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South Carolina Electric & Gas Company Requests Update To Capital Cost Schedule For New Nuclear Units

^{Published on 2010-11-15 13:40:31 - Market Wire}
 

CAYCE, S.C.--([ BUSINESS WIRE ])--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 capital cost schedule for the construction of the companya™s new nuclear units.

"Wea™re simply specifying how we intend to use some of the dollars that originally were included in the contingency fund. Our project is still on schedule and within the cost projections initially approved by the PSC."

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 first unit is expected to be completed in 2016, the second in 2019, pending approval by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. SCE&Ga™s share of the project, as originally approved by the PSC, was $4.5 billion in 2007 dollars. Of this amount, approximately $438 million, or slightly less than 10 percent, represented contingency costs associated with the project.However, earlier this year the South Carolina Supreme Court ruled that 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. Todaya™s filing identifies currently known capital costs of $173.9 million that will be incurred during construction of the new nuclear units a" costs that previously were classified as contingency costs.

aThese are not additional costs related to the project, nor is this a request to raise customer rates,a said SCE&G President Kevin Marsh. aWea™re simply specifying how we intend to use some of the dollars that originally were included in the contingency fund. Our project is still on schedule and within the cost projections initially approved by the PSC.a

PROFILE

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. The Company serves approximately 660,000 electric customers in South Carolina and more than 1.2 million natural gas customers in South Carolina, North Carolina and Georgia. Information about SCANA and its businesses is available on the Companya™s website at [ www.scana.com ].

SAFE HARBOR STATEMENT

Statements included in this press release which are not statements of historical fact are intended to be, and are hereby identified as, aforward-looking statementsa for purposes of Section27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements concerning key earnings drivers, customer growth, environmental regulations and expenditures, leverage ratio, projections for pension fund contributions, financing activities, access to sources of capital, impacts of the adoption of new accounting rules and estimated construction and other expenditures. In some cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as amay,a awill,a acould,a ashould,a aexpects,a aforecasts,a aplans,a aanticipates,a abelieves,a aestimates,a aprojects,a apredicts,a apotentiala or acontinuea or the negative of these terms or other similar terminology. Readers are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve a number of risks and uncertainties, and that actual results could differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the following: (1) the information is of a preliminary nature and may be subject to further and/or continuing review and adjustment; (2) regulatory actions, particularly changes in rate regulation, regulations governing electric grid reliability and environmental regulations; (3) current and future litigation; (4) changes in the economy, especially in areas served by subsidiaries of SCANA Corporation (SCANA); (5) the impact of competition from other energy suppliers, including competition from alternate fuels in industrial interruptible markets; (6) growth opportunities for SCANAa™s regulated and diversified subsidiaries; (7) the results of short- and long-term financing efforts, including future prospects for obtaining access to capital markets and other sources of liquidity; (8) changes in SCANAa™s or its subsidiariesa™ accounting rules and accounting policies; (9) the effects of weather, including drought, especially in areas where the Companya™s generation and transmission facilities are located and in areas served by SCANA's subsidiaries; (10) payment by counterparties as and when due; (11) the results of efforts to license, site, construct and finance facilities for baseload electric generation; (12) the availability of fuels such as coal, natural gas and enriched uranium used to produce electricity; the availability of purchased power and natural gas for distribution; the level and volatility of future market prices for such fuels and purchased power; and the ability to recover the costs for such fuels and purchased power; (13) the availability of skilled and experienced human resources to properly manage, operate, and grow the Companya™s businesses; (14) labor disputes; (15) performance of SCANAa™s pension plan assets; (16) higher taxes; (17) inflation; (18) compliance with regulations; and (19) the other risks and uncertainties described from time to time in the periodic reports filed by SCANA or South Carolina Electric & Gas Company with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The Company disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements.