1. (A) The Public Service Authority has power to develop the Cooper River, the Santee River, and the Congaree River in this State, as instrumentalities of intrastate, interstate, and foreign commerce and navigation; to produce, distribute, and sell electric power; to acquire, treat, distribute, and sell water at wholesale; to reclaim and drain swampy and flooded lands; and to reforest the watersheds of rivers in this State; and also has all powers which may be necessary or convenient for the exercise of these powers including, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the following powers:

   1. (1) to have perpetual succession as a corporation;
   2. (2) to sue and be sued;
   3. (3) to adopt, use, and alter a corporate seal;
   4. (4) to acquire, purchase, hold, use, lease, mortgage, sell, transfer, and dispose of any property, real, personal, or mixed, or any interest therein;
   5. (5) to divert water from the Tail Race Canal by means of canals, flumes, or otherwise and to build, construct, maintain, and operate canals, dams, locks, aqueducts, reservoirs, draw-spans, ditches, drains, and roads, and to lay and construct any tunnels, penstocks, culverts, flumes, conduits, mains, and other pipes necessary or useful in connection therewith;
   6. (6) to divert waters from the Santee River by means of a canal or canals, flume or flumes, or otherwise, and to construct and maintain a dam of any height or size for the purpose of impounding said waters and to discharge the same into the Cooper River, or otherwise;
   7. (7) to build, acquire, construct, and maintain power houses and any and all structures, ways and means, necessary, useful or customarily used and employed in the manufacture, generation, and distribution of water power, steam electric power, hydroelectric power, and any and all other kinds of power, including power transmission lines, poles, telephone lines, substations, transformers, and generally all things used or useful in the manufacture, distribution, purchase, and sale of power generated by water, steam, or otherwise;
   8. (8) to manufacture, produce, generate, transmit, distribute, and sell water power, steam electric power, hydroelectric power, or mechanical power within and without the State of South Carolina;
   9. (9) to reclaim and drain swampy and flooded lands;
   10. (10) to reforest the watersheds of the Cooper, Santee, and Congaree Rivers and to prevent soil erosion and floods;
   11. (11) to make bylaws for the management and regulation of its affairs, including the establishment of subcommittees of the board of directors to include Finance and Audit, Public Information, Water Services and Resource Management, Generation and Power Supply Planning, and Executive and Governance, each of these making regular reports to the full board of directors at each regular meeting of the full board;
   12. (12) to select a chief executive officer for the Authority who shall cause the Authority to employ all necessary employees with the board, by vote, approving the compensation of any senior management official selected by the chief executive officer;
   13. (13) to fix, alter, charge, and collect tolls and other charges for the use of their facilities of, or for the services rendered by, or for any commodities furnished by, the Public Service Authority at rates to be determined by it, these rates to be at least sufficient to provide for payment of all expenses of the Public Service Authority, the conservation, maintenance, and operation of its facilities and properties, the payment of principal and interest on its notes, bonds, and other evidences of indebtedness or obligation, and to fulfill the terms and provisions of any agreements made with the purchasers or holders of any such notes, bonds, or other evidences of indebtedness or obligation;
   14. (14) as necessary to borrow money, make and issue negotiable notes, bonds, and other evidences of indebtedness including refunding and advanced refunding notes, bonds, and other evidences of indebtedness, of the Public Service Authority; to secure the payment of these obligations or any part of them by mortgage, lien, pledge, or deed of trust, on all or any of its property, contracts, franchises, or revenues including the proceeds of the refunding and advanced refunding notes, bonds, and other evidences of indebtedness and the investments in which these proceeds are invested and the earning on and income from them; to invest its monies including without limitation its revenues and the proceeds of these notes, bonds, or other evidences of indebtedness, in obligations of, or obligations the principal of and interest on which are guaranteed by or are fully secured by contracts with, the United States of America, in obligations of any agency, instrumentality, or corporation which has been or may be created by or pursuant to an act of Congress of the United States as an agency, instrumentality, or corporation of them, in direct and general obligations of the State of South Carolina, and in certificates of deposit issued by any bank, trust company, or national banking association. The authority, when investing in certificates of deposit, shall invest in certificates of deposit issued by institutions authorized to do business in South Carolina if the institutions offer terms which, in the opinion of the authority, are equal to or better than those offered by other institutions; to make such agreements with the purchasers or holders of the notes, bonds, or other evidences of indebtedness, or with others in connection with any of these notes, bonds, or other evidences of indebtedness, whether issued or to be issued, as the Public Service Authority shall deem advisable; and in general to provide for the security for said notes, bonds, or other evidences of indebtedness and the rights of the holders of them; provided, that in the exercise of the powers in this section granted to issue advanced refunding notes, bonds, or other evidences of indebtedness, the Public Service Authority may, but is not required to, avail itself of or comply with any of the provisions of the Advanced Refunding Act, Sections 11-21-10 to 11-21-80;
   15. (15) to endorse or otherwise guarantee the obligations of a corporation all of the voting stock of which the Public Service Authority may own or acquire;
   16. (16) without limitation of the foregoing, to borrow money from the United States Government or any corporation or agency created, designed, or established by the United States;
   17. (17) to make contracts of every name and nature and to sue and be sued thereon; to enter into agreements providing for binding arbitration between the parties thereto; and to execute all instruments necessary or convenient for the carrying on of its business;
   18. (18) to have power of eminent domain;
   19. (19) to mortgage, pledge, hypothecate, or otherwise encumber all or any of the property, real, personal, or mixed, or facilities, or revenues of the Public Service Authority as security for notes, bonds, evidences of indebtedness, or other obligations of the Public Service Authority;
   20. (20) to do all acts and things necessary or convenient to carry out the powers granted to it by this chapter or any other law;
   21. (21) to investigate, study, and consider all undeveloped power sites and navigation projects in the State and to acquire or develop the same as need may arise in the same manner as herein provided. Provided, always, nevertheless, that said investigations, studies, and considerations of said South Carolina Public Service Authority herein created shall be limited to the Congaree River and its tributaries below the confluence of the Broad and Saluda Rivers and the Wateree tributary of the Santee River at and near a point at or near Camden, South Carolina. Provided, however, that the Public Service Authority shall have no power at any time or in any manner to pledge the credit and the taxing power of the State or any of its political subdivisions, nor shall any of its obligations or securities be deemed to be obligations of the State or of any of its political subdivisions; nor shall the State be legally, equitably, or morally liable for the payment of principal of and interest on such obligations or securities. The State of South Carolina does hereby pledge to and agree with any person, firm, or corporation, the government of the United States and any corporation or agency created, designated, or established by the United States, subscribing to or acquiring the notes, bonds, evidences of indebtedness, or other obligations to be issued by the Public Service Authority for the construction of any project, that the State will not alter or limit the rights hereby vested in the Public Service Authority until the said notes, bonds, evidences of indebtedness, or other obligations, together with the interest thereon, are fully met and discharged; provided, that nothing herein contained shall preclude such limitation or alteration if and when and after adequate provisions shall be made by law for the protection of those subscribing to or acquiring such notes, bonds, evidences of indebtedness, or other obligations of the Public Service Authority. The State of South Carolina or any political subdivision shall in no way be responsible for any debts or obligations contracted by or for the authority, and the board of directors of the authority, the advisory board, and the officers shall make no debt whatsoever for the payment of which the State or any political subdivision shall in any way be bound. It is intended that the project to be developed hereunder and any and all projects undertaken by the provisions of this chapter shall be financed as self-liquidating projects and that the credit and taxing powers of the State, or its political subdivisions, shall never be pledged to pay said debts and obligations;
   22. (22) to acquire or purchase, if requested to do so, or to construct, operate, and maintain all structures and facilities necessary, useful, or customarily used and employed in the treatment and distribution of water for industrial, commercial, domestic, or agricultural purposes within the counties of Berkeley, Calhoun, Charleston, Clarendon, Colleton, Dorchester, Orangeburg, and Sumter. The provisions of this section do not apply to the acquisition or purchase of existing electric systems;

