Utility Rate Cut Debate

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP)–South Carolina utility customers will have to keep waiting to see how much they could continue to pay in surcharges to fund a failed multi-billion dollar nuclear project.

The state Senate adjourned Thursday without further debate on a measure that would reduce South Carolina Electric & Gas Co. customers’ rates by 13 percent until the end of this year.

Senators approved the reduction Wednesday night. The chamber adjourned Thursday afternoon without taking up the measure and will not reconvene until April 9.

Right now, 18 percent of SCE&G customers’ bills go toward paying off the company’s failed venture to build two more nuclear reactors at the V.C. Summer Nuclear Station. SCE&G abandoned the project last year, but its customers still pay about $27 a month toward the debt.