In the fall, this media reported on the efforts of the chairman of the South Carolina Senate judiciary committee Luke Rankin to take revenge on those who opposed him during the June 2020 primary elections.
Rankin – a former “Democrat” recently named the most liberal member of the SC General Assembly – defeated the Republican challenger John Gallman in a run-off election to win an eighth four-year term in Senate SC, District 33 (.pdf).
“The drama between Rankin and his list of enemies is just beginning … with a ‘major offensive’ planned for the start of the new year,” we wrote.
Rankin took a leap in that offensive yesterday, launching an attack on the Florida utility company NextEra Energy – the largest energy company in the country. NextEra presented the main offer last February to buy the public service atrociously administered by the state government of Palmetto Santee Cooper – which helped put South Carolina taxpayers into billions of dollars in debt thanks to their involvement in the now notorious NukeGate fiasco.
With Rankin acting as its main facilitator, Santee Cooper and his fellow capitalist SCANA were allowed to increase consumer energy rates as they built a pair of next-generation pressurized water reactors at the VC Summer nuclear power station in Fairfield County in 2016 and 2017, respectively.
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Despite a large disbursement of money, this project was abandoned on July 31, 2017, with the reactors only in half – leaving taxpayers holding the bag to the sound of $ 10 billion. Shortly thereafter, it was revealed that SCANA and Santee Cooper executives knew the project was doomed – but they lied to regulators and the public to keep the joy train moving.
A former SCANA executive has pleaded guilty to criminal charges in federal court related to the deception, and the company’s former executive director Kevin Marsh he is expected to plead guilty shortly.
In addition to lying to the public, Santee Cooper also cheated his investors about this project – the collapse of which caused the state company’s debt to rise to almost $ 7.5 billion.
Santee Cooper leaders have argued that they can deal with this wave of red paint through a “reform” plan – however, as we documented over the past year, almost all of the assumptions associated with that plan have crumbled.
(Click to view)
(Via: High Flyer SC)
Where does Rankin fit into this fiasco? Everywhere …
First, Rankin was one of the main sponsors of the constitutionally dubious “Basic Cargo Review Law” – which put Palmetto state taxpayers on the hook for billions of dollars in construction costs related to NukeGate.
In addition to socializing the investment risk for this failed project, Rankin was (and is) a member of the state’s Public Utility Review Commission (PURC) – which should protect consumers by overseeing the political nominees chosen to regulate the energy sector (and specifically the VC Summer project).
Clearly, it failed spectacularly on that front …
In addition, Rankin was (and is) on the panel responsible for selecting nominations for Santee Cooper’s board of directors … which we will cover in more detail shortly.
In other words, Rankin not only led this economic disaster – he was one of the few legislators who led him through the process of legislative and regulatory oversight (a process that Santee Cooper continues to abuse).
Incredibly, when NukeGate imploded in July 2017, Rankin somehow ended up on the panel “investigating” the disaster.
We rejected his nomination at the time, noting that “the purpose of this legislative charade is not to find the truth, it is to continue to cover it up”.
This week, Rankin launched a final offer aimed at preventing Santee Cooper from being transferred to the private sector – initiating an investigation into NextEra that he hopes to discover to what extent the Juno Beach-based company has hired lobbyists and political strategists to advance its agenda.
Except this isn’t really the goal of Rankin’s investigation …
The motivation behind this investigation is crystal clear: Rankin is desperate to take the focus off Santee Cooper, who has been mired in scandal after scandal in recent months – earning the ire of an increasing number of legislative leaders in the process.
Rankin also wants to divert the public’s focus on the issues of Santee Cooper’s own lobbyist … and the costs they continue to accrue on taxpayers and taxpayers.
More importantly, however, Rankin hopes that this investigation will cause lawmakers to ignore the fact that almost all of the assumptions associated with Santee Cooper’s so-called “reform plan” have collapsed.
Ultimately, this is what it is all about …
Rankin and Santee Cooper must be careful, however.
In addition to the breathtaking hypocrisy associated with their leading roles in this multi-billion dollar economic disaster – and the sheer boldness they are exhibiting in assuming they have something to do with the future management of this now toxic asset – Rankin and his Santee Cooper’s allies may be opening up to more specific issues.
To begin with, Rankin has personal financial ties to Santee Cooper board members.
In addition, Santee Cooper chairman of the board Dan Ray contributed the maximum amount allowed by state law for Rankin and at least two other members of his subcommittee – Larry Grooms and Stephen Goldfinch.
That’s right … Ray made campaign donations to the legislators themselves charged with overseeing their agency (and, in this case, your appointment as a board member). And by donating to Rankin, leader Santee Cooper covered the pockets of a lawmaker who sits on the committee that oversees his entire sector.
Seriously … and do these government-subsidized thugs have the audacity to suggest that others deserve scrutiny?
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As was the case after the NukeGate implosion, three and a half years ago, it seems to us that Rankin is the one who needs to be investigated … not doing the investigation.
Which brings us to our final point: sources familiar with yesterday’s hearing in Columbia, SC, tell us that there is serious concern among Rankin’s allies that their revenge against NextEra will open the door to an undesirable examination of their own financial activities.
“Nobody wants this fight,” a state senator told us, citing half a dozen lawmakers who are said to have direct links to specific interests in the energy sector.
Another lawmaker from the state’s coastal region told us that several interests that supported Rankin’s reelection in 2020 were seriously concerned about the line of investigation he was opening.
“This sword cuts both sides,” said the senator.
-FITSNews
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Flag: Travis Bell, Columbia SC photographers