COLLETON COUNTY, S.C. (WCSC) — South Carolina lawmakers voted unanimously today to approve nearly $700 million in new bonds for Santee Cooper, the state-owned electric and water utility.

The move marks a major step in a long-planned effort to modernize the utility’s aging infrastructure and expand its power-generation capacity to keep up with the state’s rapidly growing demand for electricity.

The bond package has been in development for more than a year, after Santee Cooper signaled it would need substantial upgrades across its system. A large portion of the newly approved funding will go toward early construction and equipment purchases for a new natural-gas plant in Colleton County, a multibillion-dollar project that’s projected to open in 2033.

About $120 million of the bonds are ea

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