Perhaps most devastating to Clark’s call for government ownership was when
the great commotion over rate increases precipitously died down. The State Commission
approved a partial rate increase in 1924 and much of the heated debate
faded away as North Carolina settled into non-discriminatory rate structure and
regulation by commission. Clark would die shortly thereafter in May 1924 at his
desk in Raleigh. Duke followed him in October 1925. With the leading advocate
for public ownership in North Carolina gone, and the often-despised industrialist behind Southern Power lionized in his death, the cause of public ownership in
North Carolina faded into obscurity