Former SRP CEO Mark Bonsall takes over troubled Atlantic Coast utility
Jul 9, 2019, 1:30 PM
Charles Duckworth, left, and Mark Bonsall. (Santee Cooper Photo)
(Santee Cooper Photo)
PHOENIX – A former chief executive at Salt River Project has been named president and CEO of a South Carolina public utility that has lawmakers worried about its debt and customers.
Mark Bonsall took over Santee Cooper on Tuesday, voted in by a board that watched the previous permanent boss run the company into $8 billion in debt. Bonsall will be paid $1.1 million a year, about twice as much as Lonnie Carter, who retired in 2017.
The board also voted to hire another former SRP executive, Charles Duckworth, as deputy CEO and chief of planning.
Bonsall spent 41 years at SRP, which serves over 1 million customers. He was CEO for seven years before retiring in mid-2018.
He is the first top executive who didn’t come from inside the company. Bonsall steps in to run an 85-year-old public utility that legislators and the governor have discussed selling.
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Santee Cooper has 2 million customers. Lawmakers believe the debt could affect everyone in the state, not just Santee customers.
“Santee Cooper is a cornerstone to the quality of life and economic prosperity that many South Carolinians enjoy today, and there is still work to be done,” Bonsall said in a statement.
“My job is to prove to customers and the state that Santee Cooper should remain part of South Carolina for generations to come.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
