Santee Cooper is coming closer to having a new board chairman in place, but Horry and Georgetown counties will continue to be unrepresented on the board for months longer.

The state-owned electric utility should have 11 board members but is down to seven after almost two years of controversy.

The lack of a chairman and three other members has not crimped the utility's ability to act, said Laura Varn, Santee Cooper's spokeswoman.

"There's never been a problem in terms of having to hold off business," she said.

Horry and Georgetown counties are home to most of the utility's directly served customers.

In December, Gov. Mark Sanford fired the previous Santee Cooper board chairman, Graham Edwards. Sanford gave little reason for doing so, and Edwards said it was because he refused to comply with the governor's demands for more money from the utility.

Sanford elevated Guerry Green, who was representing Georgetown County, to the chairman's seat, but in May he withdrew the nomination because key senators said they would not approve Green for the post.

Sanford then nominated O.L. Thompson, owner of a Charleston construction company and a longtime member of bank boards including the former Myrtle Beach-based Anchor Bank.

The nomination came too late in the legislative session to be acted on.

Last week, a legislative subcommittee screened Thompson but will not make a recommendation to the full utility-board screening panel until November. If the full panel approves, Thompson can serve on the board while awaiting approval by the full state Senate.

John Molnar, director of emergency services at Grand Strand Regional Medical Center, was approved by a Senate subcommittee in the spring to join the board but is awaiting full Senate approval to take the seat.

Molnar was nominated to represent Horry County.

After nominating Green to be chairman, Sanford sought approval for Carl Falk to represent Georgetown. Falk served for a short time while awaiting Senate approval, and when Green's name was withdrawn from consideration for the chairman's post, Sanford pulled Falk's name.

Sanford said he had hoped to keep Green, whose term was up, on the board. Falk said it happened after he disagreed with the governor's position on extracting more money from Santee Cooper.

The utility pays 1 percent of its revenue, about $10 million, to the state general fund.

The controversy began two years ago when Sanford asked for an additional $13 million.

The Horry and Georgetown County seats will not be acted on until the Senate reconvenes in January.

Varn said that even though the utility's board is operating with no problems, it has some big tasks to deal with soon.

"There are some real big issues going on right now with fuel costs, very substantial things that affect customers," Varn said.