The latest fallout from South Carolina’s financially disastrous $9 billion nuclear power project hit the news last week. Kevin Marsh, former CEO of the now-defunct South Carolina electric utility SCANA, was scheduled to appear in federal court on December 29 to plead guilty to federal fraud charges.

Marsh is alleged to have conspired to hide the failed V.C. Summer nuclear plant’s serious financial problems from the public and regulators. Misrepresentations of construction costs and progress allegedly led regulators to approve enormous additional public investment in the project, increasing losses by the rate-paying public, taxpayers, and investors. Following his plea, Marsh will receive an active prison sentence and substantial financial penalties.