The good news for SC Electric & Gas ratepayers is that relief may be on the way.

It could take several years and a lot of public pressure.

State lawmakers have to be convinced their political futures are at stake if they don’t support competition in electric utility rates as has been done in Illinois, Texas and Wisconsin.

The latest findings is that Lexington County residents could save an average $220.28 or more a year from injecting competition in the power industry.

That’s the prediction of Dr. Kathleen Grace, a Wofford College professor and expert on the SCANA-Santee Cooper nuclear fiasco that cost 727,000 ratepayers $2 billion.

Grace said the average SC residential electricity bill was $1,423 a year in 2016.

That will drop $220 a year – more than $18 a month –when South Carolina ends regulated monopolies such as SC Electric & Gas, now a subsidiary of Dominion Energy.

That’s a saving of $413.5 million a year and “this doesn’t account for changes in demand that occur when prices drop,” she said here this month at a program arranged by Frank Knapp, CEO of the SC Small Business Chamber.

Competition will drive electric rates even lower, said another expert, Jim Clarkson, a Georgia consultant who helps companies lower their power costs.

He said lawmakers need:

• To put competition in power distribution as has been done in other states.

• Allow industries to cut costs by allowing them to buy power from outside monopoly areas.

This will drive down rates and make recruiting and relocating businesses, industries and thousands of jobs easier against southeastern states with far lower electric rates.

When businesses see they can lower operating costs here, they will want to relocate here.

But lawmakers must do away with monopoly areas such as large parts of county that are SCE&G controls.

Lawmakers won’t do anything unless they hear from you.

– Jerry Bellune