A Dominion Takeover Of Sce&g Could Cost 600 Local People Their Jobs And Income.”

There are no free lunches in the electric power business. Dominion Energy wants to buy SCANA, the Lexington County-based holding company that owns SC Electric & Gas.

SCE&G serves more than 727,000 ratepayers who it has been taking advantage of to the tune of almost $2 billion for the last 10 years.

SCE&G ran up such huge costs with its runaway nuclear reactor contractor, Westinghouse Electric, that its executives and lawyers claim they would be bankrupted if they had to give the money back.

That’s nonsense, say experts who have examined SCE&G’s assets and concluded the company can stand reimbursements without going broke.

One expert, Lane Kollen, was asked by Public Service Commissioner Elliott Elam, Jr.of Lexington how dominion could afford to buy SCANA and SCE&G, cut rates and pay ratepayers 1,000 each when SCANA claims it can’t afford to do that.

Dominion had said earlier it could cut some duplication and let a few SCANA executives go.

But Kollen said it would take far more cutting than that.

Up to 600 SCANA employees could lose their jobs, he said, if Dominion takes over control.

This is in addition to the 5,000 workers who lost their jobs when SCANA abandoned its $9 billion project last year.

Kollen is an expert witness for the Office of Regulatory Staff.

He estimated about 1/3rd of SCANA Services’ 1,700 employees – or 560 to 600 – would be let go, based on what Dominion has done in other power company buy outs in other states.

Most of these jobs would be in administration, human resources, purchasing and similar functions, not the people who generate power or repair down lines..

Kollen also said the commissioners could approve an ORS proposal to cut rates 20.93% without endangering SCE&G.

The prospect of a Dominion takeover ought to chill SCE&G employees. It ought to concern local county and municipal officials. Those job losses would hurt people and our economy.

- JerryBellune@yahoo.com

A Dominion takeover of SCE&G could cost 600 local people their jobs and income.