AG Cooper to appeal decision on NC utility rates

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Attorney General Roy Cooper will appeal a decision by the North Carolina Utilities Commission allowing energy companies to profit from corporate tax cuts without passing those savings on to consumers.

Cooper filed notice Monday that he will ask the state Court of Appeals to overturn the October decision by the commission, which sets the rates electricity and natural gas providers can charge.

The board voted 6-1 in May that tax breaks received by the companies had to be passed on to customers, only to reverse themselves after three commissioners appointed by Republican Gov. Pat McCrory switched their earlier votes.

Cooper says the commission’s decision “is arbitrary, capricious, and based on an erroneous interpretation of the law.” Cooper is a Democrat and is considered a likely challenger to McCrory in 2016.