CINCINNATI (AP) -- Court documents show Ford Motor Company, Procter & Gamble Company and General Electric Company are among companies with operations in southern Ohio that were paid millions by Duke Energy in what lawyers say were kickbacks for dropping opposition to a rate increase.

Documents obtained by The Cincinnati Enquirer show Duke paid out about 22 million dollars to 22 companies yearly since 2005.

The newspaper says Duke's residential customers saw a 30 percent increase in their electric rates during that time. Randy Freking, among the lawyers suing Duke, says Ohio law bans utilities from giving rebates to one group of customers at the expense of another.

Duke says the payments are legitimate business agreements to guarantee the companies won't switch to a competitor.

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