SC Senate debate over Santee Cooper’s future begins

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) – The South Carolina Senate is settling in for what may be days of debate about what to do with state owned utility Santee Cooper.

The Senate started debating a resolution Tuesday to have a state agency begin accepting bids to sell the utility.

Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey says he expects that resolution to change before any possible final vote. Senators could also decide to have a company manage Santee Cooper or just change management.

Massey says the debate could go into next week. But the Republican from Edgefield says he thinks the Senate needs to decide what it wants to do with Santee Cooper before this session ends on May 9.

Santee Cooper is roughly $8 billion in debt, about half from two never finished nuclear plants.