State lawmakers will fill 4 open Public Service Commission seats Feb. 5.

17 candidates will be screened for the 4 openings.

Several lawmakers have said they want to be able to vote on more than 1 nominee for each seat.

Commissioners’ pay could be a motivating factor in this many candidates.

Lawmakers hiked commissioners’ pay by more than 22% to $132,071.

The annual salary for commission chairman Comer “Randy” Randall, who faces 2 challengers for the District 3 seat, is $133,982.

Commissioners over 10 years approved 9 rate hikes of more than $2 billion on ratepayers’ bills for SC Electric & Gas’s failed $9 billion nuclear reactor project.

Former House member Chip Limehouse confirmed he is no longer a candidate but former House member Ted Vick, a Pawleys Island Democrat who served in the House from 2004-14, is.

State law allows ex-legislators to be elected to the PSC if they have been out of office for at least 4 years.

Brundrett is news editor of The Nerve. Contact him at 803-254-4411 or rick@thenerve.org .