   23. (23) to acquire, treat, transmit, distribute, and sell water at wholesale within the counties of Berkeley, Calhoun, Charleston, Clarendon, Colleton, Dorchester, Orangeburg, and Sumter if requested in writing to do so by the governing body of any incorporated municipality, by the governing body of any special purpose district providing water service in the unincorporated areas of each county, or by the governing body of each county for those unincorporated areas not so provided water service by a special purpose district. The authority may not transfer water from one river basin to another except for those located in the counties specified in this item. However, the authority shall prepare and maintain its books and records for its water supply operations separate and apart from its books and records for the generation, transmission, and distribution of electric power. The costs of water supply operations, including the loss of the generation of hydroelectric power, may not affect rates and charges for electric service. Water must be offered for sale by the authority on a nondiscriminatory basis without regard to whether electricity is also purchased from the authority.

       Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the Public Service Authority shall have power and is authorized as necessary to issue its negotiable bonds and to secure the payment of the same by mortgage, lien, pledge, or deed of trust on or of all or any of its property, contracts, franchises, or revenues. These bonds must be authorized by resolution of the board of directors and bear the date or dates, be in the forms, and contain the provisions as the board of directors may determine. Any resolution or resolutions authorizing any notes, bonds, or other evidences of indebtedness may contain provisions, which must be a part of the contract with the holders of them, as to (a) the rates of tolls and other charges for use of the facilities of, or for the services rendered by, or for the commodities furnished by the Public Service Authority, (b) the setting aside of reserves or sinking funds and the regulation and disposition of them, (c) reserving the right to redeem the notes, bonds, or other evidences of indebtedness at such prices, not exceeding one hundred five per cent of the principal amount of them and accrued interest, as may be provided, (d) limitations on the issuance of additional bonds, (e) the terms and provisions of any mortgage or deed of trust securing the bonds or under which the same may be issued, and (f) any other or additional agreements with the holders of the notes, bonds, or other evidences of indebtedness.

