(Columbia, SC) -- Some South Carolina leaders at the State House are hoping to enact the Ten-Year Energy Transformation Act to address the energy "crisis point."
Speaker of the House Murrell Smith says the state is "dangerously close to running out being able to serve power" to its residents.
The bill currently has the backing of South Carolina's utilities and 60 co-sponsors from both parities. If signed into the law, the bill would give lawmakers permission to "the creation of a natural gas plant at a former coal plant site in Colleton County," and quicken the permitting process to get new sources of power online.
However, some conservative voters are seeing this as a megaproject that is expected to go wrong in the future. In the coming weeks, Smith plans to debate the bill on the House floor, while it currently sits in a House Labor, Commerce and Industry subcommittee.