South Carolina considers its energy future through state Senate committee

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The South Carolina Senate on Thursday started its homework assignment of coming up with a comprehensive bill to guide energy policy in a rapidly growing state and amid a quickly changing power- generation world.

The Special Committee on South Carolina’s Energy Future plans several meetings through October. On Thursday, the committee heard from the leaders of the state's three major utilities. Future meetings will bring in regular ratepayers, environmentalists, business leaders and experts on the latest technology to make electricity,

The Senate took this task upon itself. They put the brakes a massive 80-plus page energy overhaul bill that passed the House in March in less than six weeks, and the bill died at the end of the session.

Many senators said the process earlier this year was rushed. They remembered the last time they trusted an overhaul bill backed by utilities.

State-owned Santee Cooper and private South Carolina Electric & Gas used those rules passed 15 years ago to put ratepayers on the hook for billions of dollars spent on two new nuclear reactors that never generated a watt of power before construction was abandoned because of rising costs.

But those dire memories are being mixed with dire predictions of a state running out of power.

Unusually cold weather on Christmas Eve 2022 along with problems at a generating facility nearly led to rolling blackouts in South Carolina. Demand from advanced manufacturing and data centers is rising. If electric cars grow in popularity, more power is needed. And a state that added 1.3 million people since 2000 has a lot more air conditioners, washing machines and charges for devices, the utility leaders said.

Senators stopped Duke Energy's president in South Carolina, Mike Callahan, in middle of his presentation after he told them his utility's most recent predictions for growth in electricity usage over the rest of this decade were eight times more than they were just two years ago.

“Growth is here, and much more is coming. We need clear energy policy to plan for that growth,” Callahan said,

The utility leaders told senators their companies need to know what kind of sources of power — natural gas, solar, nuclear, wind or others — the state wants to emphasize. They would like to have a stable rules from regulators on how they operate.

“A quick no is a lot better to us than a long-term maybe,” Santee Cooper CEO Jimmy Staton said.

Another complicating factor are federal rules that may require utilities to shut down power plants that use coal before there are replacements with different sources online, Staton said.

Others aren't so sure the state needs a rapid increase in power generation. Environmentalists have suggested the 2022 problems that led to blackouts were made worse because power plants were nowhere near capacity and better cooperation in the grid would allow electricity to get to where its needed easier.

Those less bullish on the overhaul also are urging the state not to lock in on one source of power over another because technology could leave South Carolina with too much power generation in inefficient ways.

There will likely be plenty of discussion of data centers that use a lot of electricity without the number of jobs, property taxes or other benefits a manufacturer provides.

Staton estimated about 70% of Santee Cooper's increased demand is from data centers.

“We clearly need them. I don't want to go back in time,” committee chairman Republican Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey said. “What I'm trying to get at is a better understanding, a better handle on how much of the projected growth is based on data centers or on everything else.”

Massey has been hard on Dominion Energy, which bought South Carolina Electric & Gas after the abandoned nuclear project at the V.C. Summer Nuclear Station. But Dominion Energy South Carolina President Keller Kissam said it is important that all options, including a new nuclear plant, remain on the table.

“Everybody thinks if we build anything that we’re going to absolutely repeat what we did with V.C. Summer” Kissam said. “Well, I promise you, that ain’t gonna happen. OK? I’ll pack up and leave."

Massey said he appreciated Kissam's candor and felt he was a straight shooter, but there are a lot of other people involved in the failed project who lied and hid problems.

“I can’t put that behind me. And I don’t think a lot of people can put that behind them,” Massey said.

Massey's goal is to have a bill ready by the time the 2025 session starts in January.

Duke Energy's utility operations in South Carolina President Mike Callahan waits to testify before a South Carolina Senate committee planning to write a comprehensive energy bill in 2025 in Columbia, S.C., on Thursday, Aug. 22 2024. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)

Santee Cooper CEO Jimmy Staton, left, Dominion Energy South Carolina President Keller Kissam, center, and Duke Energy's utility operations in South Carolina President Mike Callahan, right, wait to testify before a South Carolina Senate committee planning to write a comprehensive energy bill in 2025 in Columbia, S.C., on Thursday, Aug. 22 2024. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)

