SC should make this change to how utilities are governed

Companies ought to have to act ethically. This is particularly true for a public utility that is allowed to operate as a monopoly.

It’s clear that neither SCE&G nor Santee Cooper really considered what impact their decisions would have on their captive consumers. Unlike normal companies, which assume the risk of building new production facilities, both partners passed the costs to consumers before the facilities could be productive.

The solution is to make the companies responsible for their bad decisions. I think that ought to start with a change in their boards of directors — by legislation, which also requires that consumers be given a number of seats on the boards. This is a common practice in other countries.

The Legislature owes us a reform in the way public utilities do business.