S.C. Senator Luke Rankin met before a packed room of concerned electric cooperative members this morning. Viewers can watch the entire meeting above.
At issue is a bill Rankin now sponsors to require the cooperatives to purchase peak power from the failed South Carolina Utility, Santee Cooper.
Santee Cooper is a state owned utility. The company lost $9.8 billion in a failed nuclear power plant experiment under the oversight of Senator Rankin, the Senate Judiciary Head.
Wikipedia says the Nukegate scandal was a political and legal scandal that arose from the abandonment of the Virgil C. Summer nuclear expansion project in South Carolina by South Carolina Electric & Gas (SCE&G) and the South Carolina Public Service Authority (known as Santee Cooper) in 2017. It was the largest business failure in the history of South Carolina.
Rankin grilled the spokesperson of Central Electric Cooperative, insinuating that the executive was “perhaps” having dinners with out of state electricity providers in some type of illegal lobbying effort. Those insinuations were found to be untrue and dishonest.
In the video above, you can actually hear Rankin telling the packed room he is concerned that buying cheaper, peak power from “out of state” providers will lead to rolling black outs for consumers.
Central’s spokesperson was extremely prepared, stating Rankin’s claims were not accurate.
The irony of Senator Luke Rankin questioning S.C. Electric Cooperatives about performance issues comes just after his own oversight failed all S.C. consumers and taxpayers in the Sumner nuclear debacle.
The cooperatives stated that purchasing peak power out of state will save consumers 10% in electricity costs.
Another S.C. House hearing, headed by Horry County Representative Heather Ammons Crawford will be held tomorrow. MyrtleBeachSC News will be covering that hearing as well.
SOUTH CAROLINA 6th HIGHEST IN ELECTRICITY RATES
According to research group Ownerly, South Carolina ranked the 6th most expensive state for electricity in the United States last year. This bill, sponsored by Horry County Senator Luke Rankin, will have all of us paying even more.
HOW OWNERLY CALUCLATED ELECTRICITY BILLS
Ownerly examined electricity price data to identify which states paid the most in 2022, which states saw the greatest percentage increase from the previous year and where electric costs overall increased the most.
In total, 18 states’ yearly energy expenditures are up by 10% or more. For the US as a whole, electricity bills are up by $12 a month, or nearly $150 for the year, not including customer fees.
South Carolina also had the 16th highest dollar increase in monthly electric bills in 2022 with about a 10% increase