The N.C. Supreme Court peppered lawyers for Duke Energy, state agencies and environmental groups with rapid-fire questions in two hours of oral arguments over the 2018 rate cases that saddled customers with more than $700 million in coal-ash costs.
State Solicitor General Matt Sawchak had barely begun his introduction contending customers have been unfairly charged for mismanagement at Duke utilities, which led to problems such as the Dan River coal-ash spill, before Justice Paul Newby interrupted…
