SC nuclear shock demands questions, changes

I was pleased to see that a bipartisan group of legislators is forming an Energy Caucus to investigate the nuclear fiasco that has been created by SCE&G and Santee Cooper, but I would like to know where lawmakers were during the past nine years while ratepayers were being hosed by the gross mismanagement of these two utilities.

The Public Dis-Service Commission should be disbanded immediately. It has rubber stamped SCE&G’s rate increase requests. The chairman said he was shocked that these utilities would cancel the nuclear plant construction. Where has he been all these years? Commissioners should be elected by the public.

The Base Load Review Act has been a disaster. The Legislature should repeal it immediately, and the politicians who supported it should be voted out of office.

Finally, any SCANA and Santee Cooper profits should go into a severance package for laid-off workers. Management at these two utilities should have to give the ratepayers evidence that their interests are important and that they won’t suffer in the future because of poor management. The shutdown costs should be entirely the responsibility of the two utilities. Ratepayers have bled enough.

This story was originally published August 20, 2017 at 6:30 PM with the headline "SC nuclear shock demands questions, changes."