Roofing company in Santee, SC

MONCKS CORNER, S.C. – After a thorough, expert-driven review of proposals from global leaders in the nuclear power industry, the Santee Cooper Board of Directors approved today a letter of intent with Brookfield Asset Management (“Brookfield”) to guide final, exclusive negotiations with Brookfield concerning the two partially built AP1000 nuclear units in Fairfield County, SC.

The letter of intent establishes a six-week initial project feasibility period. In that period, the parties will jointly select a project manager and evaluate construction providers that would be used in resuming construction of the two nuclear units. The six weeks also would allow for advanced discussions with entities interested in buying nuclear power generated by the units and facilitate additional due diligence, leading to execution of a Memorandum of Understanding.

“Brookfield came to Santee Cooper with a proposal that set out the path to turn our prior nuclear investment into lasting value for our customers and all South Carolinians,” said Santee Cooper Board Chairman Peter McCoy. “Our goals include completing these reactors with private money and no ratepayer or taxpayer expense, delivering financial relief to our customers and gaining significant additional power capacity for South Carolina. Brookfield’s proposal would do just that, and the company has the financial capability to stand behind its proposal.”

“We thank Governor Henry McMaster and the South Carolina General Assembly members who were instrumental in encouraging Santee Cooper to conduct this bidding process,” said Santee Cooper President and CEO Jimmy Staton. “As we move closer to a final deal, our goal remains the same: to enable completion of these two units and thus provide 2,200 MW of carbon-free, reliable nuclear power that delivers energy security for South Carolina and specific benefits to Santee Cooper customers who are paying our initial investment.”

Staton noted that Santee Cooper’s strategic decision to maintain the equipment over the past eight years positions the Fairfield units for a quicker and less costly path to completion. “The state of the units, and the fact that they use the same Westinghouse AP1000 technology that is now operating in Georgia and overseas, make these assets very attractive to the nuclear power industry.”

One key element of resuming construction is the continued involvement of Westinghouse Electric Co., which designed and owns the AP 1000 technology. “Brookfield is a majority owner of Westinghouse, which added to their proposal,” Staton said.

With surging residential and industrial customer demand, and with the support of state leaders, last year Santee Cooper recognized a potential opportunity to sell the assets to a third party who would complete the unfinished nuclear units. The utility launched a competitive bidding process in January 2025, receiving initial expressions of interest from over 70 potential bidders and 15 formal proposals. Working with industry experts, Santee Cooper developed key financial, risk mitigation and execution criteria by which the final proposals were measured.

Completion of the two units could:

Centerview Partners LLC served as financial advisor to Santee Cooper on the competitive process to sell its interest in the two partially built AP1000 nuclear units. J.P. Morgan also served as financial advisor to Santee Cooper.

For more than 90 years, Santee Cooper has been serving the people of South Carolina. The utility is South Carolina’s largest power provider, and the ultimate source of electricity for 2 million people across the state. Through its affordable, reliable, and environmentally responsible electricity and water services, and through innovative partnerships and initiatives that attract and retain industry and jobs, Santee Cooper helps power South Carolina. To learn more, visit www.santeecooper.com and follow #PoweringSC on social media.

CHARLESTON — A South Carolina textile company that's been making bolts of woven fabrics shine since the 1940s with colorful dyes and decorative patterns — and is fiercely proud of its "Made-in-America" heritage — is shutting down.

Santee Print Works notified state labor officials this week that it will permanently close its longtime Sumter County plant — once one of the area's single-biggest employers — by Dec. 20.

About 140 workers are expected to lose their jobs before the holidays.

No reason was given. The company and its lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Oct. 22.

Workers were told about the decision Monday, according to a layoff notification filed with the S.C. Department of Employment and Workforce.

"This closure is permanent, and the entire plant will be closed," Columbia employment attorney Reginald Belcher wrote.

A 1949 Charleston newspaper article reported the privately held, family-owned company was issued a charter from the state of South Carolina in July of that year. The founders, two businessmen from New York City, were among a group of investors who had bought Mansfield Mills Inc. in Lumberton N.C., several years earlier

They later relocated their South Carolina textile printing venture to a new Sumter industrial park at the request of local elected officials who were trying to recruit businesses to the site.

"Construction of this manufacturing facility, which is the current location of Santee’s operations, began in the early 1950s with operations first commencing in 1952," according to a 2017 lawsuit the company filed and later settled in state court over a wastewater dispute.

In October 1968, U.S. Sen. Fritz Hollings stopped by the plant to court rural voters while campaigning for re-election.

At the turn of the century a Santee Print Works executive told The Post and Courier that the payroll at the factory had grown to 1,100 workers. He also said the company was bringing in about half of its raw materials through the Port of Charleston.

A year later, Santee Print Works announced it was trimming about 90 jobs, citing competition from cheaper Chinese imports and a weakening economy. More layoffs followed in 2005.

In early 2024, the Sumter Item reported the 1.5 million-square-foot plant on Progress Street would be shutting down for good, prompting the company to issue a written denial.

