South Carolina Electric & Gas Company (SCE&G), principal subsidiary of
SCANA Corporation (NYSE: SCG), today filed with the Public Service
Commission of South Carolina (PSC) and the South Carolina Office of
Regulatory Staff (ORS) for an overall 1.1 percent increase to its
electric rates under provisions of the Base Load Review Act (BLRA).
The BLRA is a state law enacted in 2007 to add structure and consistency
to the process SCE&G and other regulated electric utilities must follow
when building nuclear power plants. SCE&G and Santee Cooper, a
state-owned electric and water utility in South Carolina, are planning
to build two 1,117-megawatt nuclear electric-generating units at the
site of the V.C. Summer Nuclear Station near Jenkinsville, S.C. The
first unit is expected to come on line in 2016, the second in 2019. The
BLRA allows for annual adjustments to rates during construction of the
units as a means of recovering financing costs associated with the
project.
SCE&G President Kevin Marsh said paying financing costs while
construction is ongoing, as opposed to waiting until the project has
been completed, lowers the cost of building the new units by about $1
billion, which in turn reduces the amount customers will have to pay
through rates for such things as the cost of capital, depreciation,
property taxes and insurance associated with the project. "We estimate
this will save our customers at least $4 billion in electric rates over
the life of the new units,” he said.
If approved, today’s filing would increase electric rates at the end of
October as follows:
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1.21 percent for residential customers
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1.07 percent for small commercial customers
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1.13 percent for medium commercial customers
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0.95 percent for large commercial/industrial customers.
The average monthly bill for a residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt
hours of electricity would increase $1.42, going from $117.48 to $118.90.
As construction of the new nuclear plants continues, rates will be
adjusted each year based on actual construction expenditures since the
last increase. "The actual amount and timing of adjustments may vary
from year to year,” said Marsh. "For instance, our costs for this
project are lower to date than we had anticipated, so the 1.1 percent
increase we filed for today is somewhat lower than the 2.8 percent
increase we had forecasted in our initial BLRA application.”
In a report filed with the PSC and the ORS last week, SCE&G indicated
that construction of the two nuclear units is proceeding in full
compliance with the cost and schedule projections approved by the
Commission earlier this year.
PROFILES
South Carolina Electric & Gas Company is a regulated public utility
engaged in the generation, transmission, distribution and sale of
electricity to approximately 652,000 customers throughout central,
southern and southwestern portions of South Carolina. The company also
provides natural gas service to approximately 309,000 customers
throughout the state.
SCANA Corporation, a Fortune 500 company headquartered in Columbia, SC,
is an energy-based holding company principally engaged, through
subsidiaries, in electric and natural gas utility operations and other
energy-related businesses. Information about SCANA and its businesses is
available on the Company’s web site at www.scana.com.
SAFE HARBOR STATEMENT – SCANA CORPORATION
Statements included in this press release which are not statements of
historical fact are intended to be, and are hereby identified as,
"forward-looking statements” for purposes of Section 27A of the
Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Forward-looking statements include,
but are not limited to, statements concerning key earnings drivers,
customer growth, environmental regulations and expenditures, leverage
ratio, projections for pension fund contributions, financing activities,
access to sources of capital, impacts of the adoption of new accounting
rules, estimated construction and other expenditures and factors
affecting the availability of synthetic fuel tax credits. In some cases,
forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as
"may,” "will,” "could,” "should,” "expects,” "plans,” "anticipates,”
"believes,” "estimates,” "projects,” "predicts,” "potential” or
"continue” or the negative of these terms or other similar terminology.
Readers are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not
guarantees of future performance and involve a number of risks and
uncertainties, and that actual results could differ materially from
those indicated by such forward-looking statements. Important factors
that could cause actual results to differ materially from those
indicated by such forward-looking statements include, but are not
limited to, the following: (1) the information is of a preliminary
nature and may be subject to further and/or continuing review and
adjustment; (2) regulatory actions, particularly changes in rate
regulation and environmental regulations; (3) current and future
litigation; (4) changes in the economy, especially in areas served by
subsidiaries of SCANA Corporation (SCANA); (5) the impact of competition
from other energy suppliers, including competition from alternate fuels
in industrial interruptible markets; (6) growth opportunities for
SCANA’s regulated and diversified subsidiaries; (7) the results of
financing efforts; (8) changes in SCANA’s or its subsidiaries’
accounting rules and accounting policies; (9) the effects of weather,
including drought, especially in areas where the Company’s generation
and transmission facilities are located and in areas served by SCANA's
subsidiaries; (10) payment by counterparties as and when due; (11) the
results of efforts to license, site and construct facilities for
baseload electric generation; (12) the availability of fuels such as
coal, natural gas and enriched uranium used to produce electricity; the
availability of purchased power and natural gas for distribution; the
level and volatility of future market prices for such fuels and
purchased power; and the ability to recover the costs for such fuels and
purchased power; (13) performance of SCANA’s pension plan assets; (14)
inflation; (15) compliance with regulations; and (16) the other risks
and uncertainties described from time to time in the periodic reports
filed by SCANA or South Carolina Electric & Gas Company (SCE&G) with the
United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The Company
disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements.
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South Carolina Electric & Gas Company
Annual Request For Revised Rates
To
The Public Service Commission of South Carolina
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Highlights
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Docket Number
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2009-211–E
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Filing Period
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Projected Twelve Months Ended June 30, 2009
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Requested Effective Date
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October 30, 2009
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Requested in Application:
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Annual Revenue Increase
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-$
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$ 22.5 Million
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-%
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1.1%
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Cost of Capital
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8.34%
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Incremental CWIP
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$ 199 Million
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Return on Common Equity
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11.00%
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Capital Structure and Cost of
Capital:
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Capital Structure
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Ratio
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Embedded Cost
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Weighted Average Cost of
Capital
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Long-Term Debt
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$
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2,871
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48.73
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%
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5.73
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%
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2.79
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%
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Preferred Stock
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114
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1.93
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6.43
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0.12
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Common Equity
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2,908
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49.34
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11.00
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5.43
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Total
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$
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5,893
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100.00
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%
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8.34
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%
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