Cook v. Santee Cooper

You are receiving a second Check because you were identified as an eligible Class Member and the Settlement provides for payments or bill credits in successive distributions, or installments. The second check distribution began on February 21, 2023, and will be completed by March 6, 2023.

Class Members were notified of the proposed Settlement via mailed or emailed Notice on May 1, 2020. The Notices advised Class Members of their legal rights and options, including opt-out and objection deadlines that have now passed.

The Class is defined as:

All Santee Cooper residential, commercial, industrial, and other customers, both direct and indirect, who paid utility bills that included rates calculated, in part, to pay pre-construction, capital, in-service, construction, interest, and other pre-operational costs associated with the V.C. Summer Nuclear Reactor Unit 2 and 3 Project from January 1, 2007, through January 31, 2020.

The Court held a Final Approval Hearing (Final Fairness Hearing) on July 20, 2020, and the Settlement was approved on July 31, 2020, when the Amended Final Order and Judgment was entered by the Court. The Judgment became effective August 31, 2020.

On December 13, 2022, an Order approving subsequent distributions of the Common Benefit Fund was entered. Payments or bill credits are being issued to eligible Class Members beginning February 16, 2023 pursuant to this Order.

If you are not a Class Member (defined in FAQ 1), if you opted out of the Class, or if you are a Class Member entitled to a bill credit (see FAQ 3), then you will not receive a settlement check.

Likewise, if your advanced financing costs were below a certain amount, then your calculated pro rata award amount would be zero.

If you feel that you did not receive a check because of a wrong address, please contact us at info@SanteeCooperClassAction.com.

If you currently have an active account with Santee Cooper or one of twenty specific electrical cooperatives and your pro rata award amount is equal to or less than $50, then you will receive a bill credit. Santee Cooper and the electrical cooperatives will be issuing the bill credits between February 16 and March 18, 2023.

The Settlement check may be cashed, deposited, or otherwise negotiated at any bank or financial institution (like a credit union) that is not a check cashing agency or money servicing business. If you are unable to cash the check at a bank or other financial institution, you may request that a replacement check be issued to you without the ‘check cashing’ language.

To receive a replacement check, you must return the original check to the Settlement Administrator, accompanied by a written request asking that a replacement check be issued and mailed to you without the ‘check cashing’ language at:

Cook v. SCPSA
Class Action Administrator
P.O. Box 3127
Portland, OR 97208-3127

If you cannot return the original check to the Settlement Administrator, then for security reasons your replacement check will be issued and mailed to you only after the original check passes its 120-day stale date.

Please note that the deadline to request a reissue is May 21, 2023.

There are sufficient funds in the Settlement account to pay all issued checks. The most common reason for a returned check is a mobile deposit where the check image is unclear or cut off. Sometimes the unclear or cut off image happens during the customer’s original photograph; other times it happens when the bank of first deposit scans the customer’s photo of the check. If your bank charged you a Non-Sufficient Funds (“NSF”) fee because the check was returned as unpaid, please first ask your bank to view the check image they presented to the Settlement Fund’s bank for payment. Your bank may be able to re-submit a better image of the check for payment. Your bank may also agree to waive the NSF fee. If payment was declined due to an unclear or cut off check image submitted by the bank of first deposit, the Settlement Fund is not able to reimburse your NSF fee.

The other most frequent reason for a check being returned as unpaid is if the check was previously negotiated.

If your check was returned as unpaid and the above explanations do not apply to you, please contact us at info@SanteeCooperClassAction.com.

To request a replacement check be mailed to you at an updated address, please mail a signed, written request, asking that a replacement check be reissued and mailed to you. Please also indicate your current and former mailing addresses. Mail your check with request to:

Cook v. SCPSA
Class Action Administrator
P.O. Box 3127
Portland, OR 97208-3127

If you cannot return the original check to the Settlement Administrator, then for security reasons your replacement check will be issued and mailed to you only after the original check passes its 120-day stale date.

Please note that the deadline to request a reissue is May 21, 2023.

Unfortunately, it is not possible to expedite a check reissue.

If your settlement check was damaged or lost, but is not yet stale, you may request that a replacement check be mailed to you. To do so, please return your damaged check to us with a signed, written request asking that a replacement check be issued and mailed to you. If the check is stale, only the signed, written request is required and not the check. Please mail your check and request to the Settlement Administrator at the following address:

Cook v. SCPSA
Class Action Administrator
P.O. Box 3127
Portland, OR 97208-3127

If you cannot return your original check to the Settlement Administrator, then for security reasons your replacement check will be issued and mailed to you only after the original check passes its 120-day stale date.

Please note that the deadline to request a reissue is May 21, 2023.

First, please go to the bank or financial institution in which you are a current account holder, as they may negotiate the settlement check if documentation regarding the status of your name change is presented.

If your bank or financial institution will not negotiate the check as-is, please return the original check to the Settlement Administrator at:

Cook v. SCPSA
Class Action Administrator
P.O. Box 3127
Portland, OR 97208-3127

Be sure to include a signed, written request asking that a replacement check be issued and mailed to you. Please include instructions for the name that should be included on the replacement check. You do not need to provide documentation for the name change.

If you cannot return the original check to the Settlement Administrator, then for security reasons your replacement check will be issued and mailed to you only after the original check passes its 120-day stale date.

Please note that the deadline to request a reissue is May 21, 2023.

First, please go to the financial institution at which you are a current account holder; your bank may cash or deposit the check if documentation is presented regarding the status of the account holder and your status as the beneficiary/executor.

