South Carolina state-owned electric and water utility South Carolina Public Service Authority (Santee Cooper) has agreed to join the Southeast Energy Exchange Market (SEEM), the company said Thursday.

The move adds Santee Cooper to the list of “founding members” of SEEM, which comprises nearly 20 utilities across 11 states including Southern Co., Dominion Energy South Carolina, LG&E and KU, the Tennessee Valley Authority and Duke Energy. SEEM’s members said last month they plan to launch the market in the third quarter this year. (See FERC Rejects SEEM Opponents’ Rehearing Requests.)

Santee Cooper’s embrace of SEEM shows the support the concept has gained in the energy industry since its supporters submitted the proposed agreement to FERC last February. Proponents say the planned expansion of bilateral trading across the Southeast will reduce trading friction through the introduction of automation, eliminating transmission rate pancaking and allowing 15-minute energy transactions, while also promoting the integration of renewable resources.

In a press release, Santee Cooper Deputy CEO Charlie Duckworth said the utility is “excited by the opportunities SEEM will offer our customers, including better capability for integrating renewables and savings from lower fuel costs and improved efficiencies.”

The SEEM agreement took effect in October after FERC — which at the time had just four commissioners after the departure of Neil Chatterjee — split 2-2 over whether to approve the measure. Because it had been more than 60 days since supporters’ response to FERC’s last deficiency letter, the measure automatically became enforceable under Section 205 of the Federal Power Act. (See SEEM to Move Ahead, Minus FERC Approval.)

Since then the commission has approved revisions to four of the participating utilities’ tariffs implementing the special transmission service used to deliver the market’s energy transactions. (See FERC Accepts Key Tariff Revisions to SEEM.) Members have also submitted further changes to the commission that would implement a series of “transparency enhancements” to the market. (See SEEM Members Embrace Market Changes.)

Santee Cooper is South Carolina’s largest power provider and the ultimate source of electricity for 2 million people across the state. The utility’s fate has been up in the air in recent years after losing billions in 2017 on a failed project to expand a nuclear power plant, which led the state to put it up for sale in 2019. Florida-based NextEra Energy put in the highest bid but withdrew its offer last April when it became clear that South Carolina lawmakers lacked the votes to approve the sale because of concerns that it would lead to layoffs and higher electric rates.

Instead of selling the utility, lawmakers voted through a package of measures that included removing nine of the 10 members of the utility’s board of directors and restricting severance pay for any terminated executives. The changes also gave state regulators more power over Santee Cooper by allowing them to review its future generation plans and power forecasts and to require public hearings and government oversight ahead of future rate increases.