§ 58-33-200 — Construction projects with a budget of over $500,000,000; monitoring; reports.

South Carolina § 58-33-200

• Jurisdiction: South Carolina
• Title 58: PUBLIC UTILITIES, SERVICES AND CARRIERS
• Ch. 33: UTILITY FACILITY SITING AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

Text

For any construction project with a project budget of at least five hundred million dollars and in order to maintain the financial integrity of significant expenditures affecting ratepayers, the Office of Regulatory Staff shall retain an independent construction analyst who shall monitor the construction project on a regular basis and who shall provide to the Office of Regulatory Staff, the Public Service Commission, the Public Utilities Review Committee, and the Joint Bond Review Committee regular reports as to the status of the construction efforts as needed, but at least on a quarterly basis.

Legislative History

HISTORY: 2025 Act No. 41 (H.3309), SECTION 40, eff May 12, 2025. Editor's Note 2025 Act No. 41, SECTION 1, provides as follows: "SECTION 1. This act may be cited as the 'South Carolina Energy Security Act.' " 2025 Act No. 41, SECTION 33, provides as follows: "SECTION 33. (A) To foster economic development and future jobs in this State resulting from the supply chains associated with the same while supporting the significant and growing energy and capacity needs of the State, enhance grid resiliency, and maintain reliability, the General Assembly finds that the State of South Carolina should take steps necessary to encourage the development of a diverse mix of long-lead, clean generation resources that may include nuclear and advanced nuclear, biomass as defined in Section 12-63-20(B)(2) of the S.C. Code, hydrogen-capable resources, fusion energy, and other technologies, and should preserve the option of efficiency development of such long-lead resources with timely actions to establish or maintain eligibility for or capture available tax or other financial incentives or address operational needs. "(B) For an electrical utility to capture available tax or other financial or operational incentives for South Carolina ratepayers in a timely manner, the commission may find that actions by an electrical utility in pursuit of the directives in Section 58-37-35(A) are in the public interest, provided that the commission determines that such proposed actions are in the public interest and reasonably balance economic development and industry retention benefits, capacity expansion benefits, resource adequacy and diversification and potential risks, costs, and benefits to ratepayers and otherwise comply with all other legal requirements applicable to the electrical utility's proposed action. For the South Carolina Public Service Authority, the Office of Regulatory Staff and the Public Service Authority's board of directors shall apply the same principles described in this subsection in evaluating and approving actions proposed by the management of the Public Service Authority to achieve the objectives of this section." 2025 Act No. 41, SECTION 41, provides as follows: "SECTION 41. (A) Five years after the effective date of this act, the Office of the Regulatory Staff shall prepare a report, to be filed with the Public Utilities Review Committee and the General Assembly, to address the implementation of Article 24, Chapter 27, Title 58 as it relates to the following areas: "(1) assessing the functioning of the procedures established by section with recommendation for any changes required to ensure their efficient functioning, to promote regulatory efficiency, and to make further the establishment of just, reasonable, and fair rates; "(2) assessing the effect of rates on ratepayers of all classes; "(3) assessing the reliability of the electric system and whether investments made by electric utilities increased reliability compared to any change in electric utility rates experienced by ratepayers within the same timeframe; and "(4) any other information requested by the General Assembly to be included within the report. "(B) The Office of Regulatory Staff may engage a qualified, independent third party to assist in preparation of the report. "(C) All expenses and charges incurred by the Office of Regulatory Staff in the performance of its duties within this section may be defrayed by assessments made by the Comptroller General against the regulated electrical utilities regulated and based upon twenty-five percent of the gross revenues collected by such electrical utilities from their business done wholly within this State in the manner set out in Section 58-4-60 for other corporations." 2025 Act No. 41, SECTION 42, provides as follows: "SECTION 42. Upon passage of this act, Dominion Energy shall evaluate the process for converting the Wateree Generating Station from coal-fired generation to biomass-fired generation. Biomass-fired generation includes, but is not limited to, generation from the firing of wood pellets and wood chips. Dominion Energy must make a report concerning the conversion process to the Public Service Commission and General Assembly by no later than January 13, 2026." ARTICLE 4 Base Load Review Act Editor's Note 2018 Act No. 258, SECTIONS 2.A and 2.B, provide as follows: "SECTION 2. A. As of the effective date of this act, the Public Service Commission must not accept a base load review application, nor may it consider any requests made pursuant to Article 4, Chapter 33, Title 58 other than in a docket currently pending before the commission. "B. The provisions of Article 4, Chapter 33, Title 58 are repealed upon the conclusion of litigation concerning the abandonment of V.C. Summer Units 2 and 3." 2018 Joint Resolution 285 (S.954), SECTIONS 1 to 3, provide as follows: "SECTION 1. The Public Service Commission shall not hold a hearing on the merits before November 1, 2018, for a docket in which requests were made pursuant to the Base Load Review Act; however, the Public Service Commission may hold an administrative or procedural hearing for such a docket prior to a hearing on the merits. The Public Service Commission must issue a final order on the merits for a docket in which requests were made pursuant to the Base Load Review Act no later than December 21, 2018. "SECTION 2. No final determination of matters described in this joint resolution, whether by a final order issued by the Public Service Commission or by operation of law, shall occur earlier than the time period prescribed in SECTION 1. The Public Service Commission's failure to issue a final order prior to the time period established in this joint resolution shall not constitute approval by the Public Service Commission and a utility must not put into effect the change in rates it requested in its schedule. "SECTION 3. Any statute in Title 58 in conflict with the provisions of this joint resolution are suspended for purposes of the utility rates for matters related to V.C. Summer Nuclear Reactor Units 2 and 3 at Jenkinsville, South Carolina. This suspension remains in effect until the Public Service Commission issues its final order in this matter."