21 May 2009 -- A jury in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana ruled May 20 in favor of Duke Energy on four of six projects involved in a lawsuit affecting the company's Midwest power plants. The jury ruled against the company on two Indiana projects.

The litigation stems from an effort that began in 1999, when the Environmental Protection Agency filed a number of environmental enforcement actions across the utility industry. In this case, the EPA alleged that Cinergy, which merged with Duke Energy in 2006, undertook six power plant upgrades in Indiana and Ohio without installing modern pollution controls. The government alleged the company's work did not qualify as routine maintenance and that Cinergy should have predicted that the projects would increase emissions at the plants.

The jury found in favor of the company for three projects at its Gibson plant near Princeton, Ind., and Beckjord Station in New Richmond, Ohio, and one project at its Gallagher Station in New Albany, Ind. The jury ruled against two other Gallagher projects.