The Council on Ethics for the Government Pension Fund Global recommended the exclusion of Duke Energy Corp. (Duke) and its wholly owned subsidiaries Duke Energy Carolinas LLC (Duke Carolinas), Duke Energy Progress LLC (Duke Progress) and Progress Energy Inc. (Energy Progress) due to the unacceptable risk of these companies being responsible for severe environmental damage. For many years, these companies have among other things repeatedly discharged environmentally harmful substances from a large number of ash basins at coal-fired power plants in North Carolina. Several court rulings have ordered the companies to remove or seal these ash basins. In its assessment, the Council places emphasis on the fact that the planned measures will not be fully implemented for another 10-15 years. The Council also perceives the long-lasting and extensive breaches of the environmental legislation to be a considerable risk factor.