Dive Brief:
- South Carolina Public Service Commission member Nikiya "Nikki" Hall has resigned, leaving the body to work for Pepco as director of regulatory strategy and services, the State reports.
- Hall has been a member of the PSC since 2010 and her departure coincides as regulators are dealing with the botched expansion of the VC Summer nuclear plant.
- The PSC oversees SCE&G, which owns 55% of its abandoned two-reactor expansion project at the VC Summer plant, along with partner Santee Cooper.
Dive Insight:
According to The State, South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster could name a replacement for Hall as early as Monday. That person would then serve until the Legislature votes on a new commissioner.
Hall did not comment on her departure after announcing it at an Oct. 25 PSC meeting. She called the job with Pepco a that "wonderful opportunity that I just couldn’t refuse."
Hall served on the Electricity Committee of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners and chaired the commission's Market Access Committee. She also served on the Nuclear Waste Strategy Coalition.
South Carolina is beginning to deal with the fallout from the failed expansion of the V.C. Summer plant. Proposed in 2008, the expansion was supposed to cost less than $12 billion. But SCANA, the parent company of SCE&G, and Santee Cooper abandoned the project over the summer, already having spent $9 billion. They said completing construction would take years and costs could spiral to $25 billion.
The South Carolina PSC is considering a pair of cases that seek to recover funds for ratepayers, related to the expansion. Hearings in those cases are scheduled for later this month and in December, according to The State.
