SC House pushes to restart stalled power plant legislation

Rep. Bill Sandifer, R-Seneca, addresses the House Labor Commerce and Industry Committee, which he chairs, on Tuesday, April 23, 2024. (Screenshot from SCETV legislative livestream)

COLUMBIA — Swiping at a Senate reluctant to pass sweeping changes to state utility regulations, House leadership attached controversial energy legislation to a series of innocuous bills in an attempt to pressure senators to take it up.

“The speaker has asked very much that we try to get our bill over so the Senate has an opportunity to pass it,” Chairman Bill Sandifer, R-Seneca, told members of his Labor Commerce and Industry Committee on Tuesday to explain motions adding the language of the lengthy energy bill to every Senate proposal on the meeting agenda.

Now legislation on suicide prevention training, cancer coverage on firefighters’ insurance, fighting financial crimes, and the duties of organizations that help independent pharmacies — what was a one-sentence bill — also have the entire energy bill attached, as it passed the House 88-21 last month.

The committee unanimously passed the amended bills, with one legislator abstaining.

Senate rules don’t allow for passing bills with tacked-on unrelated issues.

But the committee’s moves are evidence of another Senate-House stalemate as the session winds down, as indicated this time through lack of action rather than publicly traded accusations.

Just seven legislative days remain before the regular session must end by state law. But neither chamber seems to be in a rush to pass legislation other than perhaps the state budget, which the Senate is debating this week. On “wicked Wednesday,” the day of the week the House typically reserves for lengthy floor debates, the chamber again adjourned before noon after a series of recognitions.

Without saying a word publicly, House Speaker Murrel Smith, R-Sumter, is pushing for senators to approve the energy bill he introduced in February, which advocates say is necessary to keep South Carolina’s economy powered. The bill sailed through Sandifer’s committee.

At the heart of it is permission for Dominion Energy and state-owned utility company Santee Cooper to partner on a possible 2,000-megawatt natural gas plant on the site of a former coal-fired power plant along the Edisto River in Colleton County.

But in the process, the bill introduced numerous regulatory changes that have drawn significant criticism from environmental and consumer groups.

Those included shrinking the state’s regulatory panel that oversees utilities and undoing consumer watchdog safeguards put in place in the wake of the failed V.C. Summer nuclear plant expansion, which was abandoned in 2017 following mismanagement, cost overruns and fraud.

A Senate committee removed much of that before advancing the bill.

Still, the legislation has been on life support since Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey took the podium last week to urge more scrutiny. The bill wasn’t technically up for debate, but Massey sparked debate anyway as senators of both parties then railed against the fast-tracked bill.

“I have no interest at all in rolling back regulatory protections we put in place in 2018,” after the last utility debacle, Massey said. “That’s a ‘no deal’ for me.”

The Edgefield Republican ripped into the speed at which the bill moved through Senate committees, “with a push that we’ve got to get it done.

“They are not going to hold that over my head,” Massey said. “I’m not going to be held hostage.”

Supporters pointed out the issue of energy needs has been under study and debate since 2022. But Massey recommended legislators wait until the off-session to fully vet the proposal.

Massey had no comment Wednesday on the quiet standoff.

But he clearly still believes the legislation needs further review this fall.

During the budget debate Wednesday, he joined Sen. Chip Campsen, R-Isle of Palms, in trying to discourage the growth of data centers, which require a massive amount of energy and are a driver of the need for more energy. One proposed budget directive would have barred the Department of Commerce from giving incentives to data centers locating in South Carolina. It was ultimately withdrawn.

After noting that Santee Cooper and Dominion officials have threatened to proceed with plans for the gas plant with or without the legislation, Massey also suggested directing the Public Service Commission to refuse to accept any application for a new power plant until February 2025.

That would prevent the pair of utilities from entering an agreement before legislators are able to properly review and amend the authorization bill that the utilities want, Massey said.

But that amendment was ruled out of order.

Editor Seanna Adcox contributed to this report.

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