South Carolina Electric & Gas Company (SCE&G), principal subsidiary of SCANA Corporation, announced today that it will cease construction of the two new nuclear units at V.C. Summer and will promptly file a petition with the Public Service Commission of South Carolina seeking approval of its abandonment plan.

SCANA Chairman and CEO, Kevin Marsh, said, “We arrived at this very difficult but necessary decision following months of evaluating the project from all perspectives to determine the most prudent path forward. Many factors outside our control have changed since inception of this project. Chief among them, the bankruptcy of our primary construction contractor, Westinghouse, eliminated the benefits of the fixed-price contract to our customers, investors, and other stakeholders. Ultimately, our project co-owner Santee Cooper’s decision to suspend construction made clear that proceeding on our own would not be economically feasible. Ceasing work on the project was our least desired option, but this is the right thing to do at this time.”

Normal construction activities at the site will cease immediately and efforts will be shifted toward an orderly transition of winding down and securing the project property.  SCE&G plans to use the anticipated payments of $2.2 Billion resulting from the settlement of Toshiba’s guaranty to mitigate cost impacts to SCE&G electric customers.