South Carolinians’ electric bills could go up more often under new law

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) — A new law is designed to ensure South Carolina can keep the lights on for years to come as it faces major industrial and population growth.

Gov. Henry McMaster joined lawmakers and utility executives at the Governor’s Mansion in Columbia on Wednesday to mark the enactment of the “South Carolina Energy Security Act” with a ceremonial bill signing.

“We are on a roll. This is a great day for South Carolina,” McMaster said.

South Carolina leaders believe the expansive new law, a top priority at the State House this year, will prepare the state for its future.

But some are concerned that under it, South Carolinians should prepare to see their power bills getting more expensive more often.

“This changes the way that we raise rates for electric customers,” John Brooker with Conservation Voters of South Carolina said.

Part of the legislation, called “rate stabilization,” will make it easier for utilities to raise electric rates every year.

Before this, utilities had to go through a much more intensive process that critics say involved a much higher level of scrutiny to get a rate increase approved.

Utilities claim this change will prevent sticker shock so customers can take on incremental increases to their power bills instead of one big jump every few years.

“Rate stabilization is a more predictable and smoother path,” Dominion Energy South Carolina President Keller Kissam said. “When we had night hearings in our last rate case, we heard loud and clear from our customers that actually attended those and some of those online that said, ‘Hey, don’t hit us with a double-digit rate case every three to five years.’”

But other groups are skeptical and argue this change only benefits the power companies, not ratepayers, with no limit on how much of an increase a utility could seek annually.

“I don’t think the ratepayer would advocate for annual rate increases so that they don’t have to suffer through one every three or four or five years,” said Scott Elliott, a Columbia-based attorney who represents large commercial industry through the Palmetto Industrial Energy Association.

Elliott said he is concerned this could stifle the state’s economic growth, with large industrial customers seeing their power costs creeping up.

“Three to five years out, we will see our rates in South Carolina be higher than the rates in our neighboring southern states, who are our main competitors for industry, and we will find ourselves foreclosed from economic development deals,” he said.

Environmental groups worry about the impact, too.

“This really guarantees utility profits,” Brooker said. “And from an environmental standpoint, if utilities don’t have to tighten their belt, if they don’t have that conservative fiscal management built into the system, then they’re not going to look at cost-effective options that are cleaner and cheaper.”

Electric rate stabilization is just one part of the expansive new law.

Among its many provisions, it also streamlines the permitting and appeals processes for new power plants and gives lawmakers’ blessing to a new natural gas plant in Colleton County, a joint venture between state-owned Santee Cooper and privately owned Dominion Energy.

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