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Natural Gas Santee Cooper South Carolia

Looking At The Details: The Realities Of Natural Gas In South Carolina

Featured Image Source: Post and Courier

Santee Cooper’s most recent business forecast included numerous promises for direct serve and electric coop customers.

From a five-year rate freeze to a reduced cost of power with a shift to renewable energy, the forecast laid out a plan that came across as simple, clean and easy. However, as customers and South Carolina residents started taking a closer look, they began noticing that in order to accomplish the goals laid out in the plan, a lot more time and money would be required than is being acknowledged.

As Claire Robinson, a Columbia resident wrote to the Berkeley Independent, “That all looks good on paper, but of course, the devil is in the details.”

To start with, a significant part of the business forecast is the 600-mile Atlantic Coast Pipeline which is currently on hold and has been since December 2018 because of legal challenges over its federal permits. The pipeline is now waiting to be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court. However, even if it is finished, it’s intended to begin in West Virginia and end in Lumberton, N.C., 21 miles away from the South Carolina border.

A recent Post and Courier article discussed the future of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline stating, “Santee Cooper’s new senior leadership team said planning is contingent on the project not being canceled or significantly delayed.”

This includes Santee Cooper’s plan for a 500-megawatt gas-fired power plant to be completed in the Pee Dee region of the state by 2027. The only stipulation is that the forecast is relying on the uncertain pipeline for gas. Charlie Duckworth, the state-owned utility’s newly hired Deputy CEO, went on record to say, “The best way to get gas to that site is the Atlantic Coast Pipeline.”

According to the Post and Courier article, “the project [Atlantic Pipeline] isn’t expected to be finished in North Carolina until late 2021, and current cost estimates are creeping up toward $7.7 billion.”

The article even caught the attention of national environmental advocacy group Sierra Club who tweeted with a quote from the piece, “Santee Cooper and the successor of the now-defunct SCE&G, Dominion Energy, have essentially acknowledged that they’ll meet our energy needs just fine without all that extra capacity.”

Even if the pipeline is completed and the state-owned utility is able to get gas to the new plant, how does the utility plan to pay for the construction of the plant all while freezing rates for five years and dealing with its current debt?

In the Berkeley Independent letter, Robinson acknowledges that without actual action Santee Cooper is just postponing the inevitable, writing “A short five years from now customers are going to be paying dearly for the executives’ decision to kick the can down the road.”

With a history of unkept promises, unfinished projects with undeliverable products, and its daily increasing debt, customers are asking Santee Cooper executives to be honest with them. It’s also important for lawmakers to take this into consideration when they start to review recommendations for the future of the state-owned utility in January 2020.

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News

Santee Cooper ICF Report

South Carolina Gov and Speaker Applaud ICF Report, Saves SC Ratepayers Money

Feautred Image: Santee Cooper’s Cross Plant, Post and Courier.

The State of South Carolina is one step closer to discovering what’s in store for the future of Santee Cooper.

Last Friday, ICF International, the Virginia-based consulting firm appointed to review all bids for purchasing Santee Cooper, finished reviewing all submitted proposals and sent their evaluations to the House-Senate special committee currently reviewing the potential sale of the state-owned utility.

In the forty-page report, ICF revealed there is a strong market interest in purchasing Santee Cooper and some of the bids will prevent ratepayers from having to pay the V.C. Summer debt and keep rates low.

ICF reported that they received fifteen different proposals from ten parties. Of those proposals, four were for full offers to purchase the state-owned utility and pay off or provide defeasance of Santee Cooper’s over $8 billion debt, while others’ offers proposed only purchasing parts or taking over its management.

The four full purchase proposals would result in lowered average customer electricity rates over 20 years compared to the projected increased Santee Cooper rates over the same length of time. Three of the four proposals pay off the debt with no request to recover the costs, while the fourth fully assumes the debt.

ICF’s report lays out how a utility company would be able to purchase Santee Cooper, pay off the debt, and charge lower rates for Santee Cooper’s two million direct serve and co-op customers, which goes against some South Carolina Senators’ initial thoughts that finding a buyer that could eliminate the debt and lower rates would be impossible.

House Speaker Jay Lucas and Governor Henry McMaster are enthusiastic about this possibility.

As quoted by The State, Lucas expressed his thoughts on the report stating, “An initial review of the report confirms my goal of providing maximum relief for the ratepayers in this process.”

Both feel that now is the right time to take action. “This is a historic moment,” McMaster said in a statement to The State. He continued by insisting there was no reason to delay action and pleaded for the General Assembly to review the report and put South Carolina ratepayers and taxpayers first.

Despite the push from many to make a decision, the state Senate is continuing to drag its feet.

The next step is for ICF to present its findings to the special legislative committee on today, Wednesday, February 6, 2019. From there, the committee will then prepare final recommendations to present to the General Assembly.

For more information visit Energy Consumer of the Carolinas.

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