What if you were caught cheating the IRS but your defense was that yes you did cheat them but not as much as the auditor said you did?
Or, what if stole money from your grandmother but your defense was that you didn’t steal as much as she says that you did?
Or, what if you beat your spouse but your defense was that you didn’t beat your spouse as much as the police said that you did?
Pretty weak and absurd defensive statements, right?
Well, that appears to be the defensive statement that SCE&G has given in response to one of the complaints of the STOP THE BLANK CHECK coalition.
The Coalition maintains that if SCE&G is approved for an additional $846 million for constructing the nuclear plants in Fairfield County, that would bring the total costs to about $14 billion or 43% over the original $10 billion budget.
SCE&G says that the “all-in” approved original budget was really $11.4 billion and the final cost would now be $13.8 billion if approved by the Public Service Commission. That would only be a 21.6% increase over the original budget.
Now, I think SCE&G is comparing numbers that are apples to oranges to arrive at their admitted 21.6% budget overrun versus the Coalition’s projection of 43%, but that will be addressed later.
For now SCE&G’s defense appears to be “yes, we have mismanaged the nuclear construction project and we will be 21.6% over budget. But we’re not as badly over budget as the Coalition says.”
Nice.