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Group Appeals SCE&G Nuclear Plant Application

The Associated Press

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — An environmental group Friday asked the state Supreme Court to block an application for South Carolina Electric & Gas Co. to build two nuclear reactors in Fairfield County.

In the lawsuit, Friends of the Earth challenges the constitutionality of a 2007 law that allows utilities to charge customers higher rates to cover future building costs for reactors.

The SCANA Corp. said it wasn't surprised that Friends of the Earth appealed a regulators' decisions allowing it move forward with a project expected to cost $10 billion.

"I'm expecting they will pursue every avenue available to them to try to delay and halt progress on this project," SCE&G spokesman Eric Boomhower said.

Friends of the Earth believes consumers "will be charged for those reactors a decade before they come on line and if someone leaves the state or dies, they will get nothing out of the project," said Tom Clements, the group's southeastern nuclear campaign coordinator. And if SCE&G and its partner, state-run Santee Cooper, abandon the project, he notes consumers would still pick up the tab.

Clements noted the project already appears to be costing more than expected, citing a recent report that costs had risen by $561 million. Boomhower said that figure was tied to one inflation estimate, but that longer term inflation projections show costs could fall.

Boomhower said lower-than-expected actual costs are expected to be reported in an upcoming filing with regulators and noted that consumers will only see rate changes based on actual spending, not inflation projections.

The group also says state regulators should have required SCE&G to show how it is going reduce energy demand to reduce the need to build new power generation capacity.

Boomhower said the company will release details of energy saving incentive programs for its customers during the next few weeks.