Lexington County Chronicle July 22, 2020 Steve Byrne may face 5 years in prison, $1 million fines By Jerry Bellune An ex-SCANA executive is expected to plead guilty tomorrow in a $9 billion nuclear fraud. SCANA’s top nuclear executive, Steve Byrne, is accused of conspiracy in a failed nuclear project which…
SCANA brass face fraud trial
Lexington County Chronicle April 4, 2019 By Jerry Bellune 3 retired SCANA executives will be tried for hiding a $9 billion nuclear fiasco. Federal Judge Margaret Seymour ruled enough evidence exists to show a jury the executives deliberately concealed from investors the failing status of their nuclear power plant, The…
Lawmakers vote to cut rates $151M
Lexington County Chronicle February 21, 2019 Secured bonds save $$ for Dominion ratepayers By Jerry Bellune SC senators were to vote this week to save Dominion ratepayers $151 million. A Senate subcommittee plans a public hearing on Senate Bill 110 introduced by Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey. His bill allows…
Check’s not in the mail: SC ratepayers angry over no rebate
The State February 19, 2019 BY JEFFREY COLLINS AND CHRISTINA L. MYERS Associated Press COLUMBIA For more than 700,000 customers of a private South Carolina utility, the $1,000 rebate checks aren’t in the mail. A year ago, Dominion Energy proposed writing the average South Carolina Electric & Gas customer a…
Duke Energy files for 15.1% electricity rate hike—WOW!
Last week Duke Energy told the SC Public Service Commission that it wants its 540,000 customers to give it more money…a lot more money. $220 million more a year to be exact. Duke’s filing is for electricity rate increases for residential (16.3%), small businesses (14%) and industrial (14.4%). In February…
A present for small businesses
If you’re small business pays South Carolina Electric and Gas (SCE&G) for electricity, your holiday gift arrived yesterday. Back in June SCE&G had filed for a 6.6% average general electricity rate increase. As I have done numerous times I intervened as an individual in the process to argue against increasing…
Auditors Question $1.4 Million in Expenses for SCE&G Rate Hike–Zumba Classes, Single Malt Scotch Among Costs
Free TimesOctober 31, 2012 BY EVA MOORE South Carolina Electric & Gas Co. is asking state regulators for permission to raise rates. But auditors with the state Office of Regulatory Staff found some eye-raising expenses in documents provided by SCE&G to show that the rate increase is needed. Among the…
Say ‘no’ to SCE&G rate hike
Charleston Post & CourierEditorialOctober 28, 2012 If SCE&G has its way, its average customer will pay $141.73 per month. That’s 42.4 percent more than customers of Duke Energy, 40.6 percent more than customers of Progress Energy and 25.8 percent more than Santee-Cooper customers. SCE&G customers should be outraged at the…
SCE&G Expenses called “Appalling and Offensive”
Expenses called “Appalling and Offensive” Columbia, SC—With many South Carolinians still struggling to simply put food on the table and small businesses trying to keep their doors open, South Carolina Electric & Gas (SCE&G) wants its 668,000 customers to pay an average 6.6% increase in electricity rates. SCE&G justifies its…
Energy deregulation hype busted
In the next several weeks you will be reading and hearing more about the South Carolina Electric & Gas (SCE&G) proposed overall electric rate hike of 6.61%. Many of you will complain that if we just deregulated the energy market and stop forcing residential and commercial customers to get their…