South Carolina Electric & Gas Company replaces more than 40% of its nuclear project capacity with purchase of natural gas-fired power plant

CAYCE, S.C. (May 9, 2018) — South Carolina Electric & Gas Company (SCE&G), principal subsidiary of SCANA Corp. (NYSE: SCG), announced today that it has completed its purchase of the Columbia Energy Center, a natural-gas-fired power plant in Gaston, S.C. (Calhoun County), from LS Power for approximately $180 million.

SCE&G included the purchase of the 540-megawatt combined cycle gas plant as part of a November 2017 proposal to resolve issues related to the abandoned V.C. Summer nuclear construction project. The plant replaces more than 40 percent of the projected generating capacity from the SCE&G portion of the nuclear project. SCE&G’s proposal included a pledge that the cost of acquiring the gas plant would be borne by shareholders, not customers. Dominion Energy agreed to that same commitment as part of the merger application Dominion and SCANA jointly filed with the Public Service Commission of South Carolina in January.

The Columbia Energy Center is a combined heat and power plant. Along with producing electricity, it produces process steam that supports the operation of a neighboring manufacturing facility. The plant is one of the most recently built power facilities in South Carolina; it began operating in 2004 and has approximately 20 workers.