Start the bidding on Sparkleberry Swamp

[JABIII]

http://www.thestate.com/news/politic...196973694.html

[Silentweapon338]

All I can think of is Duct Tape posting what his son said about selling the lake!

[thawhacker]

All I can think of is Duct Tape posting what his son said about selling the lake!

What is that under
Haven’t read that but want to now
Can you get a link

[Silentweapon338]

I'm on a phone to hard to look it up, but I think it was under Question for Duck Tape, or Santee Shake up if I recall correctly.

[scquackaddict]

No no and no. They own some beautiful properties that are public grounds and I hope that it stays that way

[Strick9]

There are talks of the State retaining all WMA lands around both lakes if a sell does indeed transpire. This is a must in my opine and needs to be pushed by everyone of us.

[Timsmith]

How many trailer parks can be built around it ? If it sells to the right person that may be what y’all get.


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[thunderchicken]

Wonder if SNWR properties falls under the sales list?

[Bigtimber2]

5k acres of the SNWR is federally owned. The other 10k is leased to SC by Santee . I imagine the two thirds leased to the SC Public Service Authority could be broken if they sell. Hopefully, a new buyer would honor the current leases.

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[Phone Man]

Ill tresspass like hell if they close sparkleberry. They will have to catch me and when i save up to pay the fine again, ill be back in there again.

[JBtflo]

A few select homes in certain locations will bring yardage restrictions into play in some previously open areas.

[Beauregard]

Wouldn't any place you can get to in a boat would still be considered Waters of the US? There is still an operational navigation lock that the Corps won't allow to be shut down. Recreational opportunities would have to be maintained in accordance with the FERC license.

[willyworm]

“Santee Cooper has been, in most cases, a fairly good steward of that land...

Huh? Excuse me? Fairly is being a bit generous for a barren lake and the all the carp that swim in it.

[Silentweapon338]

In comparison to some of the other lakes that are totally recreational, and have no "wild areas" due to subdivisions being built on every single inch of dirt.

Y'all would've it be one big swamp which was never reasonable and less and less desirable for the masses as time goes by. Santee has done a wonderful job balancing wildlife, utility needs, and recreation.

I pray you never get to see I'm right. It is truly something special.

[Duck Tape]

Don’t Sell the Lakes

Several years ago my two sons and I were driving to one of the Santee Cooper Lakes for a day of boating. I noticed a billboard on the side of the road and read it to my boys. It said, “Alfred Kelly sells the lake”. I told my young boys we may as well turn around because the lake was sold. I still remember their question in disbelief, “He can’t sell it can he Daddy”?

By now I am sure most South Carolinians have heard about the financial and construction problems affecting the nuclear project in Fairfield County.
SCE&G and Santee Cooper are partners in the project that ceased when the Westinghouse, the contractor, declared bankruptcy.

In 2007 SCE&G lawyers drafted proposed legislation allowing power companies to recover the cost of new generation facilities before they were finished. Traditionally, power companies could not ask the Public Service Commission for rate increases until the plant was working. The cost to build a new generator is added into the rate you pay for electricity. The lobbyists said consumers would save money in the long run because they would not have to pay for the cost of bonds.

Nearly the entire General Assembly voted for the legislation now known as the Base Load Review Act. As a freshman legislator I share some blame since I voted for it. I should have asked the lobbyists what the repercussions were if the project was not completed?

What I have learned is the Act also shifted the risk to the consumer. The shift not only let shareholders off the hook, it rewarded cost overruns by increasing the book value of the company.

Had the nuclear plant been completed on budget this legislation would have saved ratepayers hundreds of millions of dollars in interest payments. As we now know, the plant is not on budget and may never get finished.

The legislature must added language to protect ratepayers against project failures. You should not have to pay for something you will never get benefit from. Affected ratepayers are justifiably angry and are demanding to know what happened.

Most of the blame, I suspect, will fall on the contractor Westinghouse for failing to support the project during construction. Westinghouse will pay only a pittance through bankruptcy proceedings.

