CHARLESTON — Although Gov. Mark Sanford denies he wants to sell the state-owned utility Santee Cooper, his office was involved in hiring an investment bank that — among other things — is studying such a sale.

In mid-November, Santee Cooper signed a contract with Credit Suisse First Boston LLC to analyze the utility.

Santee Cooper chairman Guerry Green said this week that he was joined by director Keith Munson, Jenny Sanford and Marshall Evans, a Sanford adviser, to interview representatives of investment banks bidding on the study.

Jenny Sanford, the governor’s wife, is a former investment banker.

The contract, obtained by The (Charleston) Post and Courier under the Freedom of Information Act, said the bank would provide “strategies to maximize the company’s value under its existing structure or any viable alternatives.”

The governor has said the study will determine how Santee Cooper compares with other utilities, and he was asked about it last week at a public hearing in Moncks Corner.

“You’ve heard me talk about a lot of things, but one thing you haven’t heard me talk about is the privatization of Santee Cooper,” he said. “If I propose the sale of Santee Cooper, you’ll be the first to hear it.”

But former Santee Cooper chairman Graham Edwards said Sanford proposed selling the utility during a meeting in November 2003. Sanford’s office had said earlier the study was proposed by Edwards.

Sanford fired Edwards from his post as chairman of the Santee Cooper board in December, less than two years after appointing him. Previous studies by Santee Cooper said a sale would mean an increase in rates of 30 percent to 40 percent for its customers.