Jump to content

SCEG FAILS COLUMBIA

colajnp

By colajnp
in Columbia

Recommended Posts

803metlife Hamlet

803metlife

Posted
Posted

How greedy can a company be? Their profits are only in the billions and they have no competition, so they need to save some money and if that means hurting small businesses and the city so be it. It's sad to think that the only 500 Fortune company in the state can be so socially unethical. :sick: .

Are they destroying wetlands to build this 3 story shoe box?

By the way, Knotts is a buffon.

What kind of leadership does this guy have. Your profits are in the billions your a 500 Fortune company, your in a city that is begining to boom and you want to move from the downtown area to a campus style building. It just doesn't sound right. This guy definetly doesn't give a hoot about Columbia or it's success. All kind of business leaders have been contacting this guy and he has the nerve to pull something off like this. The nerve of this guy:angry: !!! That was a very prickish move.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 121
  • Created
  • Last Reply
Doug L Whistle-Stop

Doug L

Posted
Posted

What kind of leadership does this guy have. Your profits are in the billions your a 500 Fortune company, your in a city that is begining to boom and you want to move from the downtown area to a campus style building. It just doesn't sound right. This guy definetly doesn't give a hoot about Columbia or it's success. All kind of business leaders have been contacting this guy and he has the nerve to pull something off like this. The nerve of this guy:angry: !!! That was a very prickish move.

I have e-mailed the following to the State editor. Let's see if they have the b@$$s to print it.

"After SCANA was cut a real sweetheart deal absolving them from the responsibility of public bus system they have in turn stabbed Columbia in the back. This maneuver just proves that one cannot trust large companies any further than they can be tossed bodily.

There are many cities in America that have taken over the electric utility companies with a great deal of success. From small towns to large cities now have control over the supply of electric and in some cases gas energy. Cities that range from east to west coasts and from border to border add revenue to their coffers by owning the power company that supplies their citizens. Some of these cities are Austin, TX, Cleveland, OH, Chicago, IL, Sacramento, CA, Los Angeles, CA, Seattle, WA, and Cedar Falls, IA.

The time has arrived for Columbia to consider municipalizing our electric and gas energy supply. We could buy wholesale from Santee Cooper, a state owned supplier, or possibly the TVA which is another publicly owned generating source. Gas could be obtained directly from the pipeline that I understand roughly follows Interstate 85 through upstate South Carolina.

According the the web site located at http://www.local.org/darlingt.html there are already 21 town in South Carolina that own their municipal energy supplier. The only drawback is that the South Carolina legislature has in effect made any new municipal utilities illegal thus supporting the greedy, self serving private companies and denying the people of Columbia a cheaper source of energy."

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Istvan Unincorporated Area

Istvan

Posted
Posted

it's disappointing. they could've built a nice new ego tower downtown. oh well...good riddance? at least they're still in the metro (for now,) and maybe the more companies coming in after them will work. the article did point out that downtown has absorbed about 500,000 square feet of new office space in the past three years (Meridian and First Citizens,) so 450,000 in the next three years might not be as bad as it sounds.

plus Barringer, the Sheraton, 1520 and 1556 Main, the new Nickolodeon, and even the nearby Hilton and fire HQ rehab, and who knows what else should be online by the time of the move.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
krazeeboi Gigalopolis

krazeeboi

Posted
Posted

According to The State, some of the major departures from downtown Columbia since 1990 have included:

2004: Washington Mutual shuts down its mortgage loan operations at 1333 Main St., shedding about 155 jobs.

2002: Safety-Kleen is sold and moves 530 jobs from its headquarters at 1301 Gervais St. to Dallas.

1995: Tapp

Link to comment
Share on other sites
krazeeboi Gigalopolis

krazeeboi

Posted
Posted

It seems like just about every mover and shaker in Columbia tried to get SCANA to stay downtown: Coble was ready to offer every legal financial goody the city of Columbia could offer to keep SCANA downtown, Andrew Sorensen, USC's president, had told SCANA chief executive Bill Timmerman for three years that the university wanted SCANA to locate in its future 500-acre Innovista river campus, and developer Alan Kahn had whipped up a proposal for a SCANA downtown campus just off Main Street. But SCANA's mind was already made up.

Kevin Fisher, the former mayoral candidate in the last election, said that Coble and the city should have made SCANA promise to keep its headquarters in the city in return for getting rid of a public bus system it had a legal duty to provide.

What gets me, though, is SCANA's spokesperson. She says that security was a concern and that's one reason why the company decided to move to a sprawling suburban campus. The article states, "High-rise buildings fronting Main Street aren

Link to comment
Share on other sites
BrasilnSC Hamlet

BrasilnSC

Posted
Posted

I can't believe they stooped so low to suggest that the threat of terrorist attacks on Columbia's Main St is one of the reasons they decided to move. Come on, what a bunch of BS. You can't use terrorist attacks as an excuse for everything.

On the other hand, the new campus will be a whopping 3 stories tall, have a beautiful surface lot, workers will get to drive to lunch everyday, the few that used the bus system will get to ride in fancy cabs, and oh yeah, they will be safe from the terrorists. Great job SCANA :sick:

Link to comment
Share on other sites
BryCola Whistle-Stop

BryCola

Posted
Posted

I'll ask this again...with Scana's move a few years away, does anyone think there MIGHT be a chance to get Timmerman to change his mind? I can NOT believe that Scana could have been located in a VERY exciting area in Innovista, but declined. (And for the record, I work for Scana)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
vicupstate Metropolitan Area

vicupstate

Posted
Posted

I will at least give them credit for not pulling a stunt at the last minute. This gives the city time to come up with a strategy to get all of that space absorbed.

