2023-24 Environmental Policy Advocacy

2023-24 Environmental Policy Advocacy

2023-24 Legislative Advocacy

The LWVSC Board od Directors determines statewide legislative priorities grounded in the good governance issues that are at the heart of the League of Women Voters. 

The League remains focused intensively on its Making Democracy Work (MDW) campaign: voting and elections, redistricting, and opposition to constitutional convention resolutions. The League, as always, will attempt to advocate on all bills falling within our areas of interest as defined in state and national policies. Follow our latest Making Democracy Work (MDW) Network Updates to organizations that share our interests. 

Reference: LWVSC Environmental Policy Positions/Issues

LWVSC Bills of Interest

2023-24 LWVSC Bills of Interest

Utility Regulation

Senate Special Committee on South Carolina's Energy Future

CEOs of Dominion, Santee Cooper, and Duke Energy made it clear that they want South Carolina to abandon important elements of the system of utility regulation established after the V.C. Summer collapse. The utilities are now seeking to replace effective protections enacted then with a very weak regulatory regime, a new version of the Base Load Review Act (BLRA), an increased ROI, and a lot of personal trust.

We ask that the committee develop a bill that will continue our current evidence-based regulatory system that so wisely fosters development of a sound energy industry in South Carolina while protecting users from the potential abuses of a monopoly system.

We also ask that the committee take up the issue of data centers and crypto currency. We are not asking that they be prohibited in South Carolina, but that legislation ensure that they pay the full cost of generating and delivering their energy, as well as standard tax rates without special waivers.
 
H.5118 and S.909 Rollback of public protections in utility regulation
H.5118 follows in that tradition of regulatory capture, depending on utilities to voluntarily give adequate attention to the interests of the public instead of focusing on their shareholders and their own interests. We are deeply concerned about the rollback of consumer protections of rate payers and urge this committee to reject this bill.