Rep. Russell Ott is bullish on electric co-operatives.

He isn’t alone.

The lawmaker who represents southern Lexington County believes cooperatives are the state’s best bet for electric distribution.

“It’s the one whose leadership is elected by the customers. Those customers are going to have the information they need to ... make sure they are treated fairly,” he said.

His bill gives the state Office of Regulatory Staff responsibility for auditing the state’s 20 co-ops including Mid-Carolina Electric in Lexington County.

The new law was prompted by the Tri-County Electric board’s abuse of its members’ trust with pay, perks and other excesses.

The State newspaper exposed the board’s abuse of its 13,600 members in Lexington and 5 other counties.

The co-ops helped draft the bill and lobbied for it to show lawmakers that the Tri-County scandal is not widespread among co-ops.

Mike Couick, chief executives of the Electric Cooperatives of SC, the co-ops’ statewide trade group, supports the new law.

The Tri-County scandal had a ripple effect nationwide, Couick told The State.

Gov. Henry McMaster was flanked by co-op leaders as he signed the new law.

“This legislation... answers a lot of questions — accountability, openness, transparency — and it will make things better for everyone,” McMaster said.

The State revealed that Tri-County’s part-time board habitually scheduled scores of unnecessary meetings – many as brief as 15 minutes long – to claim $450 a meeting payments.

Some claimed $450 payments for attending community events and political fund-raisers unrelated to co-op business and 1 filed reports that exaggerated the hours she worked.

They gave themselves health insurance and $30,000 life insurance plans, held expensive dinners, claimed $300 Christmas bonuses and paid $81,000 each for retirement paid by co-op members.

Tri-County’s members paid high power bills while part-time board members took home about $52,000 a year. Board Heath Hill, made $79,000 a year.

Employees complained board members pressured them to install power lines and do free landscaping.