Relief is in sight for SCE&G and Santee Cooper ratepayers who have forked over well over a billion dollars for two new nuclear reactors that will never be completed. It can’t come fast enough.
On Thursday, state lawmakers announced an ambitious package of reforms related to the failed nuclear project. Proposed legislation would roll back rate increases tied to the new reactors, shake up state regulatory bodies and replace the board of directors at Santee Cooper, among other actions.
Rolling back rates should be a top priority for legislators when they reconvene in January. SCE&G customers continue to pay 18 percent of their monthly bills for the nuclear project, amounting to about $27 per month for the average household.
Customers should be outraged that SCANA, the parent company of SCE&G, still makes about $37 million per month from rate hikes to pay for a construction effort that has been abandoned since the summer. Not only should electric bills be immediately reduced, but refunds should be given for the months since SCANA announced it would not complete the new reactors.
Firing the Santee Cooper board, as the House has proposed, should herald much needed fresh thinking for the state-run agency.
It also makes sense to get rid of the sitting members of the Public Service Commission, the regulatory agency that was all but asleep at the wheel for nearly a decade as cost overruns and construction delays raised red flags that the nuclear project was falling apart.
And the state Office of Regulatory Staff, a watchdog organization, should be given the strongest possible teeth to ensure that future investments at ratepayer expense are handled more prudently.
SCE&G should also be required to return to customers every cent of a possible $2 billion tax deduction the utility stands to reap by officially abandoning all hope of ever completing the reactors.
It would be better to spend what it takes to maintain the V.C. Summer site in good condition in case a future solution allows construction to restart, possibly under a different utility company. After all, South Carolina will eventually need new power plants, and nuclear reactors are a good option for the state.
But if that’s not possible, any tax write-off should be used to lower the cost burden on customers.
In the meantime, the House has a good plan for bringing relief to hundreds of thousands of ratepayers across the state. Passing it should be the first order of business in January.