SCANA Corporation and its subsidiary South Carolina Electric & Gas Company reached a settlement with petitioners in a class action lawsuit over the costs that electric ratepayers have made towards the abandoned VC Summer nuclear power project, according to a Nov. 24 press release. SCANA agreed to pay credit of up to $2 billion in future electric rate relief for class members over a time period that would be determined by the public service commission. The settlement calls for using $115 million reserved for executive change-in-control payments to refund customers, as well as transfer of real estate owned by the utility or proceeds from the sale of such property. The agreement is subject to approval by the Court of Common Pleas in Hampton County and the commission’s approval of the pending merger between SCANA and Dominion Energy, which would provide the necessary financial resources for the settlement. The companies announced the merger in January after South Carolina Electric & Gas Co. decided last July to scrap a $9-billion expansion of the V.C. Summer nuclear plant. The merger deal has cleared federal regulators, and Georgia and North Carolina utility commissions.