Dominion agrees to pay $25 million in SEC caseNuclear NewsPower & OperationsMay 14, 2020, 3:12PM|Nuclear News StaffVirginia-based Dominion Energy has agreed to pay $25 million to settle a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) case regarding the Summer nuclear expansion project, abandoned by owners SCANA and Santee Cooper in 2017, prior to the Dominion/SCANA merger.The details: In a May 5 filing with the SEC, Dominion disclosed that it has reached an agreement in principle with the staff of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement to settle the case, without admitting or denying the allegations in a complaint filed by the SEC in February. The SEC complaint alleged that SCANA, two of its former executive officers, and Dominion Energy South Carolina (formerly SCANA subsidiary South Carolina Electric & Gas Company, or SCE&G) had violated federal securities laws by making false and misleading statements about the Summer project.According to the May filing, the proposed settlement is contingent on the review and approval of final documentation by SCANA, Dominion Energy South Carolina, and the SEC’s Division of Enforcement staff and is subject to approval by the SEC and the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina.Tags:dominionscanasecsummerShare:LinkedInTwitterFacebook
Dominion to pay $25-million civil penalty in SEC caseDominion Energy has agreed to pay a civil penalty of $25 million to settle a lawsuit brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission against SCANA Corporation and subsidiary South Carolina Electric & Gas (SCE&G) regarding SCANA’s involvement in the failed Summer nuclear expansion project. Virginia-based Dominion acquired SCANA in January 2019.Dominion disclosed in May that it had reached an “agreement in principle” with the staff of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement to settle the case for the above-stated amount.The final agreement, which at this writing is still subject to approval by the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina, also calls for the payment of $112.5 million in “disgorgement plus prejudgment interest.” This penalty, however, will be deemed satisfied by SCANA and SCE&G’s settlement payments in related rate payer and shareholder litigation.Go to Article
Entergy takes net-zero pledge, teams with Mitsubishi to decarbonize with hydrogenPaul Browning, Mitsubishi Power, and Paul Hinnenkamp, Entergy, sign the joint agreement on September 23. Photo: EntergyNew Orleans–based Entergy Corporation last week announced a commitment to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, joining a growing list of major energy companies to make that promise—including Dominion Energy, Duke Energy, Southern Company, Xcel Energy, and Public Service Enterprise Group. And, like those companies, Entergy says that it sees nuclear playing an important role in the realization of that goal.Go to Article
Settlement reached over Summer equipment ownershipSouth Carolina’s state-owned utility Santee Cooper and Westinghouse Electric Company have finalized the terms of a settlement for determining ownership of equipment associated with the Summer plant’s abandoned nuclear new-build project. The settlement agreement gives Santee Cooper full ownership of, and the ability to immediately begin marketing, all nonnuclear equipment, the utility announced on August 31.Go to Article
Former SCANA exec pleads guilty in Summer fraud caseStephen A. Byrne, former executive vice president of SCANA Corporation, pleaded guilty in federal court on July 23 to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud in connection with the failed $9-billion nuclear-expansion project at South Carolina’s Summer plant.Byrne, 60, had also been president of generation and transmission and chief operating officer at SCANA subsidiary South Carolina Electric & Gas, overseeing all of SCANA’s nuclear operations, including the construction of the new nuclear units, on which work was stopped in 2017 (NN, Aug. 2017, p. 17).Go to Article
Santee Cooper, Dominion agree to pay $520 million in Summer suitA circuit court judge on July 20 gave final approval to a $520-million settlement in a class action civil suit brought against Santee Cooper over alleged deceptive business practices involving the failed nuclear-expansion project at South Carolina’s Summer plant. Santee Cooper was the junior partner to SCANA Corporation’s South Carolina Electric and Gas in the two-reactor project, which was canceled in July 2017 (NN, Aug. 2017, p. 17). In July 2019, SCANA became a wholly owned subsidiary of Virginia-based Dominion Energy (NN, Feb. 2019, p. 15). According to the lawsuit, brought by ratepayers, Santee Cooper raised rates to cover the increasing costs of the Summer expansion even after becoming aware that the project was no longer viable. Go to Article
Nuclear project lawsuit settled for $192.5 millionFederal Judge Margaret Seymour signed off on a $192.5 million settlement on July 9 in a civil lawsuit filed in 2017 by SCANA shareholders over the company’s failed Summer nuclear construction project. Go to Article
Safety board endorses Surry second license renewalThe ACRS supports subsequent license renewal for the Dominion units. Photo: Dominion EnergyThe Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS) has issued a report recommending approval of Dominion Energy’s 20-year subsequent license renewal (SLR) application for Surry-1 and -2. The board reached its conclusion during its April meeting, after reviewing both the SLR application and the associated final safety evaluation report. Dominion submitted the application in October 2018.Go to Article
NRC likely to grant second license renewalsSurry Power Station. Photo: Dominion Energy.The Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued its final supplemental environmental impact statement (EIS) on April 6 for Dominion Energy’s subsequent license renewal (SLR) application for Surry-1 and -2, concluding that the potential environmental impacts from continued operation of the units are not substantial enough to prevent the agency from considering issuance of the SLRs. The NRC had issued its final safety evaluation report on the Surry SLR application on March 9, with a similarly positive conclusion.Go to Article
Arresting debris-related fuel failuresby Mike Little and Dale Vines, Dominion Engineering, Inc.Now how did that get there?Finding foreign material in your reactor system is not the beginning of a good day. Where did it come from? Did someone leave this in here or did something break? When did this happen? These are all good questions for which we need to know the answers.Go to Article
Weighing options for NextEra Energy and Summer-2 and -3 siteNextEra Energy announced on February 11 that its bid to buy South Carolina’s public utility, Santee Cooper, is the “recommended purchase proposal” following a formal bid invitation called for by the state’s General Assembly in May 2019 (NN, June 2019, p. 9). Competing with NextEra’s purchase offer is a reform plan put forward by Santee Cooper in an attempt to avoid a sale as the utility continues to grapple with the failed Summer-2 and -3 nuclear construction project and the $3.6 billion in debt incurred before the project was halted in July 2017.A report from the South Carolina Department of Administration published on February 11 outlined the competing plans and factors that the General Assembly may want to take into consideration as it mulls the plans. A third option, a proposal by Dominion Energy to take over the management, but not the ownership, of Santee Cooper was also evaluated.Go to Article