South Carolina Electric & Gas Company Requests Update to Construction and Capital Cost Schedules for New Nuclear Units

CAYCE, S.C., Feb. 29, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- SCANA subsidiary (NYSE:SCG) South Carolina Electric & Gas Company (SCE&G) today filed a petition with the Public Service Commission of South Carolina (PSC) seeking approval to update the construction milestone schedule as well as the capital cost schedule for the company's new nuclear units. 

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SCE&G and state-owned utility Santee Cooper are building two 1,117 megawatt nuclear units at the site of the V.C. Summer Nuclear Station near Jenkinsville, S.C. The originally approved budget for the project included contingency costs of approximately $438 million, or slightly less than 10 percent.  However, the South Carolina Supreme Court ruled that pre-approved contingency costs were not permitted to be part of the approved capital cost schedule. As a result, SCE&G is required to specifically identify and itemize such costs before they can be included in the approved project budget.

Today's filing identifies currently known capital costs of approximately $6 million (SCE&G's portion in 2007 dollars) related to new federal healthcare laws, information security measures and certain minor design modifications.  The petition also includes increased capital costs of approximately $12 million (SCE&G's portion in 2007 dollars) related to transmission infrastructure.  Finally, the petition includes amounts of approximately $137 million (SCE&G's portion in 2007 dollars) related to additional labor for the oversight of the units during construction and for preparing to operate the new units, facilities and information technology systems required to support the new units and their personnel. This $137 million is lower than our original estimate of $150 million announced earlier.

The total cost of the project, including the requested costs included in today's filing, remains within the original construction cost, including the preapproval by the PSC, net of AFUDC and without taking into account an applied escalation rate for the project costs which is more favorable today than originally forecasted.

PROFILE
SCE&G is a regulated utility engaged in the generation, transmission, distribution and sale of electricity to approximately 664,000 customers in South Carolina. The company also provides natural gas service to approximately 317,000 customers throughout the state. More information about SCE&G is available at www.sceg.com.

SCANA Corporation, a Fortune 500 company headquartered in Cayce, 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 is available on the Company's website at www.scana.com.

SOURCE SCANA Corporation