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Hall's Chophouse Summerville

Hall’s Chophouse Officially Opens Fourth Location In Summerville

Featured Image: Hall’s Chophouse

If you ask any Charleston local (or visitor) what their favorite steakhouse is, odds are they’ll say Hall’s Chophouse. With high-end steaks, handcrafted cocktails, and family sides to drool over, we can’t help but agree.

Obviously doing something right in the kitchen, the family-owned restaurant now has four locations, including Charleston, Columbia, Greenville, and as of today, Summerville. The new location opened Tuesday, September 18 at 4 p.m. in the Nexton development and is a whopping 6,800 square feet.

The expansion of Hall’s is just one of many favorited Charleston restaurants adding an additional location in the Nexton development.

Earlier in the year, Taco Boy, opened in the area making it the restaurant’s third location. Other locations include Huger Street downtown and Center Street on Folly Beach.

Soon to follow with their grand opening is Paige’s Okra Grill of Mount Pleasant and Poogan’s Hospitality.

Poogan’s, known for Poogan’s Porch and Poogan’s Smokehouse in the Holy City, will welcome their third location, dubbed Poogan’s Southern Kitchen, to the Nexton development in early 2020 along with Paige’s Okra Grill. And, while you can’t make a reservation to either until 2020, reservations can be made for Hall’s Chophouse Summerville now!

 

 

 

 

 

Featured

Santee Cooper Announces Its New Plan, Leaving Many To Wonder What It Actually Means For Their Rates

Featured Image: Energy Manager Today

After making a surprise announcement that they would be unveiling elements of their reform plan to the public, state-owned Santee Cooper revealed the details this past Monday.

The plan, centered around the utilities’ move from coal to solar power and gas-fired plants, also lays out a business forecast for the debt-ridden utility. In July, Santee Cooper brought on its highly-paid CEO, Mark Bonsall, who led the transition from coal to solar at an Arizona utility company before heading to South Carolina. And news last month previously stated Santee Cooper would be phasing out coal generation and shutting half of its coal plants down. Leaving open the question – what will happen to all the employees that work at these plants?

According to the plan, the percentage of energy generated by coal will decrease to around 30 percent from the current level of 52 percent by 2033. To accomplish this, Santee Cooper will phase out its Winyah Generating Station, add utility-scale solar power while also buying smaller natural gas-fired turbines, all of which will take considerable time and resources to accomplish.

The initial plan involved a cost-sharing agreement to fund this shift with Georgia based, Southern Co., but after major backlash from lawmakers, the Governor’s office and South Carolina residents, this part of the plan was abandoned.

The board was intending to vote on the agreement with the investor-owned utility Monday, but the deal was shut down after state Department of Administration Director Marcia Adams, sent a letter on August 29 nixing the agreement and even threatening a restraining order to shut down the deal if necessary. Adams explained that entering into an agreement “with one more investor-owned utilities that include terms and arrangements that would potentially subvert the process set fort in the joint resolution.”

On September 2nd, S.C. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Hugh Leatherman, widely considered the most powerful legislator in the state, strongly opposed any such agreement and sent a letter requesting Santee Cooper not enter into any agreement that would limit the General Assembly’s options. Senator Leatherman ended the letter with, “in my opinion, such actions would be grounds for board removal if the governor so chooses.” Legislators, state officials and even the co-ops argued that the arrangement would have undermined and hindered the state’s process for assessing the bids for Santee Cooper.

While a plan roll-out from the state-owned utility was expected in the context of a reform deal to be submitted to the Department of Administration and evaluated alongside the management and sale bids, this announcement leaves many South Carolina residents and Santee Cooper customers wondering, what does it even mean?

The transition to renewable and cleaner energy is the future of the energy business without a doubt but Santee Cooper outlined no way to pay for this transition or how it will alleviate customers from rate increases to pay off the $4 billion of debt from the failed V.C. Summer project.

Bonsall pointed out that Santee Cooper plans to pay off $500 million of the debt by next year without explaining how they plan to do so, and still leaving billions unpaid, left to fall onto over 2 million South Carolinians who purchase power from the state-owned utility directly or from one of the 20 Electric Co-ops.

According to The State, Bonsall said Santee Cooper is still interested in partnering with other utilities in order to pay for these transitions even though legislators, government officials and the coops believe this will undermine the plan for the General Assembly to assess bids for the state-owned utility.

So, the question still remains, what will happen to Santee Cooper and its billions of dollars of debt?

News

Santee Cooper’s Largest Customer Urges They Were Powerless Throughout the V.C. Summer Project

Santee Cooper’s largest customer, the electrical coops that buy three-fifths of Santee Cooper’s power which gets distributed to their customers across the state of South Carolina, is suing the state-owned utility. While the coops are by far the agency’s largest customer, a 38-page claim filed in August works to show that Santee Cooper actively kept the problems of the V.C. Summer construction hidden from the coops.

