2022 South Carolina Code of Laws
Title 58 - Public Utilities, Services and Carriers
Chapter 3 - Public Service Commission
Section 58-3-20. Membership; election and qualifications; terms; vacancies.

(A) The commission is composed of seven members to be elected by the General Assembly in the manner prescribed by this chapter. Each member must have:

(1) a baccalaureate or more advanced degree from:

(a) a recognized institution of higher learning requiring face-to-face contact between its students and instructors prior to completion of the academic program;

(b) an institution of higher learning that has been accredited by a regional or national accrediting body; or

(c) an institution of higher learning chartered before 1962; and

(2) a background of substantial duration and an expertise in at least one of the following:

(a) energy issues;

(b) telecommunications issues;

(c) consumer protection and advocacy issues;

(d) water and wastewater issues;

(e) finance, economics, and statistics;

(f) accounting;

(g) engineering; or

(h) law.

(B)(1) Beginning in 2004, the members of the Public Service Commission must be elected to staggered terms. In 2004, the members representing the Second, Fourth, and Sixth Congressional Districts must be elected for terms ending on June 30, 2006, and until their successors are elected and qualify. Thereafter, members representing the Second, Fourth, and Sixth Congressional Districts must be elected to terms of four years and until their successors are elected and qualify. In 2004, the members representing the First, Third, and Fifth Congressional Districts and the State at large must be elected for terms ending on June 30, 2008, and until their successors are elected and qualify. Thereafter, members representing the First, Third, and Fifth Congressional Districts and the State at large must be elected to terms of four years and until their successors are elected and qualify. Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, members representing the First, Third, and Fifth Congressional Districts shall serve until the expiration of their terms, and in 2013, members representing the First, Third, and Fifth Congressional Districts must be elected for terms ending on June 30, 2016, and until their successors are elected and qualified.

(2) In the event there are Seven Congressional Districts, the member elected from the State at large shall serve until the expiration of his term, and in 2013, a member representing the Seventh Congressional District must be elected for a term ending on June 30, 2016, and until his successor is elected and qualified. Thereafter, the member representing the Seventh Congressional District must be elected to terms of four years and until his successor is elected and qualified. Upon the election and qualification of the member representing the Seventh Congressional District, the at-large member elected to satisfy the requirements of subsection (C) immediately shall cease to be a member of the commission.

(C) The General Assembly must provide for the election of the seven-member commission and elect its members based upon the congressional districts established by the General Assembly pursuant to the latest official United States Decennial Census. If the number of congressional districts is less than seven, additional members must be elected at large to provide for a seven-member commission. In the event the congressional districts established by the General Assembly are under review by a court for compliance with statutory or constitutional requirements, an election scheduled pursuant to this section shall not be held until a final determination is made by the courts regarding the congressional districts. The inability to hold an election due to judicial review of the congressional districts does not constitute a vacancy on the commission and the commissioners serve until their successors are elected and qualify.

(D) The Governor may fill vacancies in the office of commissioner until the successor in the office for a full term or an unexpired term, as applicable, has been elected by the General Assembly. In cases where a vacancy occurs on the commission when the General Assembly is not in session, the Governor may fill the vacancy by an interim appointment. The Governor must report the interim appointment to the General Assembly and must forward a formal appointment at its next ensuing regular session.

HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 58-52; 1952 Code Section 58-52; 1942 Code Section 8200; 1932 Code Section 8244; 1922 (32) 956; 1932 (37) 1380; 1935 (39) 25; 1935 (48) 323; 1979 Act No. 167, Section 3, eff July 1, 1979; 1993 Act No. 181, Section 1549, eff July 1, 1993; 1994 Act No. 493, Section 1, eff in the election cycle of 1998 and upon approval of the Governor (approved July 14, 1994); 2004 Act No. 175, Section 4, eff February 18, 2004, as to subsections (A), (B), (C), (D), (F); 2004 Act No. 175, Section 4, eff July 1, 2004, as to subsection (E); 2012 Act No. 279, Section 25, eff June 26, 2012; 2022 Act No. 220 (H.4062), Section 2, eff May 23, 2022.

Editor's Note

1980 Act No. 440, Section 3, provides as follows:

"SECTION 3. Notwithstanding the provisions of Act 223 of 1979 and Section 58-3-20 of the 1976 Code, incumbent members of the Public Service Commission serving as commissioners on the effective date of this act (May 26, 1980), shall continue to serve as commissioners until July 1, 1981 unless their successors are elected prior to that date."

1982 Act No. 485, Sections 1 and 2, effective March 5, 1982, provide as follows:

"SECTION 1. The General Assembly finds that pursuant to Section 58-3-20 of the 1976 Code it is required to provide for the election of seven members of the Public Service Commission during the 1982 session, one from each of the six congressional districts established according to the official United States Census of 1980, and one to be elected at large. The candidates for election by the General Assembly must be nominated by the Public Service Commission Merit Selection Panel and screened by the Joint Legislative Screening Committee.

"The General Assembly further finds that, because a congressional reapportionment plan for South Carolina based upon the 1980 census has not been enacted, the Merit Selection Panel has been substantially delayed in its screening and nominating of candidates for consideration by the General Assembly. In order to eliminate the confusion surrounding the screening and nominating of candidates for the Public Service Commission due to the uncertainty of the new congressional districts, the General Assembly, by the adoption of this Joint Resolution, has determined to establish the election districts for the purpose of electing members of the Public Service Commission during 1982 only.

"SECTION 2. Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 58-3-20 of the 1976 Code and only for purposes of the 1982 election, those members of the Public Service Commission to be elected in 1982 shall be elected from the six congressional districts as they were constituted on January 1, 1981 and one member from the state at large. The term of each of the seven commissioners elected in 1982 shall be for four years and until their successors are elected and qualify.

"In the event vacancies occur on the Commission during the term of those commission members elected in 1982, successors shall be elected from the six congressional districts as those districts were constituted on January 1, 1981, and one member from the state at large, for the remainder of the unexpired term or terms. Members of the Commission whose terms expire July 1, 1982, shall continue to serve as commissioners until their successors are elected and qualify pursuant to the provisions of this resolution for terms extended until the General Assembly provides for the election of members of the Commission based upon the seven public service commission districts as they were constituted on January 1, 1981."

2012 Act No. 279, Section 33, provides as follows:

"Due to the congressional redistricting, any person elected or appointed to serve, or serving, as a member of any board, commission, or committee to represent a congressional district, whose residency is transferred to another district by a change in the composition of the district, may serve, or continue to serve, the term of office for which he was elected or appointed; however, the appointing or electing authority shall appoint or elect an additional member on that board, commission, or committee from the district which loses a resident member as a result of the transfer to serve until the term of the transferred member expires. When a vacancy occurs in the district to which a member has been transferred, the vacancy must not be filled until the full term of the transferred member expires. Further, the inability to hold an election or to make an appointment due to judicial review of the congressional districts does not constitute a vacancy."

Effect of Amendment

2022 Act No. 220, Section 2, deleted (B) and (C), which related to the review committee finding a candidate qualified in certain circumstances, and redesignated former (D) to (F) as (B) to (D); and in (B)(2), in the third sentence, substituted "at-large" for "at large" and "subsection (C)" for "subsection (E)".