Lawyer: SCANA set aside $110M for execs while charging customers for failed nuclear project
COLUMBIA, S.C. -- While charging its customers $37 million a month for a failed multibillion-dollar nuclear project, top executives at a South Carolina utility set aside $110 million in an irrevocable trust to pay themselves bonuses for aiding their utility’s sale.
The revelation came Monday during a hearing a on SCE&G’s motion to block a 15-percent temporary rate cut enacted by state lawmakers.
Attorney Matthew Richardson, who is representing Senate President Pro Tempore Hugh Leatherman, pointed to SEC filings disclosing the trust, which he argued was “meant to protect SCANA execs with golden parachutes.”
Asked about the trust, SCANA Chief Financial Officer Iris Griffin said the money was meant to provide merger-related compensation to unnamed utility leaders who would lose their jobs after Virginia-based Dominion Energy buys SCE&G parent company, Cayce-based SCANA.
Read more: https://www.thestate.com/news/politics-government/article215809595.html