Ex-Indiana Utility Chief to Stand Trial for Aiding GC

Sue Reisinger

Corporate Counsel

10-26-2012

The ethics scandal involving Scott Storms, the former general counsel of the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission, has taken a new turn. This week a state appeals court ruled that Storms’s former boss must stand trial for helping Storms set up a new job with Duke Energy Corp. while he still worked on Duke cases before the commission.

David Lott Hardy, who headed the commission until he was fired in 2010 over the scandal, was indicted last December on three felony counts. The first involved Storms, and the others relate to his oversight of cost overruns and other problems at Duke Energy’s new $3 billion power plant in Edwardsport.

After his firing and indictment, Hardy appealed the charges to the Indiana Court of Appeals, saying they were overbroad and unconstitutional.

He also asked the appeals court to allow him to avoid trial because he has aplastic anemia, a serious bone-marrow disease requiring frequent treatments.

Monday the court rejected his appeal without comment. His attorneys didn’t return messages seeking comment.

Prosecutors have accused Hardy of helping Storms seek a job as in-house counsel with Duke’s Indiana subsidiary while Storms was still GC for the commission. At the time, Storms was supervising two Duke cost-overrun cases before the agency.

In the wake of a public outcry over hiring Storms, Duke fired him. The incident led to a state investigation that resulted in Hardy’s indictment and state ethics charges against Storms.

The Indiana State Ethics Commission in May 2011 ruled that Storms had violated state ethics laws by seeking the job with Duke while he was still employed at the commission and overseeing Duke cases.

It fined him $12,000 and barred him from future state employment. Neither Storms nor his lawyer returned messages seeking comment this week.

The State Bar of Indiana this week still lists Storms as a lawyer in good standing.