December 23, 2010, by John Russell in the Indianapolis Star-(Editors Note-Valley Watch is one of the intervening groups that will be deposing Turner)
In private, James L. Turner, the second-highest-paid executive at Duke Energy Corp., was rarely at a loss to express himself, exchanging frequent e-mails with Indiana regulators about cars, vacations, alcohol and personnel decisions.
Jim Turner on Duke's website prior to his dismissal
Now a collection of citizens’ and environmental groups is hoping that Turner, who is leaving the company next week under an ethics cloud, will keep talking.
Backed by a state order, they plan to grill him early next year about his role in the company’s decision to hire away several state employees in possible violation of Indiana ethics laws. They also want to question him about the company’s $2.9 billion coal-gasification plant in Edwardsport, which they call a boondoggle.
The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission signed an order Tuesday that compels Turner to appear at a deposition in Indianapolis for questioning by the Citizens Action Coalition of Indiana, the Sierra Club, Save the Valley and Valley Watch.
The groups plan to ask Turner about “anything and everything” concerning his relationship with several state officials and Duke employees who were fired earlier this year in a growing ethics scandal, said Kerwin Olson, program manager for Citizens Action Coalition.
“He was the go-to guy in the whole affair,” Olson said. “We want to know exactly what role he played.”
The groups want to use any information they can get from Turner to help build a case that Duke Energy used undue influence in getting the state to approve the Edwardsport plant and its cost overruns, much of which will be passed along to consumers. The groups want to halt construction at the plant, which is more than halfway completed, and have Duke foot much of the bill on the grounds that the company has concealed information and mismanaged the project. (More)