Current, former executives at SC utility refuse to testify

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Four current and former executives from South Carolina's state-owned utility did not come to a Senate meeting Tuesday discussing whether to sell the business on the advice of their lawyers, Santee Cooper's new CEO said.

It was a stark reminder that as lawmakers consider whether to sell Santee Cooper, plenty of other problems — including potential criminal charges — remain unresolved in South Carolina's nuclear debacle.

And two weeks of hearings by the House and Senate over whether to trust Santee Cooper to reform itself, sell it to NextEra Energy of Florida or have Dominion Energy of Virginia manage it have revealed there aren't any easy answers for what could be a $9.5 billion question.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Hugh Leatherman opened his committee's Tuesday meeting by mentioning several Santee Cooper employees he wanted to testify under oath.

Those include Michael Crosby, senior vice president of nuclear energy, and Marion Cherry, the utility's on-site manager when the construction of two nuclear reactors that Santee Cooper held a minority share in fell apart after the utility spent $4 billion. Both remain with the company.

Santee Cooper CEO Mark Bonsall said both men were told not to testify to protect their constitutional rights. Criminal investigations into Santee Cooper and its private partner in the failed nuclear project, SCANA Corp., continue. Dominion Energy bought SCANA last year.

Leatherman, a Florence Republican, also wanted to hear from former Santee Cooper CEO Lonnie Carter and former board chairman Leighton Lord, who refused to testify. Santee Cooper is paying for lawyers for all of the men.

The Tuesday meeting was the Senate Finance Committee's fourth as it faces a mid-March deadline to send its recommendation on...