Statehouse Report Staff | A controversial energy bill that endorses new natural gas facilities and rolls back consumer protections put in place after the V.C. Summer nuclear plant fiasco passed the S.C. House this week 88-21.
Now the action moves to the Senate, where leaders are more skeptical of efforts to put the power companies back in the driver’s seat.
Supporters of the House bill pointed to data showing that South Carolina – America’s fastest-growing state in 2023 – will need to add significant capacity over the next decade to meet its growing energy demands.
While acknowledging that need, opponents argued the bill is a giveaway to power companies that could once again put ratepayers in the crosshairs if its deregulatory approach fails as spectacularly as it did after 2007’s Base Load Review Act.
“I am suspicious of efforts to roll-back the regulatory protections that were put in-place just a few years ago,” Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey, R-Edgefield, said recently. “I am suspicious of efforts to fast-track things. I am resistant to efforts to weaken [the Office of Regulatory Staff’s] powers and to change their mandate. I think there will be things for us to look at and consider.”
In other recent headlines:
S.C. House passes DEI bill in college hiring, firing, admissions. An 84-30 Wednesday vote on party lines came after Republicans defeated Democratic’ efforts to kill or alter a bill that prohibits public colleges from factoring applicants’ political stances into hiring, firing and admission decisions but does not ban their diversity programs.
Voters could be asked to take S.C.’s top accountant off ballot. In the wake of a $3.5 billion bookkeeping blunder discovered last year, state senators are seeking voters’ permission to permanently remove South Carolina’s chief accountant, known as the comptroller general, from the ballot.
S.C. has $1.8B with no idea where it came from or where it will go. In a related story, South Carolina has collected about $1.8 billion in a bank account over the past decade. State and private accountants are still trying to figure out where the cash came from and where it was supposed to go.
Unclaimed state funds worth millions. Unclaimed funds held by the state are owed to local governments and more.
Lawmakers weigh restrictions on license plate-reading cameras. A bill that currently sits in a House Judiciary subcommittee would impose regulations on the cameras located across South Carolina, limiting access to information for law enforcement.
Bill that would repeal S.C. pinball law moves forward. The House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday voted unanimously in favor of a bill that bans minors from playing pinball, sending it to the House floor for consideration.
Anti-vax proposal advancing in state Senate. A bill advancing at the Statehouse is drawing sharp criticism from South Carolina leaders, including the governor, over fears it could hamstring the state’s response to public-health crises. The bill would prohibit the state from mandating its employees and students to only work or attend school if they have gotten vaccines that have yet to receive full approval from the FDA or have been licensed for use for less than 10 years. The bill now is on the Senate floor, where it faces resistance.
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