Utility’s Role in Convention Tests Obama

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — When Charlotte first emerged as the top contender to host the Democratic convention, its lead cheerleader was James E. Rogers, the outspoken chief executive of the hometown utility, Duke Energy. He promised to be a public face and a private fund-raiser for the effort. 

Mr. Rogers has not only solicited donations but has also arranged for his company to donate office space and guarantee a loan to the convention committee.

He cited local pride as motivation, but Duke Energy, which became the nation’s largest utility with its recent merger, also had a business incentive. The company, which has supported the energy initiatives of President Obama and Congressional Democrats, has received federal economic stimulus money and alternative-energy grants. Its financial future stands to be greatly influenced by the sorts of environmental proposals the president’s party has vowed to pursue.

The intersection of Duke Energy’s interests and its support for the convention is testing Mr. Obama’s pledge to free the party’s gathering from business and lobbyist support.

The situation is a microcosm of a larger issue that Mr. Obama’s campaign has faced. It has tried to balance the president’s longtime pledge to reduce the influence of special interests in politics with his real-world need to raise the huge amounts of money that modern campaigns require, at times in ways that seem to contradict those pledges.

Republicans are accusing the convention organizers of hypocrisy. Some Democrats are saying the White House set itself up for the charges by making a vow that was bound to be difficult to keep and that would risk alienating its business supporters.

Duke has found its task a thankless one. Some of its conservative shareholders have accused the company of getting too cozy with the administration. Some Democrats have complained that Mr. Rogers has not done enough to raise the money necessary for the convention. And whatever Mr. Rogers’s fund-raising success, it was not enough to stop a Democratic group from implying nefarious connections between the utility and the Republican candidate for governor here, Pat McCrory.