Perhaps 2021 is the year the General Assembly will finally take a business approach ---rather than a political approach -- to Santee Cooper. For the sake of beleaguered ratepayers (and taxpayers), I hope we are back at the negotiating table soon.

Santee Cooper recently published a long memo purporting to rebut Palmetto Promise Institute research. Their response pointed out distinctions, but not actual factual differences. Our full response may be found here.

S.C. Representative Bobby Cox cites a PPI study on Santee Cooper in this letter to the editor published in The Greenville News. Here in the Upstate we haven’t been affected overtly by the state agency’s failed nuclear project known as Santee Cooper. Yet our Lowcountry neighbors are paying crushing power bills as a result and

PPI’s economic analysis of Santee Cooper is quoted in this article by Vivian Jones of Center Square. (The Center Square) – Two Republican lawmakers are calling for new leadership at Santee Cooper in response to the state-owned utility’s recent issuance of $638 million in debt, announced late last month. Earlier this year, the General Assembly

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  September 24, 2020 Media Contact: Lawson Mansell Policy Content Manager (843) 694-1540 ​​lawson@palmettopromise.org New Analysis: Santee Cooper at Mercy of Credit Market Columbia, SC. (September 24, 2020) – A scholar with Palmetto Promise Institute (PPI), the most prolific publisher of independent analysis on Santee Cooper, today released a new report on the state agency. The study, written as a Memorandum to state leaders by Dr. Katie Grace of Clemson Economics

This Op-Ed, written by PPI Senior Fellow Oran Smith, PhD, was originally published in The Post & Courier. The graphic was created by PPI and not included in the Post & Courier’s publication.  Click to enlarge.  In the case of Jessica Cook et al., a South Carolina court approved a settlement between state-owned Santee Cooper,

This op-ed was written by Palmetto Promise Senior Fellow Dr. Oran Smith and was published in the Spartanburg Herald-Journal.  Because I registered my opinion way back in 1994, surely I was among the first to call for the state to sell Santee Cooper and get out of the utility business. But that said, my opinion

Palmetto Promise’s Oran Smith and board chair Phil Hughes are quoted in this Forbes pieces comparing California and South Carolina’s approach to their utilities. To learn more about the research referenced in this article, click here.  By Patrick Gleason, Forbes Contributor  California lawmakers and state officials recently went through a very high profile failure in

My thanks to state Rep. Russell Fry for standing with Santee Cooper customers. Rep. Fry serves on the special legislative committee that’s considering offers to buy state-owned Santee Cooper, offers that would pay off the enormous debt and ensure lower rates than Santee Cooper’s. Rep. Fry cast a crucial vote on the committee to pursue

This article was originally published in The State and was written by PPI’s Dr. Oran Smith. State-owned utility Santee Cooper has a long, rich history. It was Santee Cooper that literally sent light into darkness, bringing power to our rural communities at a time when no other utility would take the risk. Unfortunately, the more