They really didn't have much choice. They have to design, build, and occupy the new location BEFORE their lease expires. Because of the gov't regulation they are under, their bids and stuff with the architect would be public record. They probably could have sat on it another month or two maybe, but that's about it.

I bet if someone looked at what SCANA paid for the land at the Lexington Co. offices, they would probably see they bought it for a reasonable sum, nothing that would have been a cost justification for insisting on building there.

For the SCANA employee poster, BryCola, I think, what do you hear at the 'water cooler' regarding a merger with Duke or another Utility?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
BryCola Whistle-Stop

BryCola

Posted
Posted

I bet if someone looked at what SCANA paid for the land at the Lexington Co. offices, they would probably see they bought it for a reasonable sum, nothing that would have been a cost justification for insisting on building there.

For the SCANA employee poster, BryCola, I think, what do you hear at the 'water cooler' regarding a merger with Duke or another Utility?

Actually Scana has owned the land in Lexington county for 40 years, so I imagine it was bought for a pretty low sum by today's standards. And there has not even been a PEEP about a merger with Duke among Scana employees. This message board is the first talk I've heard about this, so I'm guessing there's nothing to that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Mr.Marc Hamlet

Mr.Marc

Posted
Posted

How greedy can a company be? Their profits are only in the billions and they have no competition, so they need to save some money and if that means hurting small businesses and the city so be it. It's sad to think that the only 500 Fortune company in the state can be so socially unethical. :sick: .

Are they destroying wetlands to build this 3 story shoe box?

By the way, Knotts is a buffon.

Sorry to go off topic, but aren't Sonoco and Bowater F500's headquatered in this state also (which brings the total to 3).

Anyway, I totally agree with everyone else. WHAT A DUMB MOVE!!

I was really hoping they would have built a tower in the CBD (especially when Columbia is approaching a condo boom: DUH).

Link to comment
Share on other sites
vicupstate Metropolitan Area

vicupstate

Posted
Posted

Actually Scana has owned the land in Lexington county for 40 years, so I imagine it was bought for a pretty low sum by today's standards. And there has not even been a PEEP about a merger with Duke among Scana employees. This message board is the first talk I've heard about this, so I'm guessing there's nothing to that.

I don't know a whole lot about it, but I think it only became a legal possibility within the last year. Just as banks couldn't cross state boundaries (there were HQs in each state that bank served), there was a similiar provision on utilities to disallow mergers, which has recently been changed. At the time, Duke was mentioned as a power player in the expected wave of mergers.

Since Duke is bigger than SCANA and already serves part of SC, speculation has been out there.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
lifer Unincorporated Area

lifer

Posted
Posted

I am very disappointed in SCANA. I wish there was a way for city residents to move their electrical service elsewhere. As was said earlier, first SCANA sticks the city with transit deficits and now this. I am so angry I can't stand it.

I would rather them stay downtown too, but they did give 3 years notice. Columbia can attract 1000 jobs by then. If we can't considering we are surrounded by boomtown after boomtown then we are in deep yogurt.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Spartan Gigalopolis

Spartan

Posted
Posted

It seems like just about every mover and shaker in Columbia tried to get SCANA to stay downtown: Coble was ready to offer every legal financial goody the city of Columbia could offer to keep SCANA downtown, Andrew Sorensen, USC's president, had told SCANA chief executive Bill Timmerman for three years that the university wanted SCANA to locate in its future 500-acre Innovista river campus, and developer Alan Kahn had whipped up a proposal for a SCANA downtown campus just off Main Street. But SCANA's mind was already made up.

Kevin Fisher, the former mayoral candidate in the last election, said that Coble and the city should have made SCANA promise to keep its headquarters in the city in return for getting rid of a public bus system it had a legal duty to provide.

What gets me, though, is SCANA's spokesperson. She says that security was a concern and that's one reason why the company decided to move to a sprawling suburban campus. The article states, "High-rise buildings fronting Main Street aren

Link to comment
Share on other sites
digital_sandlapper Hamlet

digital_sandlapper

Posted
Posted

Terrorist target? Columbia? And wait... who said a mid-rise or low-rise isn't a terrorist target for that matter? (Anyone remember the pentagon, not that they should ever be placed in the same boat but still). Maybe Duke will buy them out and then move to columbia. Probably not, but we can hope

SCANA definitely should be ashamed of themselves for this move. I am very disappointed, and agree with you all totally.

But, bite your tongue any of those hoping that Duke Power buy SCANA out. Duke Power is the epitome of a morally corrupt corporation. Have you all forgotten what this company has done to rape the natural beauty of our state's Upstate region? Flooding beautiful mountain valleys for hydroelectricity to power NORTH Carolina's needs (but still only a minuscule percentage--so all of that ruin for little gain) is a wanton act that I will NEVER forget nor forgive them for. Yes, the lakes are "pretty" to look at, and they provide "recreation"-- please, I'd rather have our land back. Go flood your own damn state!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Spartan Gigalopolis

Spartan

Posted
Posted

No. This is news to me. It sounds like the high rents are forcing people out of downtown. This is a significant number of jobs that are leaving the CBD. Is Columbia's success leading to its demise?

Do you think if we had a good mass transit system with commuter rail as a component to offer people alternate (and parking free) ways into downtown that we could have kept these companies from moving out? I do.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 1 month later...

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.