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Santee Cooper’s Honesty, Accuracy Called Out, Possibly Violating State Law, Again

State officials are once again questioning Santee Cooper after the state-owned agency failed to provide honest and transparent information during a monthly financial review.

In a letter addressed to state lawmakers, the S.C. Office of Regulatory Staff (SCORS) stated that Santee Cooper admitted to omitting “materials in its possession” during a monthly financial review. And, while Santee Cooper executives claim these materials were “inadvertently omitted”, SCORS is no longer standing by their previous statement that Santee Cooper is complying with lawmakers’ orders.

With only a little over a month left until the 2021 South Carolina legislative session kicks off, Santee Cooper’s latest antics are drawing criticism from multiple lawmakers and state agencies.

Nanette Edwards, SCORS executive director, pointed out that her agency’s assessment of Santee Cooper’s adherence to lawmakers’ instructions and the state law was dependent upon the utility providing full and accurate information. The previously mentioned letter, however, claimed that Santee Cooper is not being transparent with this information.

The letter from SCORS comes just weeks after Santee Cooper drew criticism from both South Carolina House Speaker Jay Lucas and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Hugh Leatherman.

Speaker Lucas called out Santee Cooper for its “failed culture” and expressed his concerns over their recent actions including the utility’s decision to sign off on bonds without lawmakers’ approval, possibly violating state law. Even further, Senator Leatherman called for the resignation of Santee Cooper’s board chairman, Dan Ray.

This isn’t the first time Santee Cooper has disregarded lawmakers, in fact, it’s become routine for the state-owned agency.

Mounting criticism, repeated obvious neglect of lawmakers directives, and increasing debt will be at the top of lawmakers’ minds when making a decision about Santee Cooper’s future. South Carolina House Representative Murrell Smith said the House needs to deal with Santee Cooper and make a decision.

Meanwhile, SCANA, now known as Dominion, who was Santee Cooper’s partner in the failed V.C. Summer nuclear project – that cost Santee Cooper billions of dollars of debt, just recently reached an agreement to pay a $25 million civil fine. Former SCANA CEO, Kevin Marsh, just entered into a federal plea deal on charges of fraud and conspiracy related to the nuclear project.

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Second VC Summer Executive Pleads Guilty to Federal Fraud Charges

Featured Image Source: Grace Beahm Alford – Post & Courier

Kevin Marsh, the former CEO of SCANA, has entered into a federal plea deal on charges of fraud and conspiracy in relation to the VC Summer nuclear expansion in Fairfield County. Marsh is accused of defrauding nearly one million South Carolinians who paid inflated utility bills to fund the now-defunct project.

SCE&G and partner Santee Cooper pitched the ambitious project as a one-fix-wonder to growing concerns surrounding accessible energy versus environmental concerns. The duo claimed that the $8 billion dollar investment would provide South Carolinians with a reliable source of clean energy at an affordable cost… once the plant was in operation. Until then, customers would be footing the bill. Customers were led to believe the increased utility prices were only a short term sacrifice for a long term solution, but executives like Marsh made sure customers were left completely in the dark.

According to the South Carolina U.S Attorneys Office, Marsh and co-conspirators, including Santee Cooper executives who have yet to be held responsible, covered-up the structural, logistical, and financial issues that doomed the project from the start. Marsh was found culpable of falsifying critical evaluations and misleading both investors and stakeholders in an attempt to salvage the project as they quietly raised utility prices nine times over the course of the venture.

With the fate of Santee Cooper (a state-owned entity) undecided, customers may be looking at even higher energy costs if lawmakers refuse to sell Santee Cooper. As a state-owned utility, Santee Cooper does not have to adhere to the same regulatory scrutiny as investor-owned utilities and executives can raise rates with just the approval of their own board. Critics point out this lack of accountability is what led to the VC Summer debacle and debt in the first place.

After accepting the prosecutors plea, Marsh is now the second executive to plead guilty rather than face a criminal court. While the specifics of the plea deal are not yet confirmed, it is almost certain Marsh will spend time behind bars along with hefty fines.

Meanwhile, Santee Cooper’s former CEO, Lonnie Carter, retired right after the VC Summer scandal made headlines with a very comfortable retirement package that is also being paid for by Santee Cooper customers, in addition to any legal fees he and other executives managed to rack up.

More cases of criminal misconduct related to the failed VC Summer project are expected to surface as the investigation continues.

