COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The Latest on South Carolina regulators’ votes on issues concerning the fallout from a $9 billion nuclear construction project failure (all times local):
1:55 p.m.
A majority of South Carolina regulators say they will vote to approve a deal to rescue a utility company reeling in the wake of a multibillion-dollar nuclear construction failure.
At least five of the seven members of the Public Service Commission said ahead of a vote Friday they support Dominion Energy’s roughly $15 billion cash and stock bid to buy SCANA, the parent company of South Carolina Electric & Gas.
Ratepayers have already paid more than $2 billion for a pair of nuclear reactors abandoned during construction last summer.
Privately-owned SCANA and its minority partner, state-owned Santee Cooper, gave up on the project after a decade of planning and building following the bankruptcy of lead contractor Westinghouse.
Friday’s meeting was paused briefly to clear the hearing room of protesters holding signs and calling for more solar energy options.
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12:01 a.m.
South Carolina regulators have a couple of billion-dollar decisions Friday.
The Public Service Commission will determine at a 1 p.m. meeting how much to cut rates for 737,000 South Carolina Electric & Gas customers who have already paid more than $2 billion for a pair of nuclear reactors abandoned during construction.
Regulators will also decide whether to approve a roughly $15 billion cash and stock bid from Virginia-based Dominion Energy to buy SCE&G’s parent company SCANA Corp.
It’s a pivotal point in the unraveling of South Carolina’s nuclear debacle which started in the summer of 2017 when privately-owned SCANA and its minority partner, state-owned Santee Cooper, gave up on the reactors they had spent a decade planning and building about an hour outside of Columbia.
