Santee Cooper: Here We Go Again

GOVERNOR’S OFFICE RUMORED TO BE LOOKING AT PRIVATIZING STATE UTILITY … AGAIN

FITSNews - June 28, 2007 - Off the front-burner for nearly two years, S.C. Gov. Mark Sanford may be renewing his push to privatize the state-owned public utility Santee Cooper, sources tell FITSNews.

Several legislators say they have overheard Sanford policy advisor Scott English dangle the prospect of a renewed gubernatorial push to privatize the agency recently, with English allegedly citing as evidence the strong showing by privatization advocate and former Santee Cooper board member Paul Campbell in a GOP Senate primary earlier this month.

The brainchild of English and S.C. First Lady Jenny Sanford, privatizing Santee Cooper makes good taxpayer sense. Government should no more be in the electricity business than the school bus, town festival or port management businesses. Of course, the governor got his clock cleaned on the issue in 2005 when e-mails surfaced showing that his office secretly orchestrated a study to determine the value of the agency after previously denying any gubernatorial involvement.

Comments

By Anonynous on June 28th, 2007 at 2:50 pm

Santee Cooper should be privatized. Their proposal to build a new coal plant is abhorrent given the recognition of companies like Duke power, Progress Energy, and Southern Company that dirty coal is the way of the past. Conservation and efficiency stand to save more money than the proposed plant. Sell it off! They have a long history of regulatory and environmental screw ups.