By admin 
The S.C. Public Service Commission refused Thursday to overturn its decision approving a huge natural gas plant in Colleton County, dismissing a complaint that the utility board did not fully consider the environmental impacts of the more than $5 billion plant.
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Commissioners voted unanimously against a request to reconsider their recent decision to grant a certificate that utilities need to build the proposed natural gas plant at Canadys. The commission did not debate the matter before denying the June 29 reconsideration request by two property owners.
In making a motion to deny the request, Commissioner Mike Caston said the PSC “thoroughly addressed’’ the matter, despite questions about environmental impacts. Caston said the PSC followed its duties under state law. He also said there is a “reasonable assurance’’ the plant will follow state and local laws.
The commission’s action was no surprise, but it sets the stage for a potential direct appeal to the S.C. Supreme Court. By law, the Supreme Court can hear such cases, but only after the PSC has decided not to reconsider a decision.
“It’s clear from the evidence, notwithstanding the Public Service Commission’s vote today, that there wasn’t in fact any environmental analysis conducted’’ under the law allowing the plant to be sited, said Will Cook, an attorney for the property owners. “That amounts to an error of law we’d like to ask the Supreme Court to address.’’
Cook argued that the commission didn’t look closely enough at how the plant would affect the air, water and wetlands around the facility. The facility is in the area of the ACE Basin, a vast nature preserve that extends across the state’s southern coastal plain.
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The Canadys natural gas plant would generate about 2,200 megawatts, an amount of energy that rivals any produced at South Carolina’s largest power plants. It is being developed jointly by state-owned Santee Cooper and Dominion Energy at the site of a now closed coal-fired power plant in the Canadys community.
Landowners John Burbage and Lauren V. Moody Stanfill contended the PSC accepted broad conclusions that the plant would not hurt the environment, instead of using more detailed analyses of the effects of burning natural gas at Canadys. Major concerns included how pollution would affect air quality and the ACE Basin. A pipeline with its own environmental impacts is proposed to serve the plant.
Their request for reconsideration followed a 2025 Harvard University report that the Canadys plant would release 164 tons of fine particulate matter, or soot, each year. That can be hazardous to people’s health, worsening certain ailments and making breathing more difficult when the tiny particles are embedded in people’s lungs. The Harvard report said the pollution would affect South Carolina, Georgia and Florida.
Boosters of the Canadys plant say it is needed to meet future energy needs, including growth in rapidly developing South Carolina. It is to be built as efforts also are underway to resurrect a partially completed nuclear power project in Fairfield County, and as efforts are underway to develop or expand natural gas plants in other parts of the state, including in Anderson County. While supporters say the plants are needed, critics say chunks of the power could be used by energy-hungry data centers, rather than through normal growth.
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