Earlier this month Santee Cooper announced their new business plan involving a shift away from predominantly coal-fired power plants to solar and natural gas sources, including completely phasing out the Winyah Generation Station near Georgetown.
While the future of the energy business is in renewable energy and natural gas, the claim of this transition bringing immediate relief to customers and assisting the company with paying down the more than $4 billion of debt from the failed V.C. Summer project left more questions than answers.
Many news outlets and concerned citizens took to Twitter to express their confusion:
Santee Cooper plans to add solar, pay down debt in hopes of halting sale https://t.co/fn83THBTtw
None of these schemes will ultimately relieve rate payers of paying off the debt for energy they’ll never receive.
— Palmetto Promise (@PalmettoPromise) September 9, 2019
Palmetto Promise is an organization promoting economic freedom and free-market within South Carolina.
.@postandcourier: “Nothing like a good threat to motivate action.” Ok, but what happens when that threat goes away? A state-owned utility with a legislatively granted service monopoly is simply bad public policy. #SanteeCooper https://t.co/auZrzHzkeX
— Tom Davis (@senatortomdavis) September 17, 2019
Tom Davis is a South Carolina State Senator representing Beaufort and Jasper Counties.
Santee Cooper’s board is set to vote today on a new business plan that begins to plot a future for the state-run utility.
The strategy also includes a potential cost-sharing arrangement with Southern Co. Not everyone is happy about that, however. https://t.co/WoPpyAdWdP
— Andrew Brown (@Andy_Ed_Brown) September 9, 2019
Andrew Brown reports stories on business for the Post and Courier.
Santee Cooper plans to add solar, pay down debt in hopes of halting sale https://t.co/z1WFvN0N2X via @postandcourier
— Holy City Sinner (@HolyCitySinner) September 8, 2019
Holy City Sinner is the most popular local blog in Charleston and has been voted as the best website and Twitter feed in Charleston for the last 6 years.
Late last month, South Carolina’s embattled government-run utility Santee Cooper was excoriated by Dana Beach – one of the Palmetto State’s leading environmental advocates.
In a column published by The (Charleston, S.C. https://t.co/mDiqgYph8j
— FITSNews.com ? (@fitsnews) September 13, 2019
FITSNews.com is a free market news outlet that reports on breaking news throughout South Carolina with a focus on business.
So, what are your thoughts on Santee Cooper’s new business plan?