A rendering of the $5 billion Canadys natural gas-fired power plant proposed along the Edisto River in Colleton County. (Photo courtesy of Santee Cooper and Dominion Energy)
COLUMBIA — South Carolina utility regulators gave their nod to a proposed 2,200-megawatt natural gas-fired plant along the Edisto River in the Lowcountry, despite objections from consumer and environmental groups.
The seven-member Public Service Commission unanimously signed off on the power plant, estimated to cost $5 billion, to be jointly built by Dominion Energy and state-owned utility Santee Cooper in Colleton County on the site of a former coal plant.
“With its ruling today, the Public Service Commission authorizes Santee Cooper and Dominion Energy to sensibly repurpose this existing site with state-of-the-art technology to power future generations of the Palmetto State,” said Keller Kissam, president of Dominion Energy South Carolina, in a statement.
The facility, utilities executives have said, is essential to meeting South Carolina’s power needs amid rapid population and industrial growth. That includes a ballooning number of energy-intensive data centers.
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They’ve also touted the potential economic development opportunities the plant and the accompanying $431 million, 70-mile natural gas pipeline could bring to the rural county.
But power customers, neighbors and environmental groups pushed back, particularly on the project price tag, which doubled from early estimates.
“This massive, polluting plant has already doubled in cost from $2.5 to $5 billion in the last year, and the utilities admitted at the hearing that its final costs would likely be even higher,” said Kate Mixson, an attorney for the Southern Environmental Law Center. “We’re certainly worried that the plant and pipeline will negatively impact communities and raise customers’ bills.”
Many are still upset over an earlier failed deal between Santee Cooper and Dominion’s now defunct predecessor, South Carolina Electric & Gas.
The two companies mothballed a planned expansion of the V.C. Summer Nuclear Station in Fairfield County in 2017 amid fraud, mismanagement and cost overruns. Customers of both companies are still paying for the nuclear reactors that have never produced a single megawatt.
Justin Williams, the commissioner whose district includes Colleton County, acknowledged those concerns. The since-repealed law that made it possible for the companies to begin billing customers for the nuclear reactors before they were constructed “is still echoing through the regulatory landscape in South Carolina,” he said.
Unlike V.C. Summer, the Canadys gas plant is not a first of its kind. And similar plants are under construction across the country.
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But in an effort to quell fears, the commission required the utilities to make quarterly construction updates, including cumulative dollars spent compared to estimates.
“Addressing cost concerns with more reporting is like a car salesman trying to sweeten the offer with an itemized receipt,” Paul Black, a campaign organizer for the Sierra Club in the Carolinas, said in a statement. “It gives no guarantees. It doesn’t change build costs, maintenance, gas prices, or hidden fees, it just ensures that you know more frequently how much money will be going up in smoke.”
In all, the commission heard more than four hours of testimony from about 65 people during public meetings held over the past couple weeks, including landowners, environmentalists, elected officials and supporters of South Carolina’s environmentally sensitive ACE Basin.
The basin, a 350,000-acre undeveloped estuary named for the Ashepoo, Combahee, and Edisto rivers that feed it, is home to nine federally endangered species, including peregrine falcons, wood storks and leatherback turtles.
There are also six species federally designated as threatened and 30 other state-protected species.
“This is not the easiest one in the world for me to vote on, but I do support it,” said Commission Chairman Delton Powers. “That is a very precious area we have in our state and I don’t think there’s anything in the country that’s anything like or near to the ACE Basin.”
Powers went on to reference legislation passed in a last-minute deal on the final day of the 2025 legislative session that paved the way for the gas plant.
“I certainly understand the concerns of the people in the area,” he said. “But the law is very clear, what the Legislature intended.”
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While utilities regulators have given their approval, more permits are required. That includes federal permits for the natural gas pipeline that will feed fuel into the plant.
The pipeline company, Kinder Morgan, has pre-filed with federal regulators. A full application is expected in the coming months.
“This project is transformational and will definitely move the needle in a positive way for South Carolina for years to come,” Commissioner David Britt said.
Courtesy of South Carolina Daily Gazette
