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A panel of South Carolina senators is poised to spend the next few months debating critical energy issues ahead of the upcoming 2025-2026 session of the S.C. General Assembly.
Selected by S.C. Senate president Thomas Alexander, the newly formed eleven-member panel will be led by majority leader Shane Massey and retiring former Democratic leader Nikki Setzler. Other members of the panel include state senators Tom Davis, Wes Climer, Chip Campsen, Gerald Malloy and Luke Rankin.
Rankin, as our readers are aware, is in the midst of a fight to retain his role as chairman of the chamber’s judiciary committee – which typically handles issues involving energy policy and public utilities.
While the new panel has yet to announce any scheduled hearing dates, it is expected to begin its work sometime in August in the hopes of building legislative consensus on the Palmetto State’s pressing need for additional power generation – as well as its long-overdue efforts to streamline permitting for new energy infrastructure.
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As previously noted, a major misinformation campaign was waged in South Carolina this year by eco-radical interests aimed at shutting down any new, non-renewable energy sources – and blocking permitting reform to keep future projects bottled up.
To his credit, S.C. speaker Murrell Smith has been aggressively pushing new capacity and permitting reform at the State House. In addition to green-lighting new natural gas infrastructure, Smith’s latest legislation would have established specific timelines for the S.C. Public Service Commission (SCPSC) and other permitting agencies to rule on applications for future energy projects – while establishing a streamlined process by which all future appeals went straight to the S.C. supreme court.
Smith’s legislation cleared both chambers of the legislature this year, but differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill could not be reconciled in time at the conference committee level – meaning the bill failed to reach the desk of governor Henry McMaster.
At the time, Massey vowed to take up these issues during lawmakers’ “off-season” – and he and Alexander both deserve credit for staying true to their word.
Now … can they come up with a bill and get it through both chambers next year?
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Let’s hope so. The Palmetto State’s power grid was pushed to its breaking point just nineteen months ago, and demand is only increasing as the state’s population surges.
How can this surging demand be met in an environmentally friendly way if renewables aren’t coming online fast enough? More to the point, can the state rely on a grid that requires the sun to be shining – or the wind to be blowing – 24/7/365 in order to generate the requisite power?
As I have consistently pointed out, natural gas has been the real hero in reducing carbon emissions in the United States in recent years – which is one reason I support our country acquiring more of it (and making it more readily available) as we continue to transition away from dirtier-burning sources like coal. Also, the more South Carolina expands its natural gas infrastructure, the more incentive providers will have to route additional pipeline infrastructure to our state.
As I’ve frequently argued, connecting the Palmetto State to key natural gas arteries is essential to our energy future -as is exploring offshore energy sources.
The clock is ticking, obviously. Lawmakers will convene in Columbia, S.C. following the November elections to set rules for their respective chambers, assign committees and submit pre-filed legislation. The next regular session of the S.C. General Assembly is scheduled to gavel to order in January 2025.
Barring any surprises at the ballot box, Republicans will retain supermajorities in both the House and the Senate – although as we have frequently noted this bright red partisan hue does not always (or even often) translate into conservative policies.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …
Will Folks is the owner and founding editor of FITSNews. Prior to founding his own news outlet, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina, bass guitarist in an alternative rock band and bouncer at a Columbia, S.C. dive bar. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.
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