raleigh: 1 big thing: To divest or not
Zachery Eanes
- Driving the news: Last week, Democratic state Sens. Natalie Murdock and Caleb Theodros sent a letter to the Whatley campaign asking him to divest his stock ownership in Duke Energy and denounce the company’s rate increase application in North Carolina.
- “I think he should divest, and I think that is the best way to make North Carolinians believe he is not going to be biased toward this company,” Murdock tells Axios.
- State of play: The Cooper campaign has said that it doesn’t think Duke Energy’s rate increase request should be approved.
- The Whatley campaign did not give a stance to Axios on the Duke Energy rate proposal.
- Between the lines: Whatley’s family owns a long list of individual stocks, including somewhere between $163,000 and $445,000 worth of Duke Energy stock, according to financial disclosures.
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