Through his heartfelt desire to put state agencies and operations
on a businesslike footing, Gov. Mark Sanford might have maneuvered
himself into a politically untenable position on Santee Cooper, our
state-owned power company. But his missteps don't justify the S.C.
General Assembly's attempt to seize the company from the executive
branch and deliver it to the S.C. electric cooperatives, as
legislation under consideration in the House and Senate would
do.
In fact, packing the Santee Cooper board with enough electric
co-op members to control the Santee Cooper rates and prices would be
bad news for the folks who buy power from the company, either
directly or indirectly through Horry Electric Cooperative and its
partners statewide. Do any co-op customers truly want the outfit
that sells them power at retail to control the price of the Santee
Cooper power they buy at wholesale?
Small wonder that representatives of financial rating agency
Standard & Poor last week expressed concern that the legislation
contemplates handing the board over to its primary customers. It
doesn't take a Ph.D. in market economics to figure out that this
impending loss of board independence could result in an S&P
downgrade in Santee Cooper's financial ratings. No private-side
company board would even consider allowing customers to run the
show.
What's especially troubling about this legislative push to seize
executive power is the rush to get a bill passed this year - with
minimal public debate. Just last week, the Senate yanked its version
of the bill out of subcommittee to fast track it to the floor. This
means the bill won't get a thorough public airing in committee,
denying conferees the opportunity to point out and discuss the
legislation's weaknesses. It's cause for alarm when that happens
with any important legislation.
What's the rush? Structural changes in Santee Cooper as momentous
as these merit careful deliberation, even if that means a bill
doesn't pass this year. It appears legislators are taking advantage
of Sanford's weakness on this issue to pull a fast one on the
public. If this overpowering impression is wrong, the onus is on our
legislators to explain
why.
