Former SCANA CEO to spend at least 2 years in prison in nuclear fraud case

Former SCANA Corp. CEO Kevin Marsh will spend at least two years in federal prison after pleading guilty to defrauding investors over the $9 billion V.C. Summer nuclear expansion project in South Carolina.

In November 2020, Marsh entered into a plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of South Carolina and the State of South Carolina in which the former executive agreed to "plead guilty to an information charging conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud" during the financial collapse of the nuclear units. (United States of America v. Kevin Marsh, Case No. 3:20-727)

"With the guilty plea, Marsh admits that he intentionally defrauded ratepayers, while he oversaw and managed the company's operations — including the construction of two reactors at the V.C. Summer Nuclear Station — so that SCANA could obtain and retain rate increases imposed on SCANA's customers and qualify for up to $2.2 billion in tax credits," U.S. Attorney Peter McCoy Jr. said in a Feb. 24 news release.

"Today's plea shows that no one, not even a Fortune 500 CEO, is above the law," McCoy said.

Marsh faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison, which could be reduced to two years based on his cooperation in ongoing federal and state investigations, along with a fine of up to $250,000 and up to three years of probation.

Under the terms of the agreement, Marsh also will forfeit $5 million for his role in the failure of the nuclear project in 2017.

Stephen Byrne, former executive vice president of SCANA, in July 2020 pleaded guilty to fraud as part of the yearslong investigation into the scrapped reactors. Byrne could face up to five years in federal prison and is out on bond.

Richmond, Va.-headquartered Dominion Energy Inc. acquired SCANA and its utility subsidiary, South Carolina Electric & Gas Co. now Dominion Energy South Carolina Inc., amid the fallout from the decision to abandon the V.C. Summer project in Fairfield County, S.C.