Feds subpoena developer behind canceled SC nuclear plant

The Securities and Exchange Commission has issued a subpoena to the developer of a canceled nuclear plant project in South Carolina.

Scana Corp., whose subsidiary was developing the V.C. Summer nuclear project with a state-run corporation, announced the subpoena in a statement on Tuesday.

The company said it intends to “fully cooperate with the investigation.”

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South Carolina Electric & Gas Co., the Scana subsidiary, and Santee Cooper announced in July that they would suspend efforts to build the $14 billion V.C. Summer nuclear plant northwest of Columbia, S.C.

Developers said the bankruptcy of lead contractor Westinghouse was behind the decision, as well as cost overruns and construction delays.

Federal and state officials are conducting a criminal investigation into the project, the two developers have said. In September, shares of Scana dropped to their lowest level in two years in light of the federal government’s probe. 

Scana and Santee Cooper applied to build the new nuclear units in 2008. Slowing energy demand and low natural gas prices put pressure on the project, as did Westinghouse’s bankruptcy last year, the developers say.