SCE&G proposes new generation, rate reduction in place of abandoned nuclear construction project
South Carolina Electric & Gas Company (SCE&G) recently proposed a plan to remedy issues regarding the abandoned V.C. Summer Station nuclear construction project that involves additional gas and solar generation and reduced rates for customers.
“We’ve heard our customers’ frustrations about paying for a power plant and having nothing to show for it,” Keller Kissam, who is currently president of retail operations at SCE&G and will become its president and CEO on Jan. 1, said. “This proposal gives customers additional power generation while also lowering rates for customers.”
The plan would provide a total of approximately $4.8 billion in benefits to SCE&G customers, the company said.
It includes the addition of an approximately 540-megawatt, natural-gas-fired power plant, which will replace more than 40 percent of the projected power that the nuclear project would have provided. The plan also calls for approximately 100 megawatts of new large-scale solar energy.
Shareholders of SCANA, SCE&G’s parent company, would bear the cost of acquiring the new natural gas plant. They would also absorb the net nuclear construction costs through lower earnings over 50 years.
The plan also includes a reduction in residential electric rates to what they would have been in March 2015.
This would result in an immediate annual reduction of approximately $90 million or 3.5 percent. The monthly bill of a customer using 1,000-kilowatt hours of electricity would decrease by more than $5.
“We hope interested parties will endorse the proposal so that we can obtain approval from the Public Service Commission and get this relief to customers,” Jimmy Addison, who is currently Chief Financial Officer at SCANA and will become its CEO on Jan. 1, said. “Current projections indicate that if this proposal is adopted, we would not need an additional generation source for several years. This is a key step to meeting South Carolina’s robust economic growth.”
