Johnson, who was fired within a few hours of the merger's completion on July 2 and issued his resignation shortly afterwards, was replaced with Duke CEO Jim Rogers, who spent hours answering commissioners' questions on July 10 as part of their investigation into the decision to fire Johnson.

Johnson got his day with the commission Thursday, and told commissioners that Duke had wanted out of the merger for some time. Duke apparently had second thoughts after the Federal Energy Commission insisted the utility do more to protect competition as a condition of the merger.

Quoted in Bloomberg Businessweek, Johnson said "They wanted the merger, then they didn't want it, then they couldn't get out of it, then they didn't want to be stuck with me as the person who dragged them to it."

Johnson described his relationship with Rogers between December 2011 and early May of this year as "fairly strained" and also characterized the relationship between the two companies as "strained" and exhibiting a "lack of trust."

The Thursday and previous hearings were made available to the public through an audio feed available on the commission's Web site.

Commissioners also asked Johnson about the stated reasons for his firing which, according to the Tampa Bay Times, included an autocratic leadership style, the utility's finances and his handling of  the Progress nuclear program.

Johnson commented that he disagreed with all of the reasons given, and that if anyone had brought them to his attention, he would have worked to correct them.

The commission focused in great detail on questions relating to 'who knew what and when' with regard to any possible prior plans or activity to get rid out of Johnson after the merger was completed, in short to find out if they had been deliberately misled throughout the process.

Johnson confirmed that his designation as CEO of the new Duke was a very important issue for the Progress board of directors. When asked if the Progress board would have considered a planned ouster as a breach of the merger's terms had they known about it, Johnson replied "That is certainly a strong possibility."

While Johnson said that he still believes the merger is "good for everybody," he did have some critical remarks about how his dismissal was handled. Referring what he described as a tendency among the general public to hold corporate America and Congress in "low esteem," he said "I think it's this kind of behavior...is why we're held in low regard." He added that considering the commission investigation, the North Carolina attorney general's investigation and the intense scrutiny the merger and his departure have received, "There had to be a better way to do this."

Stay tuned. There's sure to be more to come.

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Duke-Progress merger backlash continues