Gov. Mark Sanford said last week's successful sale of Santee Cooper bonds proves his actions have not hurt the utility or its ratepayers.

Fitch Ratings, one of the top three financial analysts, downgraded the utility's outlook in December after Sanford removed the board chairman.

The success of the sale "shows there has been no adverse impact," said Sanford's spokesman, Will Folks.

But one critic and the analyst said Monday that the bond sale's success doesn't change their viewpoint.

Santee Cooper, the electricity provider for most of Horry and Georgetown counties, sold $278 million worth of bonds Friday in action similar to a mortgage refinancing. The utility saved $29.6 million.

The sale "proves the financial market continues to view us as a financially strong utility," Elaine Peterson, executive vice president and chief financial officer, said in a news release.

The utility received an overall rate of 4.42 percent interest, compared with 5.5 percent to 6.5 percent interest for the bonds it is replacing, Peterson said.

"It is our view the market focused on Santee Cooper's excellent financial health and operations and looked through the outlook change," said Frank Ingrassia, managing director of Goldman Sachs & Co., which managed the sale.

Folks said statements by state Sen. Bill Mescher, R-Pinopolis, and Sen. Luke Rankin, R-Myrtle Beach, that the downgraded outlook would affect rates were off the mark.

Mescher, a former Santee Cooper president, said he stands by his statement that the downgrade cost bond-holders money.

The utility might have sold the bonds at a lower interest rate without the Fitch Ratings downgrade, Mescher said.

"I don't think that proves anything at all other than there are a lot of people out there who still have faith in Santee Cooper as a good investment," he said.

Alan Spen of Fitch Ratings said the bond sale does not change his company's opinion.

"Fitch's recent ratings action was not necessarily intended to be a reflection of Santee Cooper's current financial position, which is quite good, or its ability to successfully access the capital markets," Spen said.

Fitch's concern is about "the continuing changes in the agency's board," an unusual circumstance for a company with the high rating of AA, and questions about the utility's future in the state, he said.

Fitch plans discussions with Santee Cooper and state officials "to gain better clarity about the longer-term plans for the power agency," Spen said.