Duke Energy spends millions on lobbying efforts in Washington, D.C., in a time when the Charlotte-based company is asking its customers to cough up more cash to keep the lights on. Makes one wonder: what are those rate hikes for anyway?

From Yahoo! News:

Duke Energy Corp. spent $1.6 million lobbying federal officials in the third quarter on environmental rules, regulatory costs, and support for new energy technologies, according to a recent disclosure report.

That's slightly more than the $1.59 million it spent a year earlier and it's 8 percent less than the $1.73 million Duke Energy spent in the second quarter of 2011, according to disclosure reports it has filed with the House clerk's office.

Read the rest of this article here.

Further reading: U.S. again denies Duke and Progress utility merger — The Charlotte Observer

Want to poke around in Duke Energy's lobbying money a little more? Check out OpenSecrets.org. A quick search will tell you a lot, but be sure to search on other terms, too, like, oh ... I dunno, "coal ash." (Click here to explore Progress Energy's lobbying expenditures.)

• Click the photo to search OpenSecrets.org for "Duke Energy."