September 26, 2017
Jocelyn Boyd, Chief Clerk/Administrator
Public Service Commission of South Carolina
101 Executive Center Drive, Suite 100
Columbia, SCĀ 29210
Re: Petition of the Office of Regulatory Staff for
Rate Relief to SCE&G Rates
Dear Ms. Boyd,
I write on behalf of myself, a party in the SCE&G nuclear 2016-223-E Docket and signer of the subsequent settlement, and the South Carolina Small Business Chamber of Commerce in supporting the Office of Regulatory Staff (ORS) petition filed today and referenced above.
The South Carolina Attorney General issued an opinion today questioning the constitutionality of the Base Load Review Act (BLRA). Under this Act SCE&G has raised electricity rates since 2009 to pay for construction financing costs of the now abandoned V.C. Summer Nuclear Units 2 and 3.
The ORS petition correctly requests an immediate suspension of all revised rate collection by SCE&G until the matter of the constitutionality of the BLRA is determined by the Courts or by action of the South Carolina General Assembly. Residential and commercial ratepayers should not be denied the use of their money now being taken by SCE&G under a possibly unconstitutional Act.Ā Not only does this pose a hardship for households but it also deprives local businesses of potential consumer spending for goods and services.
I also concur with the ORS request that should court or legislative action invalidate the BLRA, the Public Service Commission should then deny SCE&G from collecting revised rates and develop a mechanism for the returning of all previously collected rates to customers.
It is in the best interest of SCE&G customers and the South Carolina economy that the ORS petition for rate relief be granted.
Sincerely,
Frank Knapp Jr.
President & CEO