F.C.C. Inquiry for ‘Our Little Genius,’ Planned Fox Game Show - NYTimes.com

F.C.C. Inquiry for ‘Our Little Genius,’ Planned Fox Game Show - NYTimes.com:

"Section 508 of the Communications Act of 1934 makes it illegal for anyone to give, with the intent to deceive the viewing or listening public, assistance that will affect the outcome of a “purportedly bona fide contest of intellectual knowledge or intellectual skill.” That issue was behind the quiz show scandals of the 1950s."

Ethics reforms for PSC long overdue - St. Petersburg Times

Ethics reforms for PSC long overdue - St. Petersburg Times:

A Times Editorial, February 19, 2010

"Senate Bill 1034 would finally embrace a 1992 statewide grand jury recommendation that the quasi-judicial agency work more like the courts.

The bill, as amended Tuesday in the Senate Rules Committee 17-1, would ban all ex parte communications between the utilities and the commissioners and their staff during rate setting and rulemaking. It also would require all communication between the parties be documented. Anyone caught violating the law — including utilities and their employees — would face punishment. For utilities the fine could be hefty: up to one-tenth of 1 percent of their annual operating revenue.

The bill also would increase from two years to four years the time that commissioners and their staff are banned from working for a utility or its subsidiary after they leave the PSC. That should at least slow the revolving door between the industry and the agency."

49% Favor Building New Nuclear Plants - Rasmussen Reports™

49% Favor Building New Nuclear Plants - Rasmussen Reports™:

"In monthly surveys through all of last year, support for building more nuclear plants ranged from a low of 47% to a high of 58%. Opposition ranged from 25% to 35%.
But 66% of adults are at least somewhat concerned about the safety of nuclear power plants, including 33% who are very concerned. Another 33% are not very or not at all concerned about nuclear plant safety.
Forty-two percent (42%), in fact, think the billions in loan guarantees to help build new nuclear plants would be better spent on the development of alternative new energy sources. Thirty-two percent (32%) disagree, and 26% more are not sure"

Duke Energy CEO Says Power Industry Could See Merger Wave - Charlotte Business Journal

John Downey 

Senior staff write

"Rogers did not respond directly to a question about whether Duke would be interested in a merger. He has made Duke’s interest clear in the past, however, and said the company would be the buyer in any merger it’s involved in."

Clyburn backs energy loan plan

Repayments would go on co-op electric bills

BY YVONNE WENGER

"COLUMBIA -- U.S. House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn said Thursday he will try to sell an idea to Congress to allow South Carolina residents to take out loans to make their homes energy efficient and pay on the balance each month through their electric bills.

Clyburn said the proposal by the Electric Cooperatives of South Carolina is "revolutionary" and can be duplicated nationwide after it gets a test run in the state"

Rival utility nabs loan for new nuclear plant - Local/State - NewsObserver.com

Rival utility nabs loan for new nuclear plant - Local/State - NewsObserver.com:

BY JOHN MURAWSKI - STAFF WRITER

"North Carolina was once considered to be in the forefront of the nuclear renaissance, the potential site of the nation's first new nuclear plants in decades. But Tuesday, the Obama administration picked a site in Georgia to receive the country's first federal loan guarantee for nuclear development.

With the federal government backing $8.3 billion in loans, Southern Co. plans to build a pair of reactors at its Vogtle Electric Generating Plant east of Atlanta. The twin reactors, which would cost an estimated $14 billion, would be the first new nuclear units ordered in this country since the 1979 nuclear meltdown at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania"

Finlay warns of rate hikes - Breaking News - TheState.com

Finlay warns of rate hikes - Breaking News - TheState.com: "A firmly divided council is expected to cast a final vote this morning to create the controversial tax districts, one for North Columbia and one for USC's riverfront Innovista district."

VPSA takes over disputed water system | Aiken Standard | Aiken, SC

VPSA takes over disputed water system | Aiken Standard | Aiken, SC:

"The system's 550 customers will continue to be billed at the current rate until such time as VPSA can reduce them.

'The response has been pretty positive. Everybody was wanting a way out. Right now, we seem to be the good guys, but maybe that will change once we start tearing up people's yards (to upgrade and repair the lines),' Smith said.

The contractor hired to handle the upgrade work believes he can start next month. VPSA said the work will cost $17 million over a period of three years.

VPSA is asking for $7 million in grants from the Department of Agriculture, $3 million in loans and $2 million in stimulus funds to complete the work on the water lines."

Huffington Post - Malkia A. Cyril: A New Civil Rights Mandate: Champion Open Networks to Close the Digital Divide

Malkia A. Cyril: A New Civil Rights Mandate: Champion Open Networks to Close the Digital Divide:

"Now, the FCC is on the verge of calling broadband a universal service and unlocking the federal government's deep resources and rules to subsidize the build out of broadband networks to these constituencies. But, without enshrining the principles of an open Internet in that plan and a clear definition of how telecom companies should manage networks, the FCC runs the risk of allowing a discriminatory Internet system to thrive. Naturally, these telecom companies view such a plan as a threat, and would rather strip those protections from any regulation. Congress and the FCC represent the public, not private interests. That mandate suggests they must not cede the Internet -what FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn called the greatest communications advancement of our generation- to corporate greed. I applaud Commissioner Clyburn's position, and stand with her."

Candidates for SC PSC Districts 2, 4 and 6

The following persons have applied as candidates for the South Carolina Public Service Commission [source Public Utilities Review Committee News Release]:

DISTRICT 2:
 Bruce Kevin Cole (Columbia)
Robert Edward Milhous (Columbia) (may have withdrawn -Ed.)
William Everette Salley (Orangeburg)
David Austin Wright (Columbia) (incumbent)

DISTRICT 4:
Philip Tibbs Bradley (Greenville)
Charlene Carter-Groce (Greenville)
Elizabeth Burnett Fleming (Spartanburg) (incumbent)

DISTRICT 6:  (open seat)
James Beard, Jr. (Timmonsville)
Marvin Eugene Boyd (Kingstree)
Eddie Gene Elliott (Hemingway)
Kimberly Eileen Greene (Charleston)
Thomas Edward Grimes (Florence)
Nikiya Michele Hall (Columbia)
Martin Witt Huggins (Hemingway)
Henry N. Jenkins (Orangeburg)
Gary Brice Porth (Cameron)
Stephanie McLaughlin Rawlinson (Florence)
Robert Julius Reid (Charleston)