South Carolina

Duke Energy announced plans to build more natural gas-fired generation capacity and look at nuclear power in order to meet the increased demand for power in its Carolinas service territory. The utility also said it will delay the retirement of some coal-fired facilities as it seeks to increase the supply of electricity for data centers and manufacturing plants.

Holtec International said the Palisades Power Plant, which was closed in 2022 and set for decommissioning, is now the first U.S. nuclear power plant to officially return to operations status. Holtec, which bought the Michigan-based plant to decommission it but instead decided the facility could be restarted, on August 25 said Palisades is now authorized […]

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 […]

Power management company Eaton said it is helping address the critical shortage of transformers, along with record demand for its solutions from utility, large commercial, industrial and data center customers, with a $340 million investment to increase U.S. production of its three-phase transformers essential to reliable electrical power. Production and hiring at Eaton’s new Jonesville, […]

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 partly 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 […]

GE Vernova said it has secured an order with Dominion Energy South Carolina to modernize two hydropower units at the Saluda Hydro facility on the Saluda River about 10 miles west of Columbia, South Carolina. The company on Dec. 2 said the project “will help extend the lifetime, reliability, performance, and operational flexibility of the […]

The market for customizable, scalable, turnkey energy storage solutions continues to evolve, as companies look at providing systems that will work from an individual application level all the way to grid and utility-scale deployment. Kontrolmatik, an Istanbul, Turkey-headquartered systems integrator and global engineering, procurement, and construction leader in power generation, transmission, and distribution, and its […]

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 […]

August 9, 2022 – Framatome announced it has been selected by a U.S. utility to provide a wide range neutron flux monitoring system at a South Carolina nuclear plant. The company will provide the system to all three units of the plant along with a spare system. The project will help enable owners of the […]

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. […]

Duke Energy has kicked off an effort to renew the operating licenses of all its 11 nuclear reactors for 20 more years, starting with Oconee Nuclear Station, its largest nuclear plant. The utility on June 21 filed an application with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for a subsequent license renewal (SLR) for the three-unit 2.5-GW […]

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 […]

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, […]

Duke Energy on April 17 announced it will develop six utility-scale solar power projects in North Carolina, among 14 solar projects chosen as part of the state’s Competitive Procurement of Renewable Energy (CPRE) program. The 14 projects—10 in North Carolina and four in South Carolina—could cost as much as $772.5 million to build according to […]

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla., Jan. 2, 2019—The new year brought a new source of cleaner, more efficient power to the Carolinas, when four new communities began receiving power from NTE Energy. January 1 marked the beginning of 20-year power purchase agreements between NTE and the North Carolina communities of Concord and Kings Mountain, and the South […]

GREENVILLE, S.C., June 1, 2018 — Duke Energy today celebrated the opening of the new 750-megawatt combined-cycle natural gas plant at the W.S. Lee Station in Anderson County, S.C., with community leaders, elected officials and top company leaders on hand. “Highly efficient natural gas plants – like W.S. Lee – are helping us deliver a cleaner, smarter energy future for […]

NTE Energy on May 21 inaugurated the new Middletown Energy Center in Middletown, Ohio, the latest in a series of natural gas-fired power plants the Florida-based company is developing in Ohio, Texas, and North and South Carolina. NTE touts the 525-MW Middletown combined cycle facility as among the most efficient gas-fired power plants in the […]

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 […]

Florida regulators have given the green light to a pair of new natural gas-fired power plants that will add nearly 1,700 MW of generation capacity in the state, and a Florida-based energy project developer has announced a 1,000-MW gas-fired facility project in South Carolina. The Florida Public Service Commission (PSC) on May 8 gave approval […]

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. (May 9, 2018) — NTE Energy (NTE) announced that its next power plant will be the approximately 1,000-MW natural gas-fired Anderson County Energy Center located in Anderson County, South Carolina. This state-of-the-art electric generation facility will represent an investment of more than $1 billion in South Carolina, and will feature some of […]

Several possible suitors for SCANA Corp. emerged last fall when it became evident the South Carolina utility needed a lifeline, after SCANA subsidiary South Carolina Electric and Gas Co. (SCE&G) and state-owned Santee Cooper pulled the plug on the V.C. Summer nuclear project (Figure 1). Now the question is whether those who lost out to […]

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster (R) wants to sell Santee Cooper, the state-owned utility, even as state lawmakers discuss how to deal with the group’s involvement in the abandoned V.C. Summer nuclear project. Lawmakers also disagree with who should advise the state on a possible sale. Leaders of South Carolina’s House and Senate have hired […]

SCANA Corp. and Santee Cooper—utility partners that recently abandoned a two-unit expansion at the V.C. Summer nuclear plant—have received federal subpoenas for documents associated with a much-guarded February 2016 assessment report conducted by Bechtel, documentation of meetings with the firm, and documentation of site walk-downs and real-time observations at the half-built project. A copy of […]

Crippled by financial setbacks stemming from the half-built AP1000 reactor projects in Georgia and South Carolina, Westinghouse Electric Co., a company with a storied legacy symbolic of American nuclear power, has taken the desperate step of filing for bankruptcy protection. While owners of the two nuclear construction projects are monitoring the situation, the development could […]

The D.C. Circuit rejected challenges to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) proposed carbon rules for existing power plants, ruling that it has no authority to review rules that aren’t yet final.  “Petitioners are champing at the bit to challenge EPA’s anticipated rule restricting carbon dioxide emissions from existing power plants. But EPA has not yet […]