State Lawmakers Pass Corporate Welfare Legislation

Columbia, S.C.- Lawmakers passed House Bill 3309on the second-to-last day of session, omnibus legislation that favors financially healthy monopoly electric utilities and tech companies - like Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and Meta - over hard-working South Carolinians.

House Bill 3309 fails to hold utility companies accountable for implementing effective energy efficiency programs that would save consumers money. It also enables Duke Energy and Dominion to charge existing customers for the transmission infrastructure required to power energy-hungry data centers, and erodes eminent domain protections for private landowners in favor of new gas pipelines.

The bill further encourages the development of so-called "small modular nuclear reactors" (SMRs)-despite a disastrous track record. Utility customers are still paying for the $9 billion failure of the VC Summer nuclear project, which never produced a single kilowatt of electricity and led to criminal convictions. Meanwhile, the flagship SMR project in Idaho was scrappeddue to severe delays and runaway costs.

The House and Senate played legislative ping pong with different versions of House Bill 3309, but in the end, the ultimate winners were monopoly utilities and tech companies. The Senate initially amended the bill to include ratepayer protections. Rather than concur, the House stripped those protections and sent the weakened bill back to the other chamber. The Senate ultimately caved, passing a version that prioritizes powerful utility and tech interests over South Carolinians.

The legislation is now on Governor McMaster's desk, awaiting his decision.

Statement from Paul Black, Carolinas Senior Beyond Coal Campaign Organizer with the Sierra Club:

"The legislation represents a massive transfer of wealth from millions of hard-working South Carolinians to financially healthy monopoly electric utilities and tech companies. It's unbelievable that lawmakers are sending us back down the same road that led us to the VC Summer money-for-nothing quagmire while gutting energy efficiency goals that utilities themselves know are the cleanest, safest, and cheapest way to meet energy demand.

"Adding insulation and plugging leaks in homes is not much different than putting a patch on a bike or car tire that's leaking. You'll get farther by plugging the leaks, and this legislation weakens these affordable resources for South Carolinians while at the same time incentivizing the most expensive and financially risky to build power plants.

"Energy affordability is not a game, but lawmakers treated it like one. Energy affordability is critical to keep families in their homes, enabling children to do well in school and setting communities throughout our state up for success. I'm thankful that Senators Campsen, Massy, Martin, and Isaac Devine raised critical concerns about the bill's rushed decision-making, lack of transparency, and risks to ratepayers that will have consequences for years to come."

About the Sierra Club

The Sierra Club is America's largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.