SCE&G postpones nuclear meeting as project deadline nears

COLUMBIA, SC Two South Carolina utilities are awaiting a decision by Toshiba on whether the Japanese corporation will provide money to help them complete a $14 billion nuclear reactor project northwest of Columbia.

With the Toshiba board to meet Wednesday, SCE&G postponed a briefing before the state Public Service Commission until next week.

The PSC session was moved from Friday to Tuesday, Aug. 1, possibly to give the utility time to provide the latest information to the utilities oversight board.

SCE&G and Santee Cooper face an Aug. 10 deadline to complete a review on the fate of the project, which was cast in doubt in March when chief contractor Westinghouse filed for bankruptcy.

Toshiba, which owns Westinghouse, is negotiating with the power companies to provide up to $1.7 billion toward the project. A commitment to provide the money could help the power companies wrap up their assessment of whether to keep building twin reactors at the V.C. Summer power station near Jenkinsville.

Dukes Scott, director of the state Office of Regulatory Staff, said the PSC meeting postponement indicates that SCE&G “may be able to speak more freely’’ after the Toshiba board session.

“We should be looking to see what happens there,’’ Scott said of the Toshiba board meeting. “That could be meaningful.’’

His agency is charged with acting on behalf of consumers in utility rate increase proceedings.

A potential complicating factor to any guarantee of money is Toshiba’s own financial health. Westinghouse’s bankruptcy put a strain on the company and some news reports have questioned whether Toshiba might also eventually file for bankruptcy.

SCE&G officials had little to say about why they wanted to postpone the PSC meeting until next week. The company said it is still evaluating the future of the project. It will brief the PSC on the latest developments, a spokeswoman said.

“While SCE&G and Santee Cooper continue with our comprehensive evaluation of the nuclear construction project to determine the most prudent path forward, we have requested this briefing as an interim update on the status of our ongoing evaluation and to answer questions from the commission,’’ SCE&G spokeswoman Rhonda O’Banion said in an email.

Santee Cooper spokeswoman Mollie Gore said the state-owned utility also is still assessing the future of the project. Santee Cooper’s board would have to vote on any agreement concerning the money Toshiba would provide.

Toshiba already has committed more than $3 billion to a similar reactor project in Georgia, which also is behind schedule and not complete.

SCE&G said in April that the Toshiba money could cover cost overruns on the South Carolina project, although the final cost is still not known. By some accounts, the project cost could top $20 billion, about twice the original price tag. The first of two reactors was supposed to be completed by last year, but construction on the project is only 34 percent finished.

An array of problems, including trouble getting nuclear parts on time, have contributed to the delay. SCE&G customers have been hit with nine rate increases in the past decade to finance the project.

Critics say the effort to build nuclear reactors should be abandoned because of the expense and because the power isn’t needed as energy demand has leveled off. Utilities say they still need some large-scale source of energy to meet future needs.

This story was originally published July 25, 2017 at 12:55 PM with the headline "SCE&G postpones nuclear meeting as project deadline nears."