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Supreme Court reassigns judge overseeing V.C. Summer litigation

Staff //September 12, 2019//

Supreme Court reassigns judge overseeing V.C. Summer litigation

Staff //September 12, 2019//

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The South Carolina Supreme Court has assigned former Chief Justice Jean Hoefer Toal to oversee all pretrial motions and other pretrial matters involving litigation addressing customer reimbursement stemming from the abandonment of the V.C. Summer nuclear project.

Toal replaces 16th Circuit Court Judge John C. Hayes, who was assigned to oversee the outstanding and future litigation regarding customer-related reimbursement claims related to the failed construction of the nuclear reactors at the V.C. Summer nuclear power station in Fairfield County. An order by the court in October 2017 assigned Hayes to superintend claims from customers who requested reimbursements or refunds of money they paid in increased utility rates since SCE&G and Santee Cooper stopped construction on the V.C. Summer project in July of that year.

S.C. Supreme Court Chief Justice Donald W. Beatty issued the order Wednesday announcing that Toal was vested with exclusive jurisdiction to hear and dispose of the pretrial motions or matters related to customer reimbursement claims.

The order, effectively immediately, also requires all copies of pending pleadings and motions in the litigation, or motions filed in the future, to be submitted by the clerk of court and forwarded to Toal within five days of filing.

Toal may require mediation in any case at any time.

In June, a $2.2 billion class-action settlement was finalized that provided for former SCE&G ratepayers to receive money back that they were billed to pay for the reactors’ construction. As much as $146 million was sent to qualified customers this summer in refund checks and adjusted bill reductions.

The settlement included a permanent 15% reduction for customers of SCE&G, now a subsidiary of Virginia-based Dominion Energy. The deal replaced an original proposal by Dominion that would have given SCE&G customers a one-time refund of $1,000.

After spending billions of dollars to build two nuclear reactors at the V.C. Summer Nuclear Station in Jenkinsville, SCE&G and project co-owner Santee Cooper abandoned the project in July 2017 in the face of mounting delays, rising costs and contractor Westinghouse’s bankruptcy declaration.

In January, SCE&G’s parent company, SCANA, was acquired by Dominion Energy and named Dominion Energy South Carolina.

"We acknowledge and appreciate Judge Hayes’ service, and look forward to presenting our defenses in this matter before retired Chief Justice Toal at the appropriate time," Dominion Energy S.C. told the Columbia Regional Business Report in a statement.

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