Duke asks to modify energy-saving incentives

Duke asks to modify energy-saving incentives

Duke Energy this week asked for state approval to launch or tweak three energy-saving programs for residential customers.

The changes, which need approval by the N.C. Utilities Commission, include:

An appliance-recycling plan would offer customers $30 and free pick-up if they give up old, inefficient refrigerators or freezers.

Additions to Duke's Smart $aver program would offer customers incentives to make their homes more energy-efficient. The program would offer up to $400 to homeowners who install attic insulation, $200 for duct sealing, $350 for duct insulation, $60 for a central air-conditioner tuneup and $125 for a heat pump tuneup.

The program already offers $200 incentives to customers who install higher-efficiency heating and cooling systems.

Under a new free program, Duke would proactively seek out customers in low-income neighborhoods. Based on energy-saving needs, it would offer a menu of conservation measures such as weather-stripping and compact fluorescent bulbs.

Costs of the programs would be paid for by an existing energy-efficiency rider, which adds $2.35 a month to typical residential bills. Bruce Henderson

Pisgah Community Bank gets orders from FDIC

The FDIC has ordered Asheville-based Pisgah Community Bank to raise capital or find a buyer as its capital levels "continue to deteriorate," according to a directive released Friday.

The bank, classified as "significantly undercapitalized," has been under an agreement with the FDIC since August 2010, but the capital plans the bank's management team has submitted have not been adequate, the FDIC said.

In the fourth quarter, the bank lost $3 million and its Tier 1 capital ratio remained below 3 percent, according to data from the FDIC.

The bank is now ordered to either find a buyer, sell new common stock, sell preferred stock, or receive direct contributions from the bank's directors or shareholders. Andrew Dunn

Political funds disclosure has support on SEC

The Securities and Exchange Commission should require corporations to disclose their political spending so that shareholders can see how their money is being used, one of the agency's five commissioners said Friday.

Commissioner Luis Aguilar, a Democrat, urged the agency to address the fallout from the 2010 Supreme Court decision in the Citizens United case, lifting restrictions on corporate expenditures.

Without mandatory disclosures, "it is impossible to have any corporate accountability or oversight," Aguilar said in a speech prepared for a conference in Washington.

Aguilar has a history of criticizing what he sees as the agency's shortcomings. Addressing the same conference last year, he said he wished for a world in which SEC enforcement actions had obvious deterrent value. Washington Post

New data, adjusted data show trouble in home sales

Sales of new homes dipped in January, but the final quarter of 2011 was stronger than first estimated.

The government said Friday that new-home sales fell 0.9 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 321,000 homes.

The gains came after the government upwardly revised October, November and December's figures. December's annual sales pace of 324,000 was the highest in a year.

Even with more sales, only 304,000 new homes were sold in 2011 - the fewest on record dating back to 1963. AP

New pricing strategy adds to loss at J.C. Penney

J.C. Penney Co. reported a loss of $87 million in the fourth quarter in part because of costs related to its new pricing strategy that involves ditching sales for everyday low prices.

Under new CEO Ron Johnson, a former Apple Inc. executive, the retailer is overhauling just about every aspect of its business, including pricing.

Penney is eliminating hundreds of discounts a year in favor of a three-tier strategy: everyday prices that are about 40 percent less than what they were a year ago, monthlong sales on select items and clearance events during the first and third Friday of each month. AP

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Duke asks to modify energy-saving incentives