News

Possible gas pipeline route in SC is a ‘trade secret’ that a utility refuses to reveal

Santee Cooper, a partner with Dominion Energy in a plan to build a new Lowcountry gas plant, declined to provide any information about a future pipeline in response to a Post and Courier open records request. 

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SC power companies set billions on fire to build a nuke plant. They want your money again.

Power companies and lawmakers are pushing hard for a new gas-fired power plant, likely at a site along the Edisto River. But the push carries echoes of what happened before the failed plan to build the V.C. Summer nuclear station north of Columbia, a project that set $9 billion on fire.

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SC conservation groups rip revised Statehouse plan to fast-track Lowcountry gas plant

South Carolina lawmakers advanced controversial legislation to fast-track a new natural gas plant in South Carolina’s Lowcountry with language some believe would hamstring the state’s solar energy sector.

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House advances bill fast-tracking natural gas plant over regulatory concerns

COLUMBIA — A controversial energy bill is heading to the House floor over the continued opposition of consumer and environmental advocates, who say changes fell far short of addressing concerns over fast-tracking a new power plant in South Carolina.

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Editorial: SC regulator’s sudden resignation underscores danger of utility-friendly bill

Ratepayers have never had a lot of friends on the S.C. Public Service Commission, whose job should be to protect the public from the monopoly utilities our Legislature forces us to buy our electricity from but which has always done a better job at protecting the utilities’ government-guaranteed profits.

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Utility regulator quits, says SC energy bill may cause repeat of VC Summer nuclear fiasco

Utility regulator quits, says SC energy bill may cause repeat of VC Summer nuclear fiasco

A state Public Service Commission member has resigned in protest from the utility oversight board because of concerns that a bill moving through the Legislature could lead to a repeat of the failed V.C. Summer nuclear project in South Carolina seven years ago.

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Commentary: Don’t give Dominion and Santee Cooper another blank check for a megaproject

Essentially, the same utilities whose greed and incompetence cost 5,000 South Carolinians their jobs, and the same utilities that fleeced ratepayers to the tune of $9 billion, are now asking for a sweetheart deal for another project that is the same size as the failed V.C. Summer project.

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SC faces repeat of costly nuclear fiasco if lawmakers don’t wise up, critics say

SC faces repeat of costly nuclear fiasco if lawmakers don’t wise up, critics say

South Carolina faces a repeat of the 2017 V.C. Summer nuclear construction debacle that soaked ratepayers if state legislators make it easier for utilities to build a large natural gas plant in Colleton County, critics said this week.

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The purpose of utility regulation must be protecting the public

Commentary: The purpose of utility regulation must be protecting the public

We have been told repeatedly that the current situation is not similar to the sad history around the Base Load Review Act and V. C. Summer, but the evidence points toward some very important parallels that must be acknowledged.

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