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Tag: scana

  • Friends of the Earth statement on Dominion takeover of SCANA

    A Bad Deal for Clean Energy in South Carolina and for SCE&G Ratepayers, who get Stuck Paying for the V.C. Summer Nuclear Reactor Debacle for 20 Years

    COLUMBIA, S.C. – On January 3, 2018, Dominion Energy and SCANA announced that Dominion has instigated a takeover of SCANA, a South Carolina-based utility. SCANA has been vulnerable to takeover as it’s facing financial and regulatory woes due to pursuit by its subsidiary South Carolina Electric & Gas (SCE&G) of two nuclear reactors that were canceled on July 31, 2017, after a waste of $9 billion.

    See Dominion presentation on the proposed merger: “Combination of Dominion Energy and SCANA,”
    January 3, 2018, http://investors.dominionenergy.com/static-files/358568a2-cd8e-4844-a15c-2f618e902fc7

    Photo Courtesy of High Flyer, October 2017

    The take-it-or-leave-it deal falls far short of protecting ratepayers from absorbing the costs of the nuclear fiasco, while replacing the unneeded nuclear plant with unnecessary natural gas capacity instead of cheaper and cleaner energy alternatives. The deal proposes an initial rebate to SCE&G electricity customers for a small amount of the money already paid for the V.C. Summer nuclear reactor construction debacle. The proposal would then require that a typical customer continue to pay 13% of their monthly bill for a period of 20 years, with full profits on the remaining abandoned nuclear project costs. About 18% of customers’ current bill now goes to the nuclear project, with SCE&G collecting about $37 million per month from ratepayers.

    SCE&G is still expected to file a formal abandoned nuclear project cost recovery petition with the South Carolina Public Service Commission on or about January 8, 2018, as the company announced last month. That petition will provide important details on Dominion’s proposed deal and draw engagement from public interest groups. Friends of the Earth and Sierra Club will respond aggressively to any proposal which fails to protect ratepayers and assure a clean energy future for South Carolina.

    Friends of the Earth and the Sierra Club currently have a complaint pending before the PSC which seeks repayment to customers of money wasted on the nuclear project and a future commitment to pursue cleaner, cheaper, alternative energy. In that on-going case Friends of the Earth and Sierra Club are actively seeking to compel discovery of documents from SCE&G that could hold evidence of fraud and imprudence on the part of the utility. While it is unclear how the merger proposal will proceed, the organizations will continue to fight at the PSC for a return of money spent on the nuclear fiasco.

    Related Articles:  SCE&G says it will pull license; Dominion Energy announces takeover of SCANA  ,  Citizens sue to stop SCE&G dividend payouts  ,  County files injunction against SCANA  ,  Fairfield residents sue SCE&G, SCANA

     

     

  • SCE&G says it will pull license; Dominion Energy announces takeover of SCANA

    VC Summer Nuclear Plant, May 2017 | Courtesy of High Flyer

    CAYCE, S.C. – Barely two weeks after Fairfield County Council took South Carolina Electric & Gas Company (SCE&G) to court to request an injunction to prevent SCE&G from relinquishing its nuclear license for VC Summer Units 2 and 3, and before a judge could rule on the request, SCE&G filed a formal request with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to withdraw the combined operating licenses (COLs) for  the two VC Summer Units.

    In addition, on Wednesday, Dominion Energy and SCANA announced that Dominion has instigated a takeover of SCANA which has been vulnerable to takeover as it’s facing financial and regulatory woes due to pursuit by SCE&G of two nuclear reactors that were canceled on July 31, 2017, after a waste of $9 billion. (For the complete breaking news on this announced takeover, go to blythewoodonline.com.)

    SCE&G is still expected to file a formal abandoned nuclear project cost recovery petition with the South Carolina Public Service Commission on or about Jan. 8, 2018, as the company announced Dec. 28. That petition will provide important details on Dominion’s proposed deal.

    “This notification (Dec. 28, 2017) is consistent with our plans for abandonment and helps to ensure we qualify for a tax deduction in 2017 so that we can capture approximately $2 billion for our customers to offset the costs of the new nuclear project,” said incoming SCANA CFO Iris Griffin.

    In its notification to the NRC, SCE&G stated that it has irrevocably abandoned its interests in the VCS Units 2 and 3, ceased all completion and preservation activities, and has limited work at the plant to only those actions required to place the site in a safe condition, terminate construction and close active permits.

    SCE&G has offered to cede its abandoned interest in the VCS Units 2 and 3 to Santee Cooper, for no consideration. If, prior to the NRC approval of this request to withdraw the COLs, Santee Cooper chooses to seek to become the sole licensee for the project, SCE&G officials said they will support an application to the NRC to transfer the licenses to Santee Cooper.

    “Fairfield County is aware of SCE&G’s desire to withdraw the licenses for VC Summer Units 2 and 3 so it can take a tax write-off for 2017,” said attorney John McKenzie, one of two law firms representing the County in its legal action against SCE&G.

    “The County is also aware that Santee Cooper, by letter of December 15, 2017, has yet to consent to the surrender of these licenses, and apparently cannot do so until its board meets in late January,” McKenzie said. “We also understand that there are interested parties who might purchase Santee Cooper. We would hope that SCE&G would not return the licenses in question until all options to restart this project have been explored.  Otherwise, SCE&G will have taken additional steps to show its bad faith toward both the citizens of Fairfield County and Santee Cooper, which also furnishes power to electric cooperatives serving the citizens of Fairfield County.”

    Related Articles:  Statement on Dominion Takeover of SCANA   ,  Citizens sue to stop SCE&G dividend payouts  , County files injunction against SCANA  ,  Fairfield residents sue SCE&G, SCANA

  • County files injunction against SCANA

    VC Summer Nuclear Plant, May 2017 | Courtesy of High Flyer

    WINNSBORO – In a unanimous vote Tuesday night, County Council approved a motion by Councilman Neil Robinson to authorize the County’s attorneys to move forward with the filing of a lawsuit against SCE&G/SCANA and any other necessary parties based upon SCE&G/SCANA’s failure to comply with the terms of the fee-in-lieu contract between SCE&G/SCANA and the County, and to also file a temporary restraining order to prevent SCE&G from abandoning this project and not protecting the assets at V.C. Summer.

    “SCE&G and the V.C. Summer Station have been valuable members of our community for many years,” Council Chairman Billy Smith said. “However, the Council owes it to the citizens of our County to do whatever we can to recoup the financial losses created by SCE&G’s decision to abandon the project.

    The County is not looking for any kind of financial windfall, we just hope that this litigation can get our County closer to the position it would have been in had SCE&G acted in good faith, diligently completed these projects, and not chosen to abandon the construction of the plants.”

    The County issued a statement explaining that, on Nov. 21, 2017, Council approved filing a lawsuit against SCE&G over the decision to abandon construction of two new power plants located at the V.C. Summer nuclear power station in Jenkinsville.

    In July of 2010, the County and SCE&G entered into a contract known as a fee-in-lieu of taxes agreement. That gave the utility preferential tax treatment by the County in exchange for future payments of fees by SCE&G to the County once the new nuclear units were generating power.

    In reliance on the agreement, according to the statement, Fairfield County undertook a number of long term financial obligations including the issuance of $24 million in bonds to finance multiple construction projects and upgrades that were needed in anticipation of SCE&G’s operation of the plants. SCE&G’s decision to abandon the projects has left the County with significant obligations that would not have been undertaken but for the company’s representations to the County.

    Also, according to the statement, the decision will cost the County millions of dollars of lost revenue from the abandonment of the fee in lieu of taxes agreement.