       The Public Service Authority may enter into any mortgages, deeds of trust, or other agreements with any bank or trust company or other person or persons in the United States having power to enter into the same, including the United States Government or any agency or creature thereof, as security for the notes, bonds, or other evidences of indebtedness and may transfer, convey, mortgage, or pledge all or any of the property, contracts, franchises, or revenues of the Public Service Authority thereunder. Such mortgage, deed of trust, or other agreement may contain provisions as may be customary in the instruments or as the Public Service Authority may authorize including, but without limitation, provisions as to (a) the construction, operation, maintenance, and repair of the properties or facilities of the Public Service Authority, (b) the application of funds and the safeguarding of funds on hand or on deposit, (c) the rights and remedies of the trustee and the holders of the bonds, (d) possession of the mortgaged properties, and (e) the terms and provisions of the bonds, and also may provide for a franchise for operation of the property and business of the Public Service Authority, or any part thereof, to any person, firm, or corporation, including the United States Government, or any agency thereof, acquiring the mortgaged property or any part thereof upon foreclosure for a period of not to exceed twenty years from the date of the acquisition.

2. (B) The powers conferred by subsection (A) upon the board of directors may not be construed to give the board of directors the power to sell, lease, or dispose of, except by way of mortgage or deed of trust, all of the property, real, personal, or mixed, of the authority, but the board of directors may sell, lease, or dispose of any surplus property which it may acquire and which the board of directors deems not to be necessary for the purpose of the development. Without prior approval from the General Assembly by act, the authority must not sell, transfer, lease, dispose of, or convey any property, real, personal, or mixed, of the authority used in the generation, transmission, or distribution of electricity, beyond that property considered to be surplus. However, the authority may lease property owned by the authority, including property within the authority's Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Project boundaries, provided the lease does not substantially or materially impair its ability to meet electricity generation, transmission, and distribution needs of its ongoing operation including an adequate reserve capacity and such growth in needs as reasonably may be forecasted. Further, the lease must be in the best interests of the authority as defined in Section 58-31-55(A)(3).

   Without prior approval from the General Assembly by act, the authority must not inquire into the feasibility of the sale, transfer, lease, disposal, or conveyance of property, real, personal, or mixed, of the authority that is used in the generation, transmission, or distribution of electricity unless the sale, transfer, lease, disposition, or conveyance would not materially impair the authority's ability to meet generation, transmission, and distribution needs of its ongoing operation including an adequate reserve capacity and such growth in needs as reasonably may be forecasted.

3. (C) Any compensation package, severance package, payment or other benefit of whatever nature conferred upon the chief executive officer or member of the board of the Public Service Authority or offered on or after May 15, 2021, must first be approved by the Agency Head Salary Commission before the Authority can enter into an agreement regarding a severance package, payment or other benefits. Any payment made in violation of this section is grounds for a claw-back of the payment or benefit in a legal action brought by the Attorney General of this State seeking a recovery of that payment. The Public Service Authority must provide a report to the Agency Head Salary Commission by July 6, 2021, with information regarding any severance package, payment or other benefit conferred upon an executive officer or member of the board of the Public Service Authority from January 1, 2020, through June 30, 2021.

HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 59-3; 1952 Code Section 59-3; 1942 Code Section 8555-13; 1934 (38) 1507; 1974 (58) 2297; 1978 Act No. 419 Section 1, eff March 6, 1978; 1978 Act No. 604, eff July 13, 1978; 1987 Act No. 45 Section 1, eff April 28, 1987; 1987 Act No. 156 Sections 1, 2, eff June 10, 1987; 1989 Act No. 79, Section 1, eff May 17, 1989; 1996 Act No. 283, Sections 1, 2, eff May 6, 1996; 2005 Act No. 137, Section 6, eff May 25, 2005; 2021 Act No. 90 (H.3194), Sections 2, 3, eff June 15, 2021.

Editor's Note

Section 2 of 1978 Act No. 419 provides as follows:

"This act shall apply to all existing contracts entered into by the Public Service Authority."

2005 Act No. 137, Section 10, provides as follows:

"Responsibilities and duties of the directors of the Public Service Authority created by the provisions of this act are in addition to responsibilities and duties created by other provisions of law."

Effect of Amendment

2021 Act No. 90, Section 2, in (A), rewrote (11) and (12).

2021 Act No. 90, Section 3, added (C).