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

This op-ed from Dr. Oran P. Smith ran in The State on January 16, 2019. 

PPI's research on the consumer costs associated with Santee Cooper's debt is mentioned in the Coastal Observer. 

After initially indicating it was staying out of the debate, the Palmetto Promise Institute (PPI) – a South Carolina think tank founded by former U.S. senator Jim DeMint – signaled its opposition on Thursday to a proposed $15 billion merger between Virginia-based Dominion Energy and crony capitalist utility SCANA. The group’s statement – submitted less than 48 hours before state regulators are scheduled

South Carolina Public Radio Afternoon Headlines: November 28 and 29, 2018. Featuring PPI Senior Fellow Oran Smith and state Sen. Tom Davis (R-Beaufort).

This article was originally published on WTLX19 on March 21, 2018. Santee Cooper says they don’t plan on raising rates until 2020 to help pay for nuclear costs created by the failed reactor project at VC Summer. Santee Cooper’s customers will not see increased electric rates until 2020. Recently there’s been reports that the state-owned

This article was originally published by Energy Consumer of the Carolinas on August 7, 2018. I recently took the “Can You Ace the Santee Cooper Quiz?”  Will you please take it too? I cried. No, I was not worried about my personal performance or grade. And although the sound was the same, I was not reminded of

This article was originally published by the Post and Courier on July 1, 2018. Much of the public debate about how to resolve the debacle surrounding the abandonment of two incomplete nuclear reactors in Fairfield County has centered on SCANA and the thousands of South Carolina residents who get their electricity from its subsidiary, SCE&G.