Santee Cooper paid more than $5 million in incentive bonuses this year.

CEO Mark Bonsall and 1,462 Santee Cooper brass got the bonuses.

Individual cash rewards averaged about $3,500 each.

Deputy CEO Charles Duckworth received the largest bonus – $165,000.

Santee Cooper provided the records under the SC Freedom of Information Act

The records also show that 1,459 employees receive an annual salary of at least $50,000.

At least 483 were paid $100,000 or more. Santee Cooper’s Mollie Gore said “merit pay raises” took effect in March when covid-19 hit.

In weeks, thousands of South Carolinians lost their jobs in a government-imposed shutdown.

Santee Cooper CEO Bonsall’s annual salary is $1,108,221, according to utility records.

His total annual compensation is $1,160,652, which includes a $12,540 car allowance.

Bonsall’s salary is double what former CEO Lonnie Carter was making before he left in 2017.

Carter received an $800,000 a year golden parachute after Santee Cooper and SC Electric & Gas abandoned their $10 billion nuclear construction project.

The failed project cost Mid-Carolina Electric Cooperative members in Lexington County increases in electric rates although not as high as the $2.2 billion SCE&G charged ratepayers.

With incentive pay, 1,504 Santee Cooper employees this year will make at least $50,000.

The FoIA requires public agencies to disclose salaries of those making $50,000 or more yearly.

The records did not include state health insurance and retirement costs.

Bonsall can receive $250,000 in bonuses at the discretion of the utility’s board.

Santee Cooper provides electricity through 20 electric cooperatives to about 2 million South Carolinians.

State lawmakers next month could re-consider:

• A multi-billion-offer by Florida-based NextEra Energy to buy Santee Cooper.

• Dominion Energy’s offer to manage the utility.

• A reform proposal by Santee Cooper itself.

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