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junkfaceshark t1_ir3h4qk wrote

All around Lake Norman there are a variety of ocular, thyroid, and other cancers far more prevalent than they should be. All of it points back to coal ash dumping and leakage over time, and coal ash even being used as soil filler by developers back in the day. People are unfortunately moving there in droves but this all gets hushed up because of Duke Energy influence in the state. I'm surprised Duke U had the courage to even publish something like this given any potential implications.

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soccernamlak t1_ir47wb9 wrote

> I'm surprised Duke U had the courage to even publish something like this given any potential implications.

Why? Duke University and Duke Energy are completely separate organizations.

The name overlap is due to one of the founders of Duke Energy, James Buchanan Duke, establishing The Duke Endowment in 1924. At the time, the university was called Trinity College. It's president then, William Preston Few, wanted to rename it to Duke both as thanks for the generosity and to distinguish it from other colleges and universities called Trinity at the time (e.g., Trinity College in Connecticut). James Duke eventually accepted on the condition that it was as a memorial to his father, Washington Duke. Source. Washington Duke's generosity about three decades earlier is what led Duke to move to Durham from Randolph County (alongside Julian Carr).

Now, there are overlapping projects between the two (e.g., power plant on Duke's campus). Duke also purchases electricity from Duke Energy (Source). There may be investments by Duke University and/or the separate Duke Endowment into Duke Energy, but they are not listed directly in the Ownership Profile for Duke Energy.

But ultimately, Duke Energy is a public electric power and natural gas holding company traded on the NYSE, and Duke University is a separate, private research university.

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