SHAREHOLDER ALERT: Pomerantz Law Firm Announces the Filing of a Class Action against SCANA Corporation and Certain Officers – SCG

NEW YORK, Nov. 13, 2017 -- Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against SCANA Corporation (“SCANA” or the “Company”) (NYSE: SCG) and certain of its officers.   The class action, filed in United States District Court, for the District of South Carolina, and docketed under 17-cv-03063, is on behalf of a class consisting of investors who purchased or otherwise acquired SCANA securities, seeking to recover compensable damages caused by defendants’ violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

If you are a shareholder who purchased SCANA securities between January 19, 2016, and September 22, 2017, both dates inclusive, you have until November 27, 2017, to ask the Court to appoint you as Lead Plaintiff for the class.  A copy of the Complaint can be obtained at www.pomerantzlaw.com. To discuss this action, contact Robert S. Willoughby at [email protected] or 888.476.6529 (or 888.4-POMLAW), toll-free, Ext. 9980. Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address, telephone number, and amount of shares purchased. 

[Click here to join this class action]

SCANA is an energy-based holding company whose principal subsidiary, South Carolina Electric & Gas Company is a regulated public utility engaged in the generation, transmission, distribution and sale of electricity primarily in South Carolina.

The Complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding the Company’s business, operational and compliance policies. Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) Defendants artificially drove up the price of SCANA’s stock by issuing false and misleading statements to investors, and omitting material information, concerning the progress, cost, and completion schedule of the multi-billion dollar nuclear construction project at V.C. Summer Nuclear Station in Fairfield County, South Carolina (the “Nuclear Project”); (ii) Defendants issued false and misleading statements and omitted material information, concerning the financial health of its lead contractor for the project, Westinghouse Electric Company (“Westinghouse”); and (iii) as a result of the foregoing, SCANA shares traded at artificially inflated prices during the Class Period, and class members suffered significant losses and damages.

Rather than disclose to the market that the Nuclear Project was facing serious design, construction, and cost headwinds, as described in a secret, 130-page report issued by Bechtel Corporation on February 5, 2016 (the “Bechtel Report”), Defendants doubled down on their strategy of deception and misdirection by issuing SCANA-produced promotional videos, press releases, and other public statements that created a fundamentally false and misleading impression to investors that the project was running smoothly within a reasonable budget and on schedule. Yet, as only recently disclosed to investors, for much of the Nuclear Project’s history, a formal construction schedule was never in place and costs were spiraling out of control.

In addition to material misstatements and omissions about the status and progress of the Nuclear Project, Defendants also issued false and misleading statements and omitted material information, concerning the financial health of its lead contractor for the project, Westinghouse.

On July 31, 2017, SCANA’s subsidiary South Carolina Electric & Gas Co. and Santee Cooper, South Carolina’s state-owned electric and water utility, announced that they would abandon construction of two nuclear power plants in South Carolina, citing rising construction costs. 

On August 4, 2017, South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson announced that he was opening an investigation and state Senate leaders called for a special legislative session to investigate SCANA’s abandonment of the Nuclear Project.

In response to these announcements, SCANA’s stock price fell approximately 5%, or $3.36 per share, to close at $63.79 per share on August 4, 2017, after several days of unusually heavy trading volume.

On August 10, 2017, The Post and Courier published a “Top Story” article entitled “CEO: SCANA may not return to scuttled nuclear project—even if a new partner emerges.” The article reported on SCANA Chief Executive Officer Kevin B. Marsh’s comments to state lawmakers that “he wasn’t sure he would want to take the project back up after it fell years behind schedule and its costs soared billions of dollars over budget.”

Following this news, SCANA’s share price fell $1.32, or 2.13%, to close at $60.69 on August 11, 2017.

On August 29, 2017, The Post and Courier reported that a second class action had been filed on behalf of SCE&G customers, accusing SCE&G and SCANA of fraud and negligence in the years preceding the decision to abandon construction of the company’s nuclear power plants. 

Following this news, SCANA’s share price fell $0.84, or 1.39%, over the following two trading sessions, to close at $59.75 per share on August 30, 2017.

On September 22, 2017, South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson requested that the State Law Enforcement Division launch a criminal investigation related to the Nuclear Project.

On this news, SCANA’s share price fell $1.96, or 3.43% per share, to close at $55.22 per share on September 22, 2017.

The Pomerantz Firm, with offices in New York, Chicago, Florida, and Los Angeles, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation.  Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, the Pomerantz Firm pioneered the field of securities class actions.  Today, more than 80 years later, the Pomerantz Firm continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomerantzlaw.com

CONTACT:
Robert S. Willoughby
Pomerantz LLP
[email protected]