The Santee Cooper board of directors voted on March 22 to resolve four lawsuits, withdraw a coal-fired plant and approve a new tariff deal that will keep Century Aluminum’s Berkeley County smelter in operation for another three years.
The state utility will pay $ 2.8 million to close a class action filed in 2015 over a Pee Dee coal plant that it approved but never built. The real value of the $ 12.5 million settlement, which requires the approval of a judge in Horry County, will be offset by the $ 9.7 million that Santee Cooper will receive from an insurer that he sued in a separate, but related case. .
The two other lawsuits that were resolved at the four-hour council meeting in Pinópolis were filed by the city of Goose Creek and Century. No money will change hands under these agreements.
The Century dispute resolution allowed the board to approve a previously announced plan to continue providing electricity for the Metallurgy’s Mount Holly smelter until at least 2023.
The new contract goes into effect on April 1. It preserves some 300 existing jobs and the company said it hopes to add 70 more workers as production increases.
Last fall, the Chicago-based manufacturer warned employees that it would have to shut down Goose Creek smelter without a new energy deal.
“The Mount Holly plant is a model of efficiency in its industry, a major employer in this area and a good corporate citizen, and Santee Cooper is pleased to continue to drive its success,” said dealership CEO Mark Bonsall in a statement in writing.
A previously released plan to retire the four coal-fired units at the Winyah Generating Station in Georgetown County by the end of 2027 has also been formally approved by the end of 2027. New regulations require that they be closed by the end of 2028, said Santee Cooper.
Contact John McDermott at 843-937-5572 or follow him on Twitter at @byjohnmcdermott