No one has yet accused Public Service Commissioners of any wrongdoing.
But 4 commissioners over 5 years accepted more than $90,000 in trips and meals paid in part by utility trade groups, records show.
Several of them have ties to those the PSC regulates.
And 2 commissioners who are expected to leave the PSC when their terms expire June 30 are scheduled to take 1 or more out-of-state trips before then.
From 2014 to 2018, the 4 commissioners – John “Butch” Howard, Swain Whitfield, O’Neal Hamilton and chairman Randy Randall – accepted more than $90,000 in trips and meals.
Commissioners attend educational programs to stay up to date on the industries they regulate. And they are well paid for this.
Lawmakers have raised commissioners’ pay to $132,071 annually and the chairman’s to $133,982.
Lawmakers also elect the 7 commissioners nominated by a legislatively-controlled panel called the Public Utilities Review Committee.
This way lawmakers exert control over the regulation of utilities such as Dominion Energy and Blue Granite Water in Lexington County.
After the 2017 collapse of a $9 billion nuclear project, the integrity of the PSC has been in question for approving 9 rate hikes that cost SC Electric & Gas ratepayers more than $2 billion.
The increases were made possible by a state law which lawmakers quietly approved.
Annual income-disclosure statements filed with the State Ethics Commission show chairman Randall and commissioners Howard, Whitfield and Hamilton took multiple trips to events sponsored by the Washington, D.C.-based National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners.
Howard and Hamilton have been members of NARUC’s board of directors.
State comptroller general records show that from fiscal 2008 to this month, the PSC paid NARUC a total of $359,987, while the state Office of Regulatory Staff and the SC Senate and House paid $25,929, $7,185 and $4,525, respectively.
ORS spokesman Ron Aiken said the amounts paid to NARUC since fiscal 2008 were the “costs we paid for training courses.”
Commissioners Randall, Howard, Whitfield and Hamilton failed to respond to written questions about their out-of-state trips.
Brundrett is the news editor of The Nerve. Contact him at 803-254-4411 or rick@thenerve.org .