The project left Santee Cooper billions of dollars in debt. To pay off this debt, the burden falls onto both the state-owned utilities’ direct serve and co-op customers. The 20 co-ops who purchase power from the utility are suing to stop Santee Cooper from charging their customers any more for the debt.

The coops attorney in the case explained, “The emails, letters, etc.described above tell the indisputable story of a project beset almost from the beginning with myriad fundamental, entrenched problems that led inexorably to major delays and cost overruns,” the co-ops’ attorney, Frank Ellerbe, wrote in the filing. “Yet, it was a story Santee Cooper kept largely to itself.”

The coops claim to be powerless throughout the construction process of the nuclear reactors and in turn, should not be held responsible for the debt Santee Cooper faces for their failures. While success for the coops will save millions of customers from having to pay off the debt, there are still a lot of questions left unanswered.

If Santee Cooper is blocked from increasing the coop rates, what will happen to the debt and how will it be paid?

Featured

Democratic Party Uses Unusual Social Media Tactics Gearing Up For The Next S.C. 1st Congressional District Election

Until last year, South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District had been under GOP control. A stronghold in the Republican party since 1981, Congressman Joe Cunningham’s historic win in 2018 marked the first time a Democrat has represented the district in 38 years. So, it comes as no surprise that Republicans are fighting hard to take the seat back while Democrats are doing the same to keep it.

With the next Congressional election cycle quickly approaching, both parties are gearing up for a highly contested race which means you can expect your social media feeds to be filled with ads in support of each candidate.

A recent Facebook ad from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee promoting Republican candidate and founder of the grassroots organization Bikers for Trump, Chris Cox, is causing quite a buzz in the political world.

The ad, which shows Cox’s die-hard support for President Donald Trump and “his reckless agenda that would repeal the Affordable Care Act and strip health care away from millions of Americans,” according to DCCC spokesperson Avery Jaffe, was targeted to moderate and conservative voters. A demographic commonly targeted by the Republican party.

An uncommon tactic – one political party promoting a candidate across the political aisle. But that’s exactly what the DCCC is doing.

According to Jaffe, the goal of the ad was to portray that “Chris Cox is way too extreme to represent the state of South Carolina” and to keep his lagging campaign from gaining any momentum.

Political consultant and Founder of digital marketing agency Push Digital, Wesley Donehue, chimed in and stated that “it’s a pretty smart tactic to promote the weakest candidate in the field. It’s also an incredibly shady tactic. I guess the Democrats are learning how to do Facebook from the Russians.”

This is a highly contested race for many Lowcountry voters, and the DCCC is working hard to keep the seat in Democratic hands.

What are your thoughts on the now-inactive ad?

Featured

Hurricane Dorian Devastated the Bahamas and Parts of the Carolinas

Featured Image: The Atlantic

Charleston geared up for Hurricane Dorian this week, luckily much of the Holy City was left largely unharmed despite the hundreds of thousands of power outages. Sadly, the northern Bahamas were not as lucky and suffered the largest impact from the hurricane as the storm was at a category 5 level when it struck the islands. The official death toll is 43 and continues to rise as rescue workers reach more areas. The United Nations believe almost 70,000 are left homeless on Abaca and Grand Bahamas, the areas which took the grunt of the impact, due to the damage. Follow CNN’s live updates here.

Northeast South Carolina and North Carolina were impacted as well as flooding and tornadoes have hit the region. Outer Banks residents’ homes flooded, leaving hundreds trapped by high water. Ocracoke Island, in the Outer Banks, suffered catastrophic flooding, described by residents as levels they had never seen. The island is only accessible by boat and air, but Governor Roy Cooper said medical and search and rescue teams were on the way. Here are just a few of the ways you can donate and help the Bahamas as well as the impacted communities in the Carolinas:

Find more organizations working to aid in the rescue work in the Bahamas and the United States, accepting donations here.

The Charleston region was impacted by the hurricane as well with trees, powerlines and even traffic lights downed across the Lowcountry. Take a look at some pictures of the impacts the storm left on Charleston:

 

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Praying for #Charleston! 🌀 (📷s by @tonybartelme and @bymatthewfortner | The Post and Courier)

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Featured

Charleston Resident Speaks Out About Santee Cooper

Once a valuable asset for the state of South Carolina, Santee Cooper is now nearing insolvency, especially if the company loses the fight with its largest customer, the electrical cooperatives.

The coops which purchase service from the state-owned agency, are suing Santee Cooper to stop the agency from continuing to charge their customers to pay for the more than $4 billion of debt due to the failed V.C. Summer project.

Santee Cooper’s questionable history has led to an outcry from South Carolina residents demanding change. One Charleston resident took to the Post and Courier to speak out on the cultural and systemic problems which have plagued Santee Cooper saying, “Paradoxically, Santee Cooper has failed to deliver more public benefits than its private sector, investor-owned companions.” While the state-owned utility frequently boasts having some of the lowest utility rates in the state, Santee Cooper actually has the second-highest utility rates, above privately-owned Duke Energy.

