Got an unexpected check in the mail? It’s not a scam. Here’s what SC residents need to know
Thousands of residents across South Carolina are receiving “unexpected checks” in the mail. In lieu of a name, the return address reads “COOK V SCPSA.” Amounts range from $99 to only a dollar or less.
No, it’s not a scam. The checks are part of another installment of payouts from a class-action lawsuit involving an abandoned nuclear construction project in Fairfield County.
Reached in 2020, the settlement requires the SC Public Service Authority (SCPSA) — also known as Santee Cooper — and other electric cooperatives to return $200 million to customers who paid toward the abandoned expansion project. The lawsuit claimed SCPSA raised customers’ rates to cover the billions of dollars spent on the failed plans.
Current SCPSA members who are owed $50 or less from the lawsuit will receive their payment as a bill credit, which will be issued through mid-March. All others eligible for payouts will receive a check.
Residents are currently receiving the second of three payment installments from the lawsuit. The first installment came in late 2020, according to previous reporting from The State.
Many payouts are being made to current or former members of Palmetto Electric Cooperative, which partners with Santee Cooper.
A host of SC utilities drafted the $9.8 billion expansion plan in 2008, which promised the construction of two new nuclear reactors at the Virgil C. Summer nuclear station in Jenkinsville, S.C. The next decade’s storm of delays and manufacturing errors brought the estimated construction cost to $25 billion in 2017.
After the contractor filed for bankruptcy, the plans were ultimately abandoned, solidifying what many still call the largest business failure in South Carolina’s history.
Questions regarding the settlement can be directed to the case’s Settlement Administrator, according to the lawsuit’s website.
This story was originally published March 9, 2023 at 3:50 PM with the headline "Got an unexpected check in the mail? It’s not a scam. Here’s what SC residents need to know."
