Kentucky utility leader selected to become CEO of SC’s public electricity company
Santee Cooper’s board of directors has its next CEO.
The board named Jimmy Staton, currently president and CEO of Southern Star, to the same role at the state-owned electric utility.
Staton will earn $1.4 million a year and be eligible for up to an additional $250,000 a year in performance-based pay. His compensation is subject to approval by the state’s Agency Head Salary Commission.
Staton replaces Mark Bonsall, who is returning to retirement in January. Bonsall came to Santee Cooper from Arizona, along with Deputy CEO Charlie Duckworth, to take over the utility following the fallout of the failed V.C. Summer Nuclear power plant construction project. Santee Cooper was a junior partner in the project that led to billions in debt for a project that did not produce a watt of electricity before it was abandoned.
Staton, who will move from Kentucky, said he owns a house in North Myrtle Beach and is a Santee Cooper customer.
He said Thursday he looked forward to meeting the agency’s customers and employees, and promised transparency and to build relationships with state leaders, several of whom have been critical of the electric utility.
“Santee Cooper is owned by the people of South Carolina, for the people of South Carolina,” Staton said. “In this role, I’m committed to building a new dynamic with our state’s leadership. We will support our state leaders, we will listen and we will be transparent at all levels.”
Santee Cooper had 27 people apply for the job, 19 of whom had previous experience as a CEO or general manager.
“The search process was thoughtful and thorough, resulting in a very strong pool of candidates and an outstanding result,” Santee Cooper Board Chairman Peter McCoy said in statement read at Thursday’s meeting by Vice Chairman Dan Ray. “At the end of the process, it was clear that one candidate stood head and shoulders above the others and that person was Mr. Jimmy Staton. Having met with Jimmy three times I can assure all our stakeholders at Santee Cooper will be in great hands under Jimmy’s leadership.”
Bonsall’s contract runs through Jan. 9, but Staton isn’t expected to start the new job until March 1.
To help with the transition period, Duckworth will serve as acting CEO until Staton starts. Duckworth, who is staying until July, will earn an additional $25,000 a month as acting CEO.
Santee Cooper will keep Bonsall on as a consultant for three months paying him $60,000 a month.
In December 2016, Staton became CEO of Southern Star, a Kentucky based company which operates natural gas pipelines in Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Wyoming, Colorado, Texas and Wyoming.
He has worked in the energy industry for 35 years, including as executive vice president of Venture Global LNG, a liquid natural gas company. He also has worked for Dominion Energy, leading the company’s gas, electric transmission and distribution, and telecommunications operations.
This story was originally published December 16, 2021 at 10:19 AM.
