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Santee Cooper unveils business strategy

Staff Report //September 10, 2019//

Santee Cooper unveils business strategy

Staff Report //September 10, 2019//

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State-owned utility Santee Cooper, facing a possible sale, has unveiled a new business strategy that ramps up solar power while paying down debt associated with the failed V.C. Summer nuclear project.

Half of the utility’s $8 billion in debt stems from the abandoned twin nuclear reactors, which Santee Cooper co-owned with S.C. Electric and Gas, in Fairfield County.

At a board meeting Monday, Santee Cooper outlined a plan to pay off its nuclear debt by $925 million in the next two years without additional rate increases. The utility also plans to increase its solar capacity by 500%, introduce large-scale battery storage, increase its natural gas production and close four coal-fired generating units in the next eight years.

“This is a comprehensive, forward-focused roadmap grounded in some of the best strategies used by progressive utilities around the country,” Mark Bonsall, named Santee Cooper president and CEO in July, said in a news release. “These are proven technologies and practices through which Santee Cooper can better serve its customers for decades to come.”

Bonsall said the utility intends to phase out coal without layoffs. Plans call for closing the Winyah Generating Station in two phases, in 2023 and 2027, while adding 1,000 megawatts of solar power by 2024.

Santee Cooper prepared the forecast at the request of the Department of Administration, the state agency handling bids to buy the utility. S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster has shopped the utility to privately held suitors.

Charlotte-based Duke Energy, Florida-based NextEra Energy, Greenville investment firm Pacolet Milliken and the Electric Cooperatives of South Carolina submitted proposals to buy the utility earlier this year. The S.C. General Assembly, which would have to approve a sale, is set to vote on Santee Cooper’s future next year.

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