Thread by @jslovegrove

THREAD: Today, S.C. utility regulators cut power rates 17 months after a massive nuclear project was nixed. It's way less than many hoped, but still billions of dollars in future savings for the public.

It may not have happened without the work of unrelenting local reporters.

2) Those reporters are too humble to take credit for what they did, so I'll give it to them in the form of a few highlights.

On day one, @Andy_Ed_Brown laid out what SCE&G wanted to do when they cancelled the project: Charge the blameless public for it
postandcourier.com/business/the-f…

3) Within weeks of the project getting cancelled, @Andy_Ed_Brown had uncovered early signs of "incompetence at every level" that had gone unheeded as SCE&G continued to collect ratepayer money for their "sexy" failing project: postandcourier.com/business/early…

4) @Andy_Ed_Brown broke the news that SCANA had misled utility regulators about the existence of a secretive audit that detailed the construction failures at their nuclear project: postandcourier.com/business/secre…

Then reported what was in it: postandcourier.com/news/audit-hig…

5) @Andy_Ed_Brown and @tbartelme began revealing emails, letters and other documents through FOIA requests that began to show the true extent of behind-the-scenes frustration while SCANA was publicly claiming that everything was fine: postandcourier.com/business/docum…

6) @Andy_Ed_Brown discovered that Westinghouse and other contractors used unlicensed workers to design parts of the nuclear reactors, a potentially criminal shortcut that raised fresh questions about why the project failed: postandcourier.com/business/stamp…

7) A state criminal investigation was opened into SCANA's role in the nuclear project collapse: postandcourier.com/news/state-cri…

A bunch of FBI agents showed up to the project site at one point: postandcourier.com/business/fbi-a…

8) In an incredible deep dive, @tbartelme and a team of reporters detailed how SCE&G followed a playbook executed by utilities all over the country: Take the risk of costly projects off of shareholders and force the unwitting public to eat it instead
postandcourier.com/news/power-fai…

9) We closely covered the legislative process as it moved through the Statehouse, breaking news of backroom negotiations as they happened: postandcourier.com/business/sce-g…

After much haggling, the Legislature temporarily cut rates, though not all the way: postandcourier.com/business/what-…

10) We stepped back and looked at how one of South Carolina’s most influential companies had decimated its relationship with the Legislature and the public, adding insult to injury in the wake of the project cancellation: postandcourier.com/politics/polit…

11) In March, @Andy_Ed_Brown revealed the existence of a voicemail from SCANA’s former top accountant in which she blasted the company's leadership, a story that would go on to have huge implications for the regulatory proceedings months later: postandcourier.com/business/top-s…

12) @Andy_Ed_Brown and @thadmoore kept uncovering more emails and other documents that poked gaping holes in SCANA's claims about why they should be allowed to conceal critical audits about their failed project: postandcourier.com/business/sce-g…

13) Meanwhile, @Andy_Ed_Brown found out that SCANA had ALSO uncovered a million-dollar bid-rigging scheme at the project... and never reported it to state and federal law enforcement officials: postandcourier.com/business/scana…

14) Eventually, the case came before the utility regulators, where @Andy_Ed_Brown and @thadmoore kept the public abreast of any important new developments that affected the case: postandcourier.com/business/scana…

15) Then today, utility regulators approved rates that will force customers to continue paying billions over the next few decades for the project — but, critically, *fewer* billions than what it once could have been had all this information not come out: postandcourier.com/business/sce-g…

16) It’s not over yet. There are several outstanding lawsuits, and the results of those criminal investigations at both the federal and state level have yet to be revealed.

Stay tuned… postandcourier.com/business/scana…

17) If you consider this work to be important and the money it saved you to be valuable, consider using some of it to subscribe to the @postandcourier so they can continue to do more:
postandcourier.com/subscribe/