Gov. Henry McMaster to lawmakers: Send me a bill to replace Base Load Review Act
COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) - Gov. Henry McMaster wants the General Assembly hard at work on a plan to replace the Base Load Review Act -- the main mechanism used by SCANA and Santee Cooper to raise rates to cover the costs of the failed VC Summer reactors.
In a letter to state lawmakers, McMaster said a recent audit of SCANA by the Office of Regulatory Staff directly contradicts the power giant's "doomsday picture" that any change to the BLRA would result in the company's bankruptcy.
McMaster said he hopes lawmakers will work on a bill to replace the BLRA that would "ensure SCANA ratepayers will not pay a single additional dollar towards the failed VC Summer reactors."
The governor also praised a potential merger between SCANA and Virginia-based Dominion Energy as a "sign of progress," but did not do enough to resolve accountability questions surrounding the Cayce company.
"I believe it would be irresponsible for the General Assembly to allow SCANA -- or any prospective purchaser -- to continue collecting money from ratepayers for this project," McMaster wrote. "The free market and principles of corporate responsibility demand that the consequences of SCANA's errors land where their dividends and profits have landed: with its corporate shareholders and executives."
Lawmakers in the House and Senate have both formed committees tasked with looking at the failure of the project and steps to move forward from it.
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