SCE&G and Santee Cooper management should have exercised more scrutiny before paying for the increased cost associated with construction delays and cost overruns. The project was plagued by work stoppages, burdensome regulations, inconsistent quality, increased cost of labor and materials, and cost of debt. SCE&G shareholders must be held responsible for the failed project.

No new nuclear units have been completed in the United States in 35 years. This means that the two incomplete units are a pivotal point for future development of nuclear energy in the United States. The failed projects may potentially cause the federal government to abandon nuclear energy as a carbon-free source of energy. A diversified energy portfolio is necessary for energy independence and for national security.

Santee Cooper owned 45% of the nuclear project with SCE&G. It is important to understand Santee did not need the 2007 Base Load Review Act to raise rates. The Santee Cooper board has the unilateral right to set rates for the state-owned utility. Because Santee Cooper does not have shareholders they present a whole different set of problems caused by the failure and will require a different approach to solutions.

At a minimum, Santee Cooper’s rates should be reviewed and approved by the South Carolina Public Service Commission, SCPSC. This politically appointed commission is staffed by career professionals with the skills and experience necessary to ensure rates are fair and reasonable.

To ensure public confidence, the SCPSC’s handling of the recent nuclear rate requests should be reviewed to ensure that the commissions own internal policies were strictly followed and their decisions were not influenced from the outside. This review should also determine if the commission has the tools and staff necessary to provide on-going reviews of active projects. This state agency should be an active and integral part of preventing a reoccurrence of the existing problems.


Reviewing Santee Cooper’s rate requests does not address the current situation. Being a non-profit, state-owned agency, Santee Cooper does not have shareholders to provide financial relief like SCE&G does. The state is responsible outstanding bonds. It is an uncomfortable reality that South Carolina must seriously consider selling Santee Cooper, a once valuable tool of economic development.


Even with its tax-free and non-profit status, Santee Cooper’s rates have lost their competitive edge. However, selling Santee Cooper outright does not make their problem go away. There is a very real chance that the net value of Santee Cooper is under water, pun intended. This means the state may have to kick-in additional money just to take it off our hands. We must insure that rates do not rise with any proposal.

It is likely that selling the individual pieces of Santee Cooper’s assets will yield the most value. The major assets are its distribution system and customer base, its mostly coal-based generation system, their share of the transmission grid and their property holdings. It is this last piece that concerns me most.

Santee Cooper owns and manages Lake Marion and Moultrie. The five counties surrounding the two lakes generate more than $500 million annually in economic impact for South Carolina. Conversely, the hydroelectric generation from the lakes makes up just 2% of Santee’s total energy. This means the lakes are worth far more to South Carolina than the just hydroelectric generation.

The recreational activities and bountiful natural resources of Lake Marion and Moultrie are what make South Carolina a great place to live. Even with Santee Cooper’s financial problems, we should not be so shortsighted as to allow these economically and environmentally valuable assets to be sold to the highest bidder. These resources must be owned and managed by the state.

Getting back to my boys on the boating trip, I don’t want South Carolinians to look at me one day and ask in disbelief, why did they sell the lake? Our lakes should not be for sale.


Representative Phillip Lowe

[Tuffy]

We should have taken steps to "zone" parts of the lake and encouraged Santee NWR and DNR to assume some additional area responsibilities while we had the chance. Those possibilities are being overwhelmed now.

[beanhunter]

Assuming responsibility...

Tell a dead horse to walk another 100 yards.

[JABIII]

Buy a few islands in the swamp. Build a couple hundred rustic boat houses, tree houses, etc. AirBNB 'em to paddlers, profit...

[Catdaddy]

We should have taken steps to "zone" parts of the lake and encouraged Santee NWR and DNR to assume some additional area responsibilities while we had the chance. Those possibilities are being overwhelmed now.

That was discussed but the Sumter crowd threw a hissy fit.

[turbo]

That was discussed but the Sumter crowd threw a hissy fit.

Imagine that...