the nuclear fiasco

During the failed nuclear project, a little-known committee of 5 elected officials never met once to discuss what to do.

Despite all the controversy about the $9 billion debacle, the Santee Cooper advisory board – made up of the governor, attorney general, comptroller general, treasurer and secretary of state – still hasn’t met.

Under state law, the advisory board “must consult and advise with” the 12-member Santee Cooper board “on any and all matters which by the board of directors may be referred to the advisory board.”

But the Santee Cooper board never referred a single matter to the advisory board during Nikki Haley’s or Henry McMaster’s terms, according to written responses from state Treasurer Curtis Loftis and representatives for Attorney General Alan Wilson, Comptroller General Richard Eckstrom and Secretary of State Mark Hammond.

Had the 5 members been active, it might have provided some much-needed input to the failed nuclear project – one of the biggest financial flops in state history.

Santee Cooper could have alerted 5 key constitutional officers, including the governor and attorney general but did not.

Santee Cooper was a 45% partner with SC Electric & Gas in the fiasco which they abandoned after the reactor contractor Westinghouse filed for bankruptcy.

Shannon Wiley, the Secretary of State’s chief lawyer, told us his office understood that meetings would be convened by the governor as chief executive of the state who appoints the Santee Cooper board.

McMaster has said he wants to find a buyer for Santee Cooper. The governor appointed former Attorney General Charlie Condon board chairman after Leighton Lord was pressured to quit over the nuclear debacle.

McMaster’s office did not respond to 2 written requests for comment. Neither did Santee Cooper spokeswoman Mollie Gore.

Treasurer Curtis Loftis said he “inquired about meetings and practices shortly after taking office in 2011, but there was no interest in holding a meeting.”

Loftis said the advisory board is the “appropriate vehicle … to hire such services to assist the Board, the General Assembly, the Governor, the Santee Cooper Board of Directors and others make informed decisions about how to better protect our ratepayers and stop the financial bleeding our state is experiencing as a result of this catastrophe.”

SCE&G ratepayers collectively have paid more than $2 billion for the V.C. Summer project through 9 rate hikes that were approved by the state Public Service Commission under a quietly-passed 2007 state law, called the Base Load Review Act.

Residential SCE&G customers pay $27, about 18%, of a monthly $147 bill for 1,000 kilowatt hours to the failed nuclear project, the Office of Regulatory Staff estimates.

Attorney General Wilson’s office issued a formal legal opinion that provisions in the law allowing SCE&G rate hikes for the nuclear project were “constitutionally suspect.”

With Santee Cooper, which is not regulated by the PSC, a residential customer pays about $5, or 4.5%, of a monthly $118 bill for 1,000 kilowatt hours.

Brundrett is the news editor of The Nerve. Contact him at 803-254-4411 or rick@thenerve.org .