SCANA Energy Reports Marginal Customer Growth During Q1

SCANA Energy reported marginal customer growth during the first three months of 2012, in line with the growth experienced in the final three months of 2011.

In its quarterly earnings report filed in early May, SCANA Corporation said that retail marketer SCANA Energy was serving approximately 460,000 customers as of March 31, 2012.

This is up slightly from the 455,000 customers served as of December 31, 2011, and the net growth of about 5,000 customers during the first three months of 2012 is on par with the customer growth seen during the final three months of 2011 (SCANA Energy was serving 450,000 customers as of September 30, 2011).

The approximately 460,000 customers served as of March 31, 2012 was essentially flat versus the customer total as of March 31, 2011, which had also been described as approximately 460,000, though executives did state that SCANA Energy saw a "slight decrease" in customer count year-over-year.

As in recent prior quarters, executives reported that at SCANA Energy, more customers are on lower-margin fixed rate plans as opposed to higher-margin variable plans.

For the three months ended March 31, 2012, SCANA Energy reported earnings of $11 million, down from $22 million a year ago, on lower throughput due to significantly milder than normal weather during the quarter, as well as the absence of the prior-year gain from favorable weather in the prior-year quarter.