SCE&G gets OK to raise rates next month

South Carolina Electric & Gas power customers will see their bills go up at the start of the new year. The Cayce-based utility said the S.C. Public Service Commission has approved a $97.1 million rate increase.

For residential customers, monthly bills will go up 1.8 percent starting in January, or $2.59 per 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity. Business customers will pay between 0.08 percent and 1.67 percent more, depending on their size.

The company originally sought a $151.5 million increase. It cut its request after reaching a deal with opponents.

Aviation supplier to expand in Dorchester

Aero Precision Products, a supplier of aviation components, will move to a larger facility as it expands its manufacturing operations in Dorchester County. The $2.5 million investment is expected to generate 15 new jobs, the company said Thursday.

Aero Precision hopes to move to a new 24,000-square-foot facility in March. The company designs, assembles and tests products used on Boeing aircraft as well as several military programs.

U.S. home sales surge to highest level in 3 years

WASHINGTON U.S. sales of previously occupied homes jumped to their highest level in three years last month, the latest sign of a sustained recovery in housing.

The National Association of Realtors said Thursday sales rose 5.9 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.04 million in November. That’s up from 4.76 million in October.

Previously occupied home sales are on track for their best year in five years. November’s sales were the highest since November 2009, when a federal tax credit, then soon to expire, spurred sales. Excluding that month, last month’s sales were the highest since July 2007.

Sales are up 14.5 percent from a year ago.

Economy grew at 3.1 percent rate in summer

WASHINGTON The U.S. economy grew at an annual rate of 3.1 percent over the summer as exports increased, consumers spent more, and state and local governments added to growth for the first time in three years. But the economy is likely slowing in the current quarter.

The Commerce Department’s estimate Thursday of growth for the July-September quarter was revised up from its previous estimate of a 2.7 percent annual growth rate. Growth was more than twice the 1.3 percent growth rate in the April-June quarter.

But disruptions from Superstorm Sandy and uncertainty from the “fiscal cliff” likely are holding back growth in the October-December quarter. Many analysts predict an annual growth rate of just 1.5 percent for this quarter.

From Wire and Staff Reports