City nets $5 million in power plant deal - Local / Metro - TheState.com

Adam Beam

"Lockhart Power, one of four investor-owned utilities in the state, pledged to spend $3.5 million upgrading the plant at the mouth of the Columbia Canal behind EdVenture and the State Museum. The renovations should be complete within 18 months, according to Bryan Stone, Lockhart’s chief operating officer.
Lockhart will operate the plant while Columbia sells the power back to SCE&G. Lockhart keeps 81 percent of the money while the city keeps 19 percent.
“The more (power) they make, the more they get and the more we keep,” Gantt said.
Columbia has owned the plant since 2002, when SCE&G passed it to Columbia as part of a deal that also transferred ownership of the metro Columbia bus system to the Central Midlands Regional Transit Authority. SCE&G continued to operate the plant, giving Columbia a $1 million credit yearly on its power bill, which the city then used to help pay for the bus system."