V.C. Summer update: MOU signed with Brookfield
Santee Cooper, South Carolina’s state-owned electric and water utility, recently announced that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Brookfield Asset Management.
The MOU represents the next step in Santee Cooper potentially selling the two partially built AP1000 units at V.C. Summer nuclear power plant to Brookfield. With its signing, the two parties will now conduct a feasibility study on completing those units.
The terms of the deal: As of now, Santee Cooper is set to receive $2.7 billion in cash should the parties reach a final investment decision and commit to completing the units. The utility would additionally maintain a targeted 25 percent ownership share of the plant—with proportional capacity once the units begin commercial operation.
The details of this deal are not set in stone; according to the utility, the ownership benefits “could be adjusted depending on the final cost of completing the units.” Still, Santee Cooper president and CEO Jimmy Staton called it “a strong deal for our customers,” saying that the cash payment from Brookfield will “significantly reduce the debt our customers have been paying.”
The customer burden of the debt stemming from V.C. Summer’s cost overruns has been a much talked-about issue for years. According to a 2024 article from the South Carolina Daily Gazette, Santee Cooper’s original share of the debt related to the project was $3.6 billion. About 5 percent of its ratepayers’ power bills go toward paying that debt off.
Staton added that “customer relief was one of two top goals when we began this process in January.” The second top goal, naturally, was “optimizing value to South Carolina”— transforming a costly and presently useless construction zone into a 2,000-plus MWe nuclear power plant.
This move, the utility hopes, will create thousands of temporary construction jobs and hundreds of permanent operational jobs, bolster the state’s clean energy portfolio, and capitalize on the country’s current nuclear momentum.
This MOU sets a deadline of June 26, 2026, for Brookfield to determine initial feasibility. It also establishes a path to final investment decision that is estimated to take 18–24 months.
Deal background: Santee Cooper first announced that it was seeking proposals to acquire and finish V.C Summer in January of this year. In October, the utility announced that it had selected Brookfield for the project.
At the time, Peter McCoy, chair of Santee Cooper’s board, said, “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.”
In October, Staton also added that “Brookfield is a majority owner of Westinghouse, which added to their proposal.” Westinghouse is the designer and owner of the AP1000 technology.
Brief history: Santee Cooper, along with partner South Carolina Electric & Gas (now Dominion Energy South Carolina), applied for combined construction and operating licenses (COLs) in March 2008 to deploy two AP1000s at the site where the 966-MWe Summer-1 reactor has operated since 1984. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued those COLs in 2012.
After five years beset with delays and cost overruns, the project was ultimately halted in July 2017. A month before that cancelation, Nuclear News reported that the project was “about 64 percent complete in [engineering, procurement, and construction] terms.” The fallout that came after the failed project ranged from prison sentences to multimillion-dollar fines. In 2018, SCE&G transferred its interest in the assets to Santee Cooper.
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