April 29, 2025
Deloitte and a certified class of SCANA Corp. investors told a South Carolina federal judge Tuesday they’ve settled claims accusing the accounting firm of issuing audit reports that misled investors about the progress the utility company was making on a $9 billion nuclear energy expansion project that never came to fruition.
Attorneys for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 98 Pension Fund and Deloitte & Touche LLP submitted a joint letter to U.S. District Judge Jacquelyn Austin that said they’ve reached an agreement to resolve the case and that they’ll execute a stipulation within the next 30 days, accompanied by the plaintiff’s motion for preliminary approval.
“Pending effectuation of the settlement, the parties request that the court stay all deadlines,” the April 29 joint letter to Judge Austin said. “The parties will also be filing a joint motion requesting that the Fourth Circuit stay defendants’ appeal of this court’s order granting class certification.”
Tuesday’s letter brings the dispute closer to its end, approximately six years after SCANA Corp. investors accused Deloitte of violating securities laws for failing to warn investors about financial issues plaguing a $9 billion project to build a pair of nuclear reactors in South Carolina that ultimately went nowhere.
The suit alleged that even after outside contractor Bechtel Corp. was hired to assess the project and found problems, those issues were swept under the rug. When the issues were belatedly revealed over time, SCANA’s stock price correspondingly slid, plunging from $76.12 to $37.39 during the class period, the plaintiffs claimed.
The investors further alleged that, as SCANA’s longtime auditor, Deloitte knew about the Bechtel findings and had other information showing the project wouldn’t be completed in time to take advantage of the tax credits.
The crux of the complaint accused Deloitte of fraudulently rendering false audit opinions on two sets of SCANA’s financial statements, which the plaintiffs alleged didn’t disclose construction challenges at the project.
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The investors are represented by William Tinkler of Tinkler Law Firm LLC and Laura H. Posner, Steven J. Toll, Jan Messerschmidt and Margaret Wydman of Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC.
Read Deloitte, SCANA Investor Class Settle Suit Over Failed Project.