House subcommittee hears hours of testimony on H.3309 energy bill; no votes taken

A House Labor, Commerce and Industry (LCI) subcommittee spent most of a scheduled hearing hearing testimony on H.3309 — the South Carolina Energy Security Act — with utility executives, environmental and consumer groups, and local advocates outlining sharply different views on how to meet the state’s growing electricity needs. No votes were taken; the panel said it will reconvene after the chamber’s afternoon session.

Proponents, including Dominion Energy South Carolina, Santee Cooper and Duke Energy, told the subcommittee the state faces tightening capacity and said H.3309 would clear legal and permitting obstacles they say slow new dispatchable generation. "You gotta serve the load. When the light…is switched, you gotta serve it," Keller Kasam of Dominion said, describing the company’s obligation to customers. Jimmy Staton, president and CEO of Santee Cooper, told members a joint combined‑cycle natural‑gas plant at Dominion’s Kennedy’s brownfield site could save money through economies of scale and use existing transmission, but stressed the bill would grant only authorization to partner — not approval of a specific plant.

Opponents ranging from the Coastal Conservation League and Sierra Club to AARP and local citizen groups urged stronger consumer safeguards,…