Giants among us: given the steady march of industry consolidation, let's question who benefits from the deals.

• Author: Mildenberg, David
• Position: UpFront

The day that Duke Energy Corp. agreed to buy Piedmont Natural Gas Co. for $4.9 billion, an analyst told company executives she was "scratching her head" over the price. Since then, I've scratched my own noggin, wondering how the merger benefits business or residential customers. Maybe a combined company will have a lower cost of capital. By that reasoning, the government should own everything because of its inexpensive debt. Maybe the deal blocks an out-of-state rival from taking over Piedmont's network. Not sure why that matters to Joe Six-pack.

Starting this month, state regulators will ask Duke to explain how one utility controlling both gas lines and the electric grid can look out for customers more effectively than two aggressive, independent operators. I'm dubious. For most consumers, big rarely means better.

The Duke-Piedmont deal is the latest in a string of mergers that once seemed unbelievable, but now receive serious consideration-- even when community benefits are elusive. Four of the five big health insurers have plans to consolidate. Banking gets more concentrated every week. Airline industry mergers have led to fewer flights to midsized towns and higher fares, prompting questions of collusion.

Fortunately, the proposed merger of U.S. cable companies Comcast and Time Warner Cable didn't pass the antitrust smell test. Neither does the pending merger of Anheuser-Busch InBev and SAB Miller, which has sparked concern here as Miller closes its 500-worker brewery in Eden.

Concern over six-pack pricing may be frivolous. But most Tar Heels have no choice except Duke or Piedmont to keep...