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Local African American Business and Advocacy Organization Calls on Legislators to Sell Santee Cooper to NextEra

The Gullah Geechee Chamber of Commerce and its founder, Marilyn Hemingway are calling on legislators to approve the sale of state-owned Santee Cooper to NextEra Energy. The organization, which promotes entrepreneurship and green energy in the coastal African American community, has been critical of Santee Cooper’s economic, environmental, and diversity record.

Earlier this week, Hemingway, joined by James Felder of the Gullah Geechee Leadership Institute at a news conference, announced their endorsement of a sale, saying “It’s time for South Carolina to move past the malfeasance and devastatingly bad decisions of the past and move boldly into a green, renewable energy future. NextEra Energy is the stakeholder we need in South Carolina.”

NextEra Energy has submitted a proposal to lawmakers to purchase debt-riddled Santee Cooper, which included paying-off the nuclear debt owed by the state-owned utility so that it wouldn’t fall to the direct serve and electric cooperate customers.

At the conference, Hemingway and Felder outlined reasons for supporting a sale to NextEra, including:

Clean, affordable energy, with rates 30% lower than the industry average
Award-winning diversity and inclusion programs
Investments in minority-owned businesses
A pledge to work with rural communities to understand immediate broadband needs

“NextEra is not just talking the talk,” Hemingway said. “We have seen the future of energy in South Carolina – and it is NextEra Energy.”

Santee Cooper continues to push a “reform plan” which many have expressed disappointment in, especially the plan’s failure to address key issues such as how it plans to pay off the billions of dollars they owe without raising rates, what happens to rates after the “rate-freeze”, and what happens to the money customers have already paid for through increased utility rates over the years for the failed V.C. Summer project they’ll never benefit from.

With the 2020 legislative session being shortened due to COVID, lawmakers are expected to decide the fate of the utility in 2021. Until then, Santee Cooper’s direct serve and electrical cooperative customers are expected to wait to learn whether things will continue as they always have been with Santee Cooper or if lawmakers will decide to sell to NextEra.

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Eight Years And Counting As The #1 City in America

Charleston, South Carolina has been named the #1 City in The United States by Travel + Leisure Magazine for eight years in a row now. This coveted award is voted on by Travel + Leisure readers through an annual survey based on the readers’ experiences in cities across the world.

Travel + Leisure thinks it’s no surprise Charleston made the top spot due to the city’s “history, architecture, culture, pleasant weather, gracious locals, and even proximity to the beach. But chances are, if you were to ask T+L readers for their top reason for their obsession with this genteel city, they’d say the food.”

In addition to being named the top city in the United States, Charleston’s infamous Wentworth Mansion made the list of Top 15 City Hotels in the Continental United States.

Some other cities that made a spot on the list of the best cities in the United States include New Orleans, Chicago, Savannah, New York City, and Honolulu.

Looking to check out some of the best spots to grab a bite to eat in the Holy City? Click here.

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Santee Cooper Class-Action Lawsuit Settled – Here’s What That Means For You

In the ongoing events that surround Santee Cooper and the V.C. Summer scandal, a $520 million settlement has been made in the case of Jessica Cook. However, the settlement amount, which was already just a slither of the debt pie Santee Cooper has racked up, came out to an even lesser amount of $300 million, to be made in two payments, by the time all legal fees were paid.

The class-action lawsuit, led by Jessica Cook, was filed in 2017 over the failed V.C. Summer project and the billions of dollars wasted and being passed onto all of the utility’s direct-serve and electric cooperative customers.

The settlement also includes a 4-year “rate freeze,” leading many to believe that efforts to sell Santee Cooper could come to a halt. However, the debt that customers are already paying for is still being paid through their power bill, essentially paying themselves for the rate freeze. Additionally, as previously stated, the settlement amount is just a small fraction of the total debt that will eventually have to be paid off.

In the larger scheme of things, the state-owned energy company is still billions of dollars in debt, due to the V.C. Summer, failed projects, and other ventures. So, while the Cook case is a win in the eyes of some, it does little to fix all of the outstanding issues surrounding Santee Cooper or give customers any answers to the rest of the debt that is owed or the debt they’re already paying for.

More news has just recently been released that the company is paying $1.1 Million to former Santee Cooper lawyer, Mike Baxley. Mr. Baxley served on the Santee Cooper general counsel and was recently laid off in efforts to cut costs. However, he was sent on his way with $495,000 and will receive an additional pension over the next 15 years. Baxley was also given additional compensation in return to agreeing not to sue the company and was added to the list of former executives who left with a golden parachute being paid by customers.

