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In the summer of 2016, the project experienced further delay. However, during the energy company’s second-quarter conference call, Byrne misleadingly stated, “The guaranteed substantial completion dates remain in August of 2019 for unit 2 and August of 2020 for unit 3. We don’t see anything to change those.”

SCANA investors and customers suffered significant losses

By the end of that year, SCANA and its senior management knew that it is impossible to complete the project and qualify for the federal tax credits.  The project continued to experience serious problems, prompting the energy to abandon it in July 2017.

The failed project resulted in “devastating consequences for SCANA’s investors and customers,” according to the SEC.

When the truth about the project came out, investors lost hundreds of millions of dollars. Customers lost more than $1 billion in higher rates, which the PSC allowed the company to charge to recover financing costs associated with the project.

The SEC alleged that SCANA, SCE&G, Marsh, and Byrne violated the antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws for making false and misleading statements. The Commission is seeking a permanent injunction, return of allegedly ill-gotten gains along with prejudgment interest, and financial penalties from all defendants, and an officer and director bar against Marsh and Byrne.

In a statement, SEC Atlanta Regional Office Director, Richard Best said,"When making statements to the public, executives cannot provide false information or half-truths. This case demonstrates the SEC's commitment to holding companies and individuals at the highest corporate levels responsible when they mislead investors and fail to provide them with full and fair information."