South Carolina customers could see refunds in utility sale

COLUMBIA, S.C. — A proposed deal announced Wednesday could mean $1.3 billion in refunds for customers of a troubled South Carolina utility who have been funding a failed nuclear reactor project.

In a news release, Richmond, Va.-based Dominion Energy announced it would make immediate $1,000 cash payments to SCANA Corp. customers within 90 days of closing its purchase of the company. If approved by regulators, the deal would also cut rates for customers of SCANA subsidiary South Carolina Electric & Gas Co. (SCE&G) by about 5 per cent, an amount officials said would mean more than $7 in monthly givebacks for customers.

SCANA has been reeling since announcing last summer that SCE&G was abandoning construction of two new nuclear reactors at the V.C. Summer Nuclear Station. Thousands were left jobless in the wake of the Us$9-billion failure, which SCE&G and project coowner Santee Cooper blamed on lead contractor Westinghouse. The debacle has spawned multiple lawsuits, with customers accusing SCANA executives of misleading them about the project’s viability. State lawmakers have opened inquiries, and both state and federal authorities are investigating. The $14.6-billion deal with Dominion would still leave SCE&G customers holding the bag on funding the scuttled construction, but would reduce the timetable on those payments from about 60 years to about 20 years, officials said. Via a series of rate hikes, SCE&G customers have paid about $2 billion toward the company’s debt on the project.