Carolina Power & Light Co.

Carolina Power & Light Co. finally figured out what to do with its money-losing Interpath Communications subsidiary. To no one s surprise, the Raleigh-based utility is spinning it off. It's the way CP&L's doing it that's unusual -- a joint venture with Bain Capital Inc., a Boston investment company. They each will invest $50 million in Interpath. Bain gets 65% of the application service provider, and CP&L, 35%. (ASPs keep software on Internet servers and rent it to customers as needed.) But CP&L gets to keep Interpath's 2,000 miles of fiber-optic cable. A former CP&L...