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(Reuters) – Duke Energy Corp’s (DUK.N) board of directors lost confidence in Progress Energy CEO Bill Johnson in part because of his company’s financial performance and the management of its nuclear power business, Duke Chief Executive Jim Rogers told North Carolina regulators on Tuesday.

Rogers was testifying at a hearing called by the North Carolina Utilities Commission to look into Johnson’s ouster following Duke’s $18 billion takeover of Progress, which was completed last week.

He said that the board’s concerns also extended to Johnson’s management methods, noting they “felt his style was autocratic” and “discouraged different points of view.”

Rogers said the company’s lead director approached him in late June with her concerns about Johnson’s abilities to lead a combined company. She asked him then whether he would be willing to remain as CEO if the board decided to remove Johnson.

Rogers’ appearance at the hearing drew an overflow audience. The utilities commission hearing room, which seats 106, was packed, requiring the commission to open an adjacent room for others to hear.

Duke directors replaced Johnson with Rogers as head of the merged company just hours after the deal closed, despite telling regulators while the deal was under review that Rogers would be executive chairman and Johnson would be CEO.

With the Progress takeover, Duke became the largest U.S. power company, with 57,000 megawatts of generating capacity and 7.1 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio. Duke also is now the second largest U.S. operator of nuclear power plants. (Reporting by Wade Rawlins in North Carolina and Ernest Scheyder and Michael Erman in New York; editing by Gerald E. McCormick and Andre Grenon)