Business briefly

GROUPS CHALLENGE SCE&G PLANS

Consumer and business groups want state regulators to look at how S.C. Electric & Gas is paying for two new nuclear reactors. The S.C. Small Business Chamber of Commerce and AARP are questioning the pay-as-you go method for building reactors at the V.C. Summer Nuclear Station in the Midlands, which are expected to cost $10 billion. Frank Knapp Jr., chief executive officer of the chamber, says that instead of approving rate hikes for cost overruns, the state should require SCE&G to pay the full construction cost and seek rate increases later for additional costs. The utility is now requesting another 2.8 percent rate increase.

▪ Job seekers can meet 40 prospective local area employers in one place on Sept. 2 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Lexington United Methodist Church, 309 East Main St., in downtown Lexington. The Career & Job Fair, sponsored by Lexington County Department of Social Services, is free and open to the public. The event allows job seekers to meet with companies and potentially interview for available jobs.

▪ NBCUniversal is investing $200 million in digital media company Vox Media, which owns popular sites such as food blog Eater, the sports-focused SB Nation and the tech blog Re/code. NBCUniversal, which is owned by Comcast Corp., said Wednesday that it hopes to build a partnership with Vox that involves collaborating on editorial content, advertising and technology. A representative declined to comment beyond the announcement.

▪ The contractor who manages the Savannah River nuclear site in South Carolina must pay more than $235,000 to some female and black employees after the U.S. Department of Labor found the workers were underpaid. In a news release, the Labor Department said Savannah River Nuclear Solutions must pay $243,000 to 72 employees and review its labor policies.

▪ Kraft Heinz Co., the food company that counts Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. as its largest shareholder, is eliminating about 2,500 jobs in the U.S. and Canada. Kraft Foods and H.J. Heinz merged in July in a deal orchestrated by Buffett and 3G Capital, which jointly controlled the ketchup company.