Santee Cooper

A major solar farm owner and operator is partnering with an electric cooperative to build a 100-MW solar power facility that will serve Meta’s first data center in South Carolina. Meta, the parent of Facebook, Instagram, and other social media and communication platforms, is expanding its relationship with Silicon Ranch, a project developer and independent […]

South Carolina’s largest power provider Santee Cooper has issued a request for proposals (RFP) aimed at finding a buyer—or visionary—to take on what remains of the Virgil .C. Summer Nuclear Station expansion. The two partially constructed AP1000 projects, abandoned in 2017 after a cascade of delays and cost overruns, could now offer a second chance […]

Santee Cooper’s board of directors approved the planned expansion of the utility’s Rainey Generating Station as a shared resource with Central Electric Power Cooperative. The additional 180 MW of generation capacity will come from a combined cycle conversion project. Officials on Dec. 20 said the new installation will include two heat recovery steam generators, a […]

Former Westinghouse Electric Co. Senior Vice President Jeffrey A. Benjamin’s motion to dismiss for grand jury bias a federal indictment issued in August 2021 alleging he concealed damaging information concerning the V.C. Summer nuclear expansion project schedule was granted by U.S. District Judge Mary Geiger Lewis on August 2, 2023, in Columbia, South Carolina. Benjamin […]

Electric Power Research Institute, Santee Cooper and Whooshh Innovations conduct field study of fish passage portal. PINEVILLE, S.C. – For more than 80 years, the Santee Spillway has helped control water flow between Lake Marion and the Santee River, but it has also blocked the migration of fish swimming upstream to spawn.  Now, a new […]

Kevin B. Marsh, former CEO of SCANA Corp., was sentenced to two years in federal prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud related to the V.C. Summer nuclear expansion project. Marsh is the first defendant in the case to be sentenced as a result of the investigation. However, the U.S. […]

The man considered second-in-command at the former SCANA Corp. has agreed to plead guilty to criminal conspiracy fraud charges stemming from his role in the failed V.C. Summer nuclear power plant construction project. Stephen A. Byrne, SCANA’s former chief operating officer, will plead guilty for his alleged criminal actions, according to a document filed June […]

In the September issue of POWER , I wrote about a public utility (JEA) that is exploring privatization, and in October, I looked at a city (Boulder, Colorado) that is exploring municipalization. While I think

The fight about who owns equipment at the now-abandoned V.C. Summer 2 and 3 AP1000 reactors in South Carolina intensified on May 14, as key stakeholder Santee Cooper sued lead contractor Westinghouse for certification documentation related to that equipment.  The lawsuit filed with the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina, Charleston Division, […]

Dominion Energy’s bid to purchase SCANA Corp. and its South Carolina Electric & Gas (SCE&G) utility, approved by South Carolina regulators on Dec. 14, could bring some stability to SCANA. Shareholders hope that’s the case; they’re excited about swapping their devalued SCANA shares for more valuable Dominion stock. Workers, though, remain uncertain about their futures, […]