Duke Energy: $1.5M to electric-vehicle sites in lawsuit deal

CHARLOTTE, NC (AP) — Duke Energy is ready to spend $1.5 million to expand the number of electric-vehicle charging stations around North Carolina as part of a deal settling claims of illicit smokestack pollution.

The country’s largest electric company is announcing Tuesday that it will make $1 million available to cities and towns wanting to install public charging stations for residents. Another $500,000 is going to municipalities that want charging stations for electric buses.

The spending is part of a settlement Duke Energy struck last year with the Obama Administration ending a 15-year-old lawsuit over claims that the utility violated federal clean air laws.

The Charlotte-based energy company is spending more than $4 million on environmental mitigation projects settling the case over whether the company modified coal-fired power plants without required pollution-control equipment.

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