Judge denies request to dismiss SCANA lawsuit

COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) - After two days of hearings earlier this week, a judge has rejected the request of the South Carolina Public Service Commission and state legislators to dismiss SCANA's request for an injunction on the Legislature's rollback of rates.

United States District Judge J. Michelle Childs filed the order on Thursday. This decision is not the overall decision on whether the law is unconstitutional.

Earlier this summer, angered by last summer's sudden abandonment of a multi-billion dollar nuclear reactor project in Fairfield County, lawmakers in both the South Carolina House of Representatives and Senate overwhelmingly passed a measure to temporarily lower SCE&G bills by 14.8 percent, until the Public Service Commission can decide on a fair and permanent rate for SCE&G customers.

After the measure became law, SCE&G filed a motion for injunction and has asked a federal court judge, Judge Childs, to strike down what it believes is an unconstitutional law passed by the legislature.

You can read the motion here.

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