Perceptions

Fact: Our retail electric rates are actually below the national average, according to the most recent Edison Electric Institute Typical Bills and Average Rates Report. We work hard to manage our costs to help keep your costs as reasonable as possible.

Fact: SCE&G is a regulated utility. This means that any time we need to make a change to our rates – an increase or decrease – we must get approval from the S.C. Public Service Commission. Filing a rate application requires an extensive process that lasts for months and involves many people and thousands of pages of information, as well as a public hearing before the PSC.

Fact: Executive compensation is just a small fraction of our rate structure. In fact, completely eliminating the salaries of all of our corporate officers would only reduce customer rates by less than 3/10 of 1 percent – about a penny a day for a customer using 1,000-kWh a month.

Fact: Whether it’s a major investment in federally mandated environmental upgrades or the cost of building a new power plant, we sell stock and issue bonds that provide the money necessary to pay for these projects on the front end.

When we have a rate case, we’re asking for recovery of the true costs we’ve incurred along with a fair and reasonable rate of return. If we don’t get a fair rate of return, we can’t pay a competitive dividend to our shareholders or a good interest rate on our bonds. If we can’t pay competitive dividends or interest rates, shareholders and bond holders take their money elsewhere. If we can’t attract shareholders and bond holders, we can’t finance projects like these, whether they’re required by law or necessary to continue providing customers with reliable power. Without the financial support of shareholders and bondholders, the overall costs of our services would rise substantially for our customers.

Fact: As a regulated public utility, we must follow strict guidelines on how we pass along costs to our customers. At the same time, we have a legal obligation to serve all customers in our assigned service territory. Meeting that obligation requires that we continue building and maintaining our system to meet the growing energy needs of our customers.

The Public Service Commission oversees all aspects of our business and allows us to recover from customers our prudently incurred costs. The Commission monitors the reliability of our service, the prudency of the investments we must make to serve you reliably and in compliance with all relevant laws and regulations, as well as the level of earnings for shareholders who invest in our company. We cannot adjust our prices without Commission approval.

Fact: At SCE&G, we are not only your energy provider, we are your neighbor. The communities where we deliver energy are very important to all of us – as a company and as individuals. Not only do our employees volunteer their time and energy to various charitable groups, but SCE&G also makes corporate contributions to eligible charitable organizations within our electric and natural gas service area.

We’re also committed to helping customers reduce their energy use, which then reduces their energy bills. We offer free in-home energy check-ups and a number of other programs to help you learn about your energy use and ways to use less. We also have an EnergyWise blog where we post tips on how to reduce your energy usage.

And, we also know there are times when our customers have difficulty paying their bills. That’s why we offer a variety of programs designed to accommodate the unique needs of our diverse range of customers. From Budget Billing to short-term payment arrangements, we have a number of programs available to help you. The first step is calling us at 1-800-251-7234.