Santee Cooper CEO Jimmy Staton, left, Dominion Energy South Carolina President Keller Kissam, center, and Duke Energy's utility operations in South Carolina President Mike Callahan, right, are sworn in before testifying before a South Carolina Senate committee planning to write a comprehensive energy bill in 2025. in Columbia, S.C., on Thursday, Aug. 22 2024. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)

South Carolina Senate President Thomas Alexander, R-Walhalla, left; Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey, R-Edgefield, center; and Sen. Nikki Setlzer, D- West Columbia, right, speak before a South Carolina Senate committee planning to write a comprehensive energy bill in 2025 in Columbia, S.C., on Thursday, Aug. 22 2024. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)

Dominion Energy South Carolina President Keller Kissam, left , and Duke Energy's utility operations in South Carolina President Mike Callahan, speak before testifying before a South Carolina Senate committee planning to write a comprehensive energy bill in 2025 in Columbia, S.C., on Thursday, Aug. 22 2024. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)

Wall Street was mixed early Monday as optimism over a potentially big rate cut from the Federal Reserve this week boosted most sectors, with the exception of technology stocks.

Futures for the S&P 500 were unchanged before the bell, while futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average ticked 0.2% higher. Futures for the technology-heavy Nasdaq tumbled 0.3%.

Apple was down 2.4% early, while chipmaker Micron was dragged down about 3%.

Stocks were broadly supported by the bond market, where Treasury yields eased ahead of the Fed’s meeting. The unanimous expectation on Wall Street is for the Fed to deliver the first cut to interest rates in more than four years on Wednesday, and traders are rekindling hopes it may offer bigger-than-usual relief.

Many economists would like to see the Fed announce a half-point rate cut this week, party because they think the officials should have begun cutting rates at their previous meeting in July. Wall Street traders on Friday signaled their expectation that the Fed will carry out at least two half-point cuts by year’s end, according to futures prices.

The Fed has been keeping its main interest rate at a two-decade high to slow the economy enough to stifle high inflation. With inflation having eased substantially from its peak two summers ago, the Fed has said it can focus more on bolstering the slowing job market and economy.

The Fed faces a balancing act in cutting rates. Lowering them relieves pressure on the economy but can also fuel more inflation. Reports last week showed some underlying upward pressure on prices. That initially pushed traders to ratchet back expectations for the size of the Fed’s upcoming move.

On Friday, though, traders were seeing roughly a coin flip’s chance that the Fed could deliver a large cut of half of a percentage point, instead of the more traditional quarter of a point, according to data from CME Group. The federal funds rate is currently sitting in a range of 5.25% to 5.50%.

Shares of Boeing were somewhat stable after Friday's decline, which was triggered by aircraft assembly workers who walked off the job. The ratings agency Fitch said a prolonged strike could lead to a ratings downgrade for the troubled aircraft manufacturer.

In Europe, France’s CAC 40 and Britain's FTSE 100 were flat at midday, while Germany’s DAX lost 0.2%.

In Asian trading, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng swung between gains and losses during the day, closing 0.3% higher at 17,422.12 after data released over the weekend showed China’s economy slowed further in August. Factory output, retail sales, and investment failed to meet expectations. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate unexpectedly surged to a six-month high, adding to challenges.

“The drums of a deepening economic slowdown are beating louder, and it’s time for China’s leadership to decide whether to step up or risk sliding further into stagnation,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 added 0.3% to 8,121.60.

Markets in Japan, mainland China and South Korea were closed for holidays.

In currency trading, the Japanese yen strengthened against the U.S. dollar, which fell to 140.03 yen from 140.82 yen. The dollar briefly dipped below 140 yen for the first time in more than a year. The euro cost $1.1124, inching up from $1.1076.

In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude gained 65 cents to $68.30 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, added 56 cents to $72.17 a barrel.

On Friday, the S&P 500 rose 0.5% for a fifth straight gain. It is just 0.7% below its all-time high set in July. Rallies for Microsoft, Broadcom and other big technology stocks helped it claw back almost all its recent losses, the worst in nearly 18 months.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 0.7% and the Nasdaq composite added 0.7%.

FILE - The American flag hangs from the front of the New York Stock Exchange on Sept. 10, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan, File)

FILE - A currency trader passes by a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), top center left, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, on Sept. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, File)

FILE - A person looks at an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm in Tokyo, on Sept. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File)