Time running out for SC lawmakers to enact energy reform bill this year [Video]

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WCSC) – State lawmakers, utilities, and environmental groups all agree that South Carolina faces an urgent need to generate more power to keep up with its booming growth.

But where the disagreement comes in is figuring out how the state goes about doing that.

Now a controversial and comprehensive energy reform bill intended to solve this challenge is in danger of stalling out at the State House.

The bill, known as the “South Carolina Energy Security Act,” has already passed in the House of Representatives, a top priority of the year for Republican Speaker of the House Murrell Smith of Sumter County.

But another top Republican, Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey of Edgefield County, has potentially poured cold water on its chances to get through before the legislature wraps up its work next month for the rest of the year.

“I’ve heard if we don’t do this, the lights may go out,” Massey told his colleagues this …