Unlike investor-owned Duke Energy, the Public Service Commission doesn’t have to approve rate increases for Santee Cooper since it is state-owned. Instead, it only takes a simple vote by Santee Cooper’s board of directors to raise rates on customers. And customers see the lack of concern Santee Cooper has for its customers by continuing to make decisions that aren’t beneficial for its customers. The Charleston resident put it best in their letter to the Post and Courier stating “it (Santee Cooper) has resisted almost every initiative that would provide even modest protections for the environment and public health, or that would help customers reduce power bills.”

In 2009, Santee Cooper spent a quarter-billion dollars on land, equipment, and parts before receiving federal or state permits to build a coal-fired plant in the Pee Dee. The plant then became just another one of Santee Cooper’s abandoned projects.

However, abandoning projects isn’t the only reason Santee Cooper has continued to raise rates on its customers. The state-owned utility also spent $2 million on a new CEO and deputy CEO team, granted several loans even while in debt, and as the Charleston resident pointed out in their letter, repeatedly violated the federal Clean Air Act regardless of monetary fines. “On the modest side of those miscalculations is the $2 million civil penalty Santee Cooper paid for repeatedly violating the federal Clean Air Act.”

Just last week, the Department of Administration announced it would begin inviting parties to submit bids for Santee Cooper. Direct serve and coop customers await the outcome of not only the state lawmaker’s decision on what to do with the debt-riddled agency but the court’s decision in the case between Santee Cooper and the coops.

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Department of Administration Announces Parties are Now Able to Submit Bids for Santee Cooper

The state Department of Administration recently selected four firms to explore options on the table for the debt-riddled, state-owned utility Santee Cooper. The firms, tasked with reviewing purchase and management offers and a reform proposal from Santee Cooper, will advise lawmakers as they work to decide the future of the utility.

On Friday, August 16, the Department of Administration took a step in the right direction and announced it is now inviting parties to submit bids for Santee Cooper. Moelis & Company, a New York-based investment firm, will advise the Department of Administration on the bids for Santee Cooper. The invitation can be viewed here.

On the same day, Santee Cooper approved a $5 million loan to Laurens Electric Cooperative through the economic development revolving loan program. This loan approval took place during an ongoing lawsuit between Santee Cooper and the co-ops over who is responsible to pay for the debt resulting from the failed V.C. Summer project continues.

The co-ops are suing to block Santee Cooper from charging its customers any more to pay off the $4+ billion of debt. The lawsuit would stop Santee Cooper from continuing to bill customers for the debt. Circuit Court Judge John Hayes ruled that the lawsuit would be allowed to continue on Friday.

In a 38-page claim, filed on Aug. 9, the co-ops presented a legal argument to show Santee Cooper actively kept information from its customers including construction setbacks and increased costs, in turn violating the contract and an attempt to make customers pay for a power plant that never produced electricity.

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Local Residents Voice Concern Over Santee Cooper’s Spending Problem

Featured Image: The Post and Courier

In July, the Department of Administration announced they’d selected four firms, costing $20 million, to advise lawmakers on the Santee Cooper bidding process. Just weeks before this announcement, Santee Cooper dropped the bombshell they’d hired a new CEO with a $1.1 million per year contract, almost doubling previous CEO, Lonnie Carter’s salary, and a new deputy CEO with a $560,000 contract. The pair is set to make over $2 million when including their hefty bonuses.

Both announcements have South Carolina residents and Santee Cooper customers even more worried about the future of their utility rates.

One resident wrote to the Post and Courier discussing the systematic problems Santee Cooper has had throughout recent years stating, “While Santee Cooper is state-owned, it’s highly unlikely there will ever be a direct bailout courtesy of state taxpayers. The debt will continue to be paid by its customers on monthly bills that keep climbing higher when the average person in its service area lives on just $27,065 a year.”

Because while privately-owned utility companies’ rates are monitored by South Carolina’s Public Service Commission, Santee Cooper’s are not. As a state-owned agency, one vote between the utility’s board of directors can simply raise rates. And as Santee Cooper’s debt continues to increase, so will customer’s rates.

A second resident addressed his concerns with the positive sentiment some have shown for the utility’s new CEO stating, “Where else in the world would it make sense for a public utility to lost billions of dollars and have state invite offers for a sale, but then allow its board to hire administrators for hundreds of thousands of dollars to convince those same elected officials not to sell” in a letter to the Post and Courier.

It is clear South Carolina residents are fed up with the missteps Santee Cooper continues to make, costing Santee Cooper direct serve and co-op customers money. With the average customer making just over $27,000 per year, higher rates are not a cost which they should have to worry about. Customers deserve a solution to the debt where those who are responsible pay, not hard-working customers.