State Sen. Luke Rankin said Standard & Poor's removed the negative outlook from Santee Cooper's financial ratings because of the bill he sponsored that put new controls on the utility.

At the same time, a former board member who opposed the bill said the rating is because he and others were able to defeat parts of Rankin's original proposal.

Standard & Poor's, one of the three financial ratings agencies, downgraded the state-owned utility's outlook from stable to negative in May amid legislative debate on a bill on how the agency is governed. Standard & Poor's replaced the stable outlook rating Aug. 16, citing the final version of the bill.

Santee Cooper, which serves most residents of Horry and Georgetown counties either directly or indirectly, is the nation's third-largest public utility company and has $3 billion in debt.

Fitch Ratings, another of the three major financial analysts, still has Santee Cooper's outlook rated negative.

The third, Moody's Investors Service, did not change its stable rating.

Rankin said the "key element" of Standard & Poor's report is its praise of the legislation for capping annual payments to the state. A majority of board members, at Gov. Mark Sanford's request, agreed to pay more than the utility's annual 1 percent into the state treasury.

"I think this affirms that point, that it can't be a cash cow," Rankin said.

In its report revising the rating, Standard & Poor's said Santee Cooper has a strong business position in a fast-growing market and a sound financial profile.

The report also cited the legislation, saying that what passed "allayed concerns raised by earlier versions of the same legislation that Standard & Poor's viewed as potentially adversely affecting credit quality."

Standard & Poor's main concern was guaranteeing five seats on the 11-member board to electric co-op representatives and one to an industry representative.

"As a result, these parties could have advanced their interests to the detriment of Santee Cooper's financial profile, particularly in the area of ratemaking," the Standard & Poor's report said.

The final version allows for two electric co-op representatives, up from one under the former board alignment.

"The governor and many of the Santee Cooper board members responded to the proposed legislation by working hard to nullify the provision that turned Santee Cooper over to the co-ops," former member Keith Munson said. Munson resigned during a Senate committee probe of board actions that was critical of Munson's role.

Standard & Poor's restoration of the stable outlook "vindicates our fervent opposition to the legislation," Munson said.

He also said he expects serious repercussions from a provision in the new law allowing lawsuits against board members for alleged mismanagement. Rankin and other bill supporters said the provision is the same required for private company boards.