Some SC lawmakers wanted out of owning an electric utility. That's off the table
COLUMBIA, S.C. -- South Carolina will no longer explore selling the state’s public utility Santee Cooper after state House and Senate leaders reached a compromise Tuesday on a reform package to be voted on by the General Assembly when it returns next week.
The reform deal, details of which were agreed to Tuesday by six of the Legislature’s top Democratic and Republican leaders, addresses changes to board membership and adds regulatory oversight over how Santee Cooper sets its power rates and plans to build new electricity generation. It also adds legislative oversight over the utility’s ability to issue debt.
It does not, however, include a sale — an avenue House leaders wanted but Senate leaders said was a dead end.
Santee Cooper’s future has been up in the air since it partnered in the failed V.C. Summer nuclear project in Fairfield County that left the utility billions of dollars in debt, which ratepayers will eventually have to cover. Since 2017, state lawmakers have tried to reach a resolution and worked toward a reform package last year. But the legislative process came to a halt because of COVID-19.
Read more: https://www.thestate.com/news/politics-government/article251698483.html