Santee Cooper's board of directors has been under close scrutiny by the General Assembly. Four directors are up for confirmation in the next few weeks and lawmakers are throwing their weight behind a bill that would change the makeup and oversight of the board.

A few days ago, Richard Coen, a developer from Mount Pleasant who has been on the board since June 2003, pushed back.

Coen isn't up for confirmation, but the Senate staff handling confirmation hearings is looking into his tenure and wondering if he steered Santee Cooper business to friends and associates. Specifically, staffers of the Judiciary Committee filed a Freedom of Information Act request asking for some of Coen's e-mails.

After receiving the request, Coen called the office of Senate power-broker Glenn McConnell and left a long and detailed message about the integrity of the Santee Cooper board. "We have nothing to hide and we have no conflict of interest, but if somebody's going to make inquiries or question me, boy I'm going to fire back like a Scud missile," Coen explained to McConnell via voicemail. "I'll make a mess of it if I have to."

Coen also told McConnell that he was going to investigate the senator's campaign contributions.

Coen has said a bill proposed by McConnell that would change the board makeup is a "stealth mission" by the state's electric cooperatives to gain power over the utility. The co-ops buy about half of Santee Cooper's power.

Coen and other directors are opposed to the bill, in part because it would let customers sue them individually for mismanagement.

McConnell collected $1,000 from electricity cooperatives in the latest political cycle. But he said the crux of his bill is not a power play by the cooperatives, but rather a way to keep rash board members in check.

SECURITY UNCERTAINTY

A bill that would require all state port workers to undergo intense background checks looks like it's on shaky ground in the state Senate.

The measure materialized after a union dockworker with a long criminal history ran over and killed a colleague at the Port of Charleston in February.

The proposed rules have been rewritten several times and last week were stripped out of a more comprehensive bill dealing with trade through state ports.

Rep. Chip Limehouse (R-Charleston) has been a rallying force behind the security shapeup for months and said he has hopes the Legislature ultimately will pass stricter controls over who comes and goes on the docks.

The proposed regulations would require every union longshoreman and stevedore to go through a fingerprint-based criminal background check.

Anyone convicted of a violent crime in the past seven years would be ineligible to work on the waterfront.

The controversial regulation was wrapped into a bill giving companies tax breaks for moving cargo through state ports.

Union leaders have been vocal about wanting to wait for new federal guidelines on background screenings, and truck drivers objected to even the suggestion they be included in the bill.

Some lawmakers apparently heard the groups' concerns, and a Senate committee last week removed the portion of the bill dealing with port security.

Limehouse then championed a successful drive Tuesday in the House of Representatives to pass another stand-alone security bill with the same stipulations.

"Port security is one of the most important issues facing the Lowcountry right now," Limehouse said Friday. "It was disappointing they tried to delete the port security language, but I'm confident we're going to get it through."

THE NOMINEES ARE ...

Three Charleston-area business people have been listed as finalists for the Entrepreneur of the Year award for the Carolinas.

Scott Fennell of Carolina Waste Services LLC, Mary Norton of Moo Roo LLC and Jeff Grady of Netalog Inc. and Digital Lifestyle Outfitters are among the 27 nominees from North and South Carolina. The annual award is sponsored by accounting firm Ernst & Young, Bank of America and law firm Womble Carlyle.

Not too surprisingly, the nominee list is weighted toward South Carolina's northern neighbor: Of the 27 nominees, just eight are from South Carolina. In North Carolina, Charlotte alone boasts seven nominees.

The winner of the Carolinas title will go on to compete in Ernst & Young's national Entrepreneur of the Year program.