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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe former chairman of the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission, David Lott Hardy, has been indicted by a Marion County grand jury on felony official misconduct charges, the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office announced Monday.
Hardy was caught up in an ethics scandal at the government agency involving Scott Storms, an administrative law judge and chief counsel for the commission. Storms worked on a number of Duke Energy cases pending before the commission and later applied for a job as an attorney for Duke. Hardy was fired by Gov. Mitch Daniels in October 2010 for allowing Storms to continue to work on Duke cases while he tried to land the job with Duke. Storms was also fired by Duke.
Hardy faces three Class D felony charges of official misconduct. Count I pertains to Hardy allowing Storms to continue to work on the Duke cases even while applying for a position with the company. Count II says Hardy failed to disclose an ex parte communication that happened in March 2008 with a Duke employee regarding revised cost estimates of Duke’s Edwardsport coal gasification plant construction project. Count III says Hardy didn’t disclose an ex parte communication that happened in February 2010 with Duke employees regarding revised cost estimates of the Edwardsport project.
The prosecutor’s office filed the charges Monday morning, and the case will be randomly assigned to one of Marion County’s four D felony courts.
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