Duke Energy won't be repaid $10 million from DNC
Duke Energy won’t be repaid the $10 million line of credit it guaranteed for Charlotte to host last year’s Democratic National Convention, the company confirmed Thursday.
As the credit line came due, Duke made official what it had signaled to shareholders in an earnings report last November. Because Duke can claim the money as a business expense for tax purposes, shareholders will foot $6 million of the cost.
The DNC host committee struggled to raise money under fundraising rules set by the White House that banned corporate cash contributions. By last October, a month after the convention, it had raised $24.1 million of the original $36.6 million goal.
Duke’s financial support of Charlotte’s biggest event became a political football soon after the credit guarantee was announced in early 2011. Sidewalk protesters from FreedomWorks, a conservative group, waved “Fire Jim Rogers” signs as Duke’s CEO presided over the company’s annual meeting that spring.
Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/03/01/3885178/duke-energy-wont-be-repaid-from.html