Under SCANA lawyers’ pressure, auditors tempered criticism about nuclear project management.

A subpoena obtained by the Charleston Post and Courier shows that Bechtel Corp. auditors scrubbed concerns about costs, delays and project management from its final report.

The federal Securities and Exchange Commission apparently wants to know if Santee Cooper did enough to warn its lenders about troubles with its $9 billion nuclear project.

SEC investigators in Atlanta asked how Santee Cooper, a taxpayer-owned utility, handled the highly critical audit more than a year before they abandoned construction and 5,000 workers were fired.

The secret audit raised concerns in 2015 about whether the project would be finished in time to claim billions in tax credits.

Auditors from Bechtel warned that Santee Cooper and SCANA were mismanaging the project.

In a subpoena served on Santee Cooper in March, the SEC asked for four years of documents, including anything “pertaining to the disclosure or non-disclosure of the Bechtel report, assessment and schedule.”

Investigators also asked for drafts of Santee Cooper’s reports to investors and a list of everyone who had a copy of the Bechtel report.

The SEC declined comment on its investigation.

Spokeswoman Mollie Gore said Santee Cooper was “fully cooperating,”

Santee Cooper has to produce detailed financial information in selling bonds to borrow money as their debt is traded publicly.

The SEC subpoena asks multiple times if the utility sold bonds in 2016 to raise nearly $1.5 billion to refinance old debt and pay for the nuclear project.

When it issued the bonds, Santee Cooper warned investors that large construction projects often are delayed and cost more because of “unforeseen engineering problems.”

Bechtel found the utilities and their Westinghouse contractors weren’t motivated to stay on schedule.

Last fall, the SEC subpoenaed SCANA, a publicly traded company based in Lexington County that owns SC Electric & Gas.

Shareholders accused SCANA of hiding Bechtel’s report and covering up mounting problems.

SCANA still appears to be a focus of the investigation as the senior partner with Santee Cooper and the one with the most direct management of the failed project.