McMaster signs Santee Cooper bill, pushes for utility sale

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster still wants to sell state-owned utility Santee Cooper after signing into law a bill to overhaul the company.

McMaster’s signature Tuesday was mostly symbolic. Lawmakers sent him a veto-proof reform proposal that kicks nine of 10 members off the utility’s board and gives regulators more power over rates and future power generation plans.

Legislators decided a sale was off the table because there were no interested buyers left.

The utility’s future has been uncertain since 2017, when construction of two nuclear reactors in which the utility was a minority partner stopped before completion, leaving the company billions of dollars in debt.