The top state regulator blamed rate hikes on SC Electric & Gas witholding vital information.

Public Service Commission Chairman Comer “Randy” Randall told the Greenville News that criticism of the PSC resulted from SCE&G officials withholding documents that have since been released under court orders.

“We were missing a lot of information that we needed and we’re getting it now,” Randall said.

“I guarantee you we will never make everybody happy,” he said, “but we will do our best for everybody.”

Randall wasn’t the only one feeling the heat at last week’s hearings into SCE&G rates and Dominion Energy’s bid to buy the Lexington County-based utility.

Stephen Byrne, ex-chief operating officer of SCANA which owns SCE&G, blamed the $9 billion project’s failure on his reactor contractor Westinghouse Electric which is in bankruptcy proceedings.

Byrne denied claims by 2 former employees accusing him and other executives of fraud and lying to cover up their mismanagemnt.

He told the commissioners he felt the project was doing so well 2 years ago that he turned down an offer to become the CEO of another utility because “I wanted to finish this.”

Byrne testified on the last day of the PSC’s hearing into SCE&G’s failed project about cuts in its rates and Dominion Energy’s bid to buy the Cayce-based utility.

The watchdog Office of Regulatory Staff wants up to a 20% cut in rates.

ORS has accused SCE&G of withholding key documents from regulators that would have shown the project was failing while profiting from rate hikes that kept the project going.

ORS called 2 former SCANA employees who testified executives misled the PSC with unrealistically low estimates of project costs.

Former SCANA accountant Carlette Walker and former SCE&G engineer Ken Browne said the project would cost another $1.2 billion to complete.

SCE&G brass ignored them, they said, and told the PSC that Westinghouse estimated costs would be only $698 million more.

Westinghouse based that on a construction productivity rate that was never achieved, they testified.

Byrne denied this saying the estimate wasn’t meant for the PSC negotiations with Westinghouse.

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

Byrne said SCE&G was skeptical of Westinghouse’s projections but gave the PSC the cost estimate.

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 of Lexington asked Byrne.

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

He said a critical Bechtel audit was not reliable.

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

Byrne said SCANA lawyers told him the Bechtel audit would be kept secret because it was protected by attorney-client privilege.