If your bank will not cash the check, then in order to receive a reissued check we must first establish that you are legally authorized to receive a check on behalf of a deceased or incapacitated Class Member. If approved, then we will reissue the check in your name.

If you are the Personal Rep/Executor or next of kin,

1. Provide a copy of the death certificate; and
2. Provide ONE of the following:
   1. A copy of your letter of appointment, court order, or other document showing that you are the deceased Class Member’s Personal Representative/Executor (“proof of Personal Representative/Executor status”);
      
      OR
   2. Provide proof of your next-of-kin status, such as a copy of Affidavit of Heirship or Next-of-Kin Affidavit.

Please return the original check and the above-described legal documents to the Settlement Administrator at:

Cook v. SCPSA
Class Action Administrator
P.O. Box 3127
Portland, OR 97208-3127

Be sure to include a signed, written request asking that a replacement check be issued and mailed to you in your name.

Please note that the deadline to request a reissue is May 21, 2023.

No, all Settlement Award amounts are final.

The deadline to Exclude yourself (‘Opt Out’) from the Settlement was June 15, 2020.

If you are a member of the Class and participate in the Settlement:

1. You will be entitled to receive the benefits provided by the Settlement.
2. Pursuant to the Settlement, Defendants have provided benefits to the Class consisting of cash and prospective rate relief. SCE&G and Santee Cooper provided a five hundred twenty million dollar ($520,000,000.00) fund (the “Common Benefit Fund”) as follows: (a) SCE&G transferred to the Escrow Agent a number of shares of Dominion Energy, Inc. common stock that were sold for $320 million; and (b) Santee Cooper paid two hundred million dollars ($200,000,000.00) to the Common Benefit Fund in three (3) annual installments beginning in 2020, payable in the third quarter of each year, two in the amount of sixty-five million dollars ($65,000,000.00), and one in the amount of seventy million dollars ($70,000,000.00). Santee Cooper is providing a rate freeze consistent with the rates projected in the Reform Plan submitted to the South Carolina General Assembly beginning in 2020 and extending through the end of 2024, with limited exceptions set forth in the Settlement Agreement here.
3. The Common Benefit Fund will be distributed to Class Members that did not opt out of the Settlement, on a pro rata plan approved by the Court. Payment from the Common Benefit Fund will be made proportionately to Class Members in successive distributions after deducting (1) attorneys’ fees and litigation expenses approved by the Court; (2) certain administrative and tax expenses; (3) service awards to the Class Representatives and Named Plaintiffs approved by the Court; and (4) for any and all Class Members who submit valid Requests for Exclusion, the pro rata amount those Class Members would have received had they not chosen to submit such a request.
   1. Class Members who did not cash their first settlement check and for whom the Settlement Administrator has a valid address will have their pro rata share of the initial distribution added to their pro rata share of the second distribution. The second distribution is being made as outlined in subsections b through d below.
   2. Class Members who are current customers of Santee Cooper or an electric cooperative and whose pro rata award is equal to or less than $50.00 will receive payment in the form of a bill credit.
   3. Class Members who are current customers of Santee Cooper or an electric cooperative and whose payment is greater than $50.00 will receive payment in the form of a check to the address on file with Santee Cooper or an electric cooperative (or to any better address that can be found or you may provide).
   4. Class Members who are former customers of Santee Cooper or an electric cooperative will receive payment in the form of a check to the address on file with Santee Cooper or an electric cooperative (or to any better address that can be found or you may provide).
4. Class Members who are current Santee Cooper or electric cooperative customers are receiving rate relief as set forth above.
5. Class Counsel and the Class Representatives will continue to represent your interests in this case. At the outset in August 2017, Class Counsel agreed to handle the case on a “contingent” basis and to advance all costs and expenses on behalf of the Plaintiffs and the Class. Class Counsel filed a motion for attorneys’ fees to be paid from the Common Benefit Fund in an amount not to exceed 15% of the five hundred twenty million dollar ($520,000,000.00) Common Benefit Fund, and for expenses advanced by Class Counsel to be paid from the Common Benefit Fund in the amount $1,543,893.08. The Court granted this motion.

No. You will not get a payment if you timely excluded yourself from the Settlement.

The Deadline to Object to the Settlement was July 1, 2020.

If your mailing address has changed, or is expected to change in the future, or if you received the Summary Notice at an address other than that listed on the envelope, you should send your new mailing address and your Santee Cooper or electric cooperative service address and/or account number for which you received the Summary Notice to the Claims Administrator at:

Cook v. SCPSA
Class Action Administrator
P.O. Box 3127
Portland, OR 97208-3127

For purposes of this settlement, you are deemed to be a Class Member and entitled to receive benefits under the settlement if you paid costs associated with the Project as a component of your payment to Santee Cooper or an electric cooperative for electricity service at any time from January 1, 2007 through January 31, 2020.

The Court appointed Speights & Solomons, LLC, McGowan Hood & Felder, LLC, McCullough Khan, LLC, Strom Law Firm, LLC, Richardson Patrick Westbrook & Brickman, LLC, Galvin Law Group, LLC, Savage Royall & Sheheen, L.L.P., and Bell Legal Group, LLC as Class Counsel.

The addresses for Class Counsel are as follows:

This website summarizes the Settlement. More details can be found in the Settlement Agreement and other Important Documents Here, or by writing to:

Cook v. SCPSA
Class Action Administrator
P.O. Box 3127
Portland, OR 97208-3127

You may also call 1-833-947-0894, or consult with your own attorney.