utilities

Recent hurricanes that rolled through our state have presented some new challenges for our energy infrastructure and for the regulators who control utility charges to consumers.

Recent hurricanes that rolled through our state have presented some new challenges for our energy infrastructure and for the regulators who control utility charges to consumers.

The historic Columbia Canal has been in various stages of disrepair ever since the 1,000-year flood event of 2015, but repairs are happening over the next two and a half years, bringing the canal and its resulting water supply for the city back.

The historic Columbia Canal has been in various stages of disrepair ever since the 1,000-year flood event of 2015, but repairs are happening over the next two and a half years, bringing the canal and its resulting water supply for the city back.

“We need power, and we need a lot of it, and we need to take action today," Duke Energy Carolinas President Michael Callahan bluntly told state lawmakers.

Lawmakers in North Carolina and South Carolina are proposing new legislation to improve security around electrical substations and increase the penalties for damaging utility equipment.

Santee Cooper leaders say increasing fuel costs have led the state-owned utility to cut $100 million from its budget. Santee Cooper can't increase electricity rates on its customers for three more years after its role in the failed building of two nuclear reactors. The utility says it is still trying to identify exactly where the cuts will be made, but doesn't anticipate layoffs or job cuts. Officials at Monday's Santee Cooper board meeting suggested taking $30 million from operating and maintenance and $70 million from capital projects. The utility says fuel costs have increased $130 million.

The South Carolina House is insisting the state continue to accept offers to sell Santee Cooper, meaning the fate of a bill to overhaul the state-owned utility will go down to the wire at this year's session.

It was two years ago this week that the state saw the largest business failure in its' history, the collapse of the giant V.C. Summer nuclear project in…