The owner of a failed nuclear power plant could use a golden parachute fund for settlement

Today, the SCANA energy company in South Carolina and its potential buyer Dominion Energy have reached an agreement to significantly reduce the energy bill in exchange for the abandonment of the energy bill. A pursuit of more than $ 2 billion. The lawyers for the class members Post and mail that they will accept the agreement if it is approved.

SCANA owned 55% of the extension of the VC Summer Nuclear Power Plant, and when the Westinghouse reactor manufacturer went bankrupt early last year, the owners of the power plant found themselves in a very bad position.

Stakeholders chose not to continue construction work in the summer, unlike Georgia, where a similar Westinghouse reactor construction project has gained public support to carry out the construction work. construction. At the same time, SCANA and its utility company, South Carolina Electric and Gas (SCG & E), were still in the hot seat after huge cost overruns. Customers' energy bills have subsidized billions of dollars of construction that would come to nothing.

A class action representing these customers argued that they should not have to pay for an unfinished nuclear power plant. It is interesting to note that the agreement requires SCANA to partially pay the settlement with its $ 115-million "Golden Parachute" fund, usually reserved for senior officials who will receive severance pay. generous at the time of their departure.

The transaction must be approved by a judge. It also depends on the purchase of SCANA by the Virginia company, Dominion Energy. Dominion appears motivated to purchase SCANA and, as part of the settlement proposed today, after offering SCG & E customers a 15% reduction in the subscription rate, which, according to Utility Dive, could reduce bills over $ 22 a month. Dominion's acquisition of SCANA has been approved by six federal and state regulators. At present, the company is only waiting for approval from the South Carolina Public Utilities Board. South Carolina PSC said it wants to see its customers lowered by 33%.

Even though this settlement is approved, SCANA is still facing a shareholder lawsuit that would have misled investors about the progress of the construction of the Summer reactor. In addition, the $ 2 billion settlement would still leave customers with the responsibility of "an additional $ 2.3 billion for two unfinished reactors over the next two decades," the source said. Post and mail.

Post and mail also notes that the settlement and acquisition of Dominion do not help customers of Santee Cooper, another major owner of the Summer reactor expansion. In addition, the regulation does not release the costs borne by the 20 state-owned electricity cooperatives, which also shared ownership of the project.