Giving large payouts is business as usual for Santee Cooper who paid gave golden parachutes to outgoing executives associated with the V.C. Summer debacle. However, what does this mean for ratepayers in the future? The company continues to shovel money into paying out their executives while the 4-year “freeze-rate” does little for Santee Cooper’s direct serve and coop customers since they continue to pay for the debt as it piles up. The only real way to protect Santee’s customers is to sell Santee Cooper to an IOU that will have proper oversight and eliminate the debt otherwise there is no question that rates will skyrocket at the end of the rate-freeze time period.

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Despite Santee Cooper's claims of improved transparency, Santee Cooper board members continue meeting behind closed doors ignoring lawmakers request to stop.

Santee Cooper Board Continues Meeting Behind Closed Doors Despite Claims Of Improved Transparency

Due to continued scrutiny towards Santee Cooper, the power supply company has pledged to be more transparent in their dealings stating that they would be improving transparency moving forward and reporting publicly.

Despite this claim, it seems that a lack of transparency still exists. While Santee Cooper’s board meetings are live-streamed for the public, there’s a portion of the meetings which are not – the executive session. During the executive session, the board stops the live-stream and resumes upon entering back into regular session, meaning the general public has no knowledge of what is being discussed during this time. Being a common practice amongst many boards, this shouldn’t necessarily raise any red flags; however, records show that Santee Cooper’s Board has spent nearly twice the time in executive session as they have in regular session since the beginning of this year.

As a result of the increase in time spent in executive session, lawmakers requested that the board no longer meet in these sessions on April 9; therefore pushing the board to oblige to their promises of transparency. Lawmakers also made this request to ensure that the intent of the board is clear, if the Santee Cooper board is spending the majority of their meetings in executive sessions then their intent to improve transparency and implement change can and will be questioned by the state.

During April’s board meeting, Santee Cooper obliged to the state’s request to not hold an executive session. However, just one month later an executive session was held in May, going against the lawmaker’s request. This inconsistency by the Board is seen as questionable by many and is not the only red flag seen in recent months.

Lawmakers’ attempt to hold Santee Cooper accountable for their promise to be more transparent has failed yet again, something that Santee Cooper direct serve and electric cooperative customers are all too familiar with. These customers deserve to know where their money is going. They deserve to know if the promise of rate freezes will be true or if this is yet another false promise. They deserve to know how the billions of dollars of debt will be paid if rates are frozen especially when they continue to pay for the failed V.C. Summer project, golf tournament sponsorships, board retreats, a million-dollar CEO salary, retirement for former CEO Lonnie Carter, and other unnecessary expenses that customers see no return on.

It seems as though Santee Cooper has relied on customers to keep paying while not questioning increases in utility rates and remaining in the dark about where exactly their money is going, as some lawmakers turn a blind eye, for too long.

They’ve grown comfortable with secrecy and mismanagement and certain lawmakers have allowed it. For the first time in years, South Carolinians are being brought to light and asking for lawmakers to do something about the state-owned and operated utility and not just let it “reform itself” again.

Eat & Drink

Netflix’s “Chef’s Table” to Feature This Charleston BBQ Icon

You’ll soon be craving BBQ because Netflix’s “Chef’s Table” has decided to feature Charleston icon, Rodney Scott. For their seventh season, it’s all smoked and juicy barbeque. The local and fan-favorite, Rodney Scott’s Whole Hog BBQ will make its debut on the streaming service come Sept 2.

Scott will be highlighted alongside world-renowned names for BBQ. The fellow chefs and pitmasters hail from all different corners, each with a unique take on grilling. As the show airs, it will take you through their dishes as well as the stories behind them. Netflix is teasing viewers with a short preview.

Charleston’s Rodney Scott’s Whole Hog BBQ has been officially smoking hogs since 2017. Though Scott is no newbie when it comes to grilling. He’s been behind the smoke since he was 11-years-old. In the restaurant’s first year of operation, it was named one of the 50 Best New Restaurants by Bon Appetit Magazine. Come 2019, Scott had opened up a second location in Birmingham, AL. This isn’t Scott’s first time on screen, as he’s made appearances on The Today Show helping Al Roker feed folks affected by devastating tornadoes in Alabama.

Folks can taste the classic BBQ at the King Street locale, as well as classic sides like potato salad, baked beans, coleslaw, collard greens, and hush puppies. Open for guests Monday – Sunday from 11 a.m. – 9 p.m. The restaurant’s motto is that “Every day is a Good Day,” so there’s no wrong time to grab a plate of smoked BBQ.

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Featured Image Source: Grace Beahm Alford – Post & Courier

Featured Image: ABC4 News