On its website, Santee Print Works directs business inquiries to its office across from Bryant Park in midtown Manhattan but stressed that its Sumter operation is "where the Magic Happens."

It noted that its Palmetto State-produced handiwork can be found on a near-endless tapestry of products, including flags, bedding materials, apparel and furniture coverings.

"You've see our prints on troops, doctors, in hotels, hospitals, displayed at high-end stores, on television, while window shopping or watching a political debate," the company said.

CHARLESTON — Lawmakers have approved Santee Cooper's request to take on up to $570 million in new debt that has fueled a second rate hike this year for customers of the utility.

The S.C. Joint Bond Review Committee gave the financing plan the go-ahead on Oct. 7 in Columbia.

The debt will cover more than $562 million in unbudgeted costs that the state-owned power provider incurred during a nearly five-year rate freeze on its electric bills.

Customers will pay off the bonds over the next decade through the latest increase, which works out to about $5 a month for a household using 1,000 kilowatts.

Santee Cooper, which hasn't yet issued the debt, began collecting the money in July, a spokeswoman said Tuesday.

S.C. Rep. Heather Ammons Crawford, R-Horry County, lives in an area served directly by Santee Cooper. She asked the utility to "clarify" the size of its new rate increase.

“I’ve heard 3 percent, I've heard 2 percent, I've heard no more than 4 percent," Crawford said.

Suzanne Ritter, treasurer and director of financial planning for the power provider, said it's "slightly less than 4 percent."

“And that percentage actually goes down a little bit over time," Ritter said.

In April, the Moncks Corner-based utility raised its power rates by 8.7 percent for residential customers.

The second increase is tied to several years of back-and-forth with Central Electric Power Cooperative — Santee Cooper's largest customer — and lawyers who filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of ratepayers eight years ago.

The litigation followed the utility's decision to abandon the expansion of the V.C. Summer nuclear plant in mid-2017 after sinking several billion dollars into the failed project.

Santee Cooper agreed not to increase rates from 2020 through 2024 under a separate lawsuit settlement, but it was allowed to recoup "just and reasonable" unexpected costs incurred during the lockdown. They included expenses associated with natural disasters, new government regulations and other unplanned events.

Some of the claims were challenged by ratepayers and Central Electric, which represents 15 small cooperatives around the state that get their power from Santee Cooper.

They reached a settlement earlier this year. Among other terms, the utility agreed not to pass along unplanned costs totaling $155 million to customers.

Santee Cooper said surging fuel bills at its power plants were the primary reason expenses spiked during the rate freeze. The main culprits were Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which caused natural gas prices to jump in 2022, and a fire that shut down a mine that supplied coal to the utility.

Santee Cooper generates power for about 2 million South Carolina residents, either directly or indirectly. It also serves 27 large industrial businesses and other commercial customers.

South Carolina’s state-owned utility company and environmental groups have reached an agreement related to a powerline running through an ancient Lowcountry forest.

Santee Cooper and the National Audubon Society announced the agreement Tuesday. It comes more than a month after Audubon South Carolina raised concerns about the utility company’s plans to increase the capacity on an existing powerline crossing Beidler Forest, the largest uncut cypress-tupelo swamp in the world.

The upgraded transmission line is necessary, the company said, to power the growing number of homes and businesses in Berkeley, Dorchester and Charleston counties.

Santee Cooper has said it didn’t plan to cut any old-growth trees — cypress or otherwise — as it upgraded the powerline, which has been in place since the 1970s.

“Beidler Forest is a beautiful cypress-tupelo swamp forest, with spectacular old-growth trees and native plants that support numerous bird and other wildlife species. Santee Cooper’s plans will not change that,” CEO Jimmy Staton said in a statement.

Still, Audubon sought added guarantees.

Along parts of the 1½ mile stretch of powerline that runs through the 18,000-acre forest, the utility company can down trees within 100 feet of its right of way that it considers a danger to the line.

Santee Cooper agreed to notify Audubon of any trees it plans to cut down, allowing the conservation organization a chance to review and consult on the process, according to documents filed with state utility regulators and a statement from the utility company.

Staton, in his statement, also said Santee Cooper had already contracted with a third-party environmental consultant to be onsite during construction.

In addition, Santee Cooper will pay for a garden of flowering plants beneficial to bees and other pollinators. It will be planted on the Berkeley County side of the powerline’s right of way, according to the filing. It doesn’t specify the size of the garden or what will be planted.

The company will also buy seedlings to plant four acres of hardwood trees in another part of Beidler Forest called Pine Bluff.

“Francis Beidler Forest is a nationally and internationally recognized resource, is treasured by the wildlife that call it home, visitors who explore its ancient forest, and nearby communities that benefit from its conservation,” Audubon South Carolina Executive Director Rebecca Haynes said in a statement. “Audubon, in partnership with the Southern Environmental Law Center, is glad to have reached an agreement that protects the Forest from direct impacts, while allowing Santee Cooper to support the growth of the Lowcountry.”