SCANA executives misled state regulators as early as 2014 about their failing nuclear project.

The cover-up was not discovered until 2017.

Office of Regulatory Staff Director Nanette Edwards and her Communications Manager Ron Aiken shared this with the West Metro Rotary Club last week.

Edwards said the testimony of former SCANA accountant Carlette Walker and former SCE&G engineer Ken Browne, plus emails between Santee Cooper and SCE&G executives and most importantly an Estimate at Completion report were not shared with ORS.

Walker and Browne said the failing nuclear project would cost another $1.2 billion to complete. SCE&G ignored them and told the PSC that Westinghouse estimated costs would be only $698 million more.

“We got the EAC report through discovery received from Santee Cooper in 2017 that was strengthened by Walker’s and Browne’s depositions,” Aiken said.

On reconsideration of their initial order, the commission agreed with ORS that SCANA’s top executives, CEO Kevin Marsh and two of his lieutenants withheld critical information.

This included a $1 million Bechtel Corp. analysis of why the nuclear project was in danger of failure.

US Judge Margaret Seymour has cleared the way for SCANA investors to take Marsh, Jimmy Addison and Stephen Byrne to court in an attempt to recover $2.7 billion in stock losses.

The ORS had accused the SCE&G executives of withholding key documents showing the project was failing while they profited from PSC-approved rate hikes to kept the project going.

Walker testified she was forced out of the company after refusing to lie to the PSC to cover up failures.

Byrne said Westinghouse and other contractors withheld information SCE&G employees requested.

“Is that not a screaming red flag that something was amiss?” Commissioner Elliott Elam asked Byrne.

“The owners did pursue getting as much information as they could,” Byrne said.

Byrne also said Bechtel’s audit was not reliable.

The suppressed audit revealed SCE&G knew the project was in trouble long before it was abandoned.

Read more on page A3.