intern

specialist

senior database administrator

engineer

associate engineer

SANTEE COOPER

Pros - For over five years I thoroughly enjoyed working as part of the team at Santee Cooper. I thoroughly enjoyed all facets of my work with every fellow staff member and all the many great customers I assisted over those years. I enjoyed being a part of the Santee Cooper culture and their family. I had decided on working hard to assure that Santee Cooper became my lifelong career home.  But unfortunately that was not to be...

*-Cons - After five years of enjoyable, satisfying work I resigned from my job at Santee Cooper because my "manager" was a Workplace Bully.  Unfortunately I was one of this manager's several "targets".  The manager routinely practiced "Schadenfreude", defined as "the feeling of joy or pleasure when one sees another fail or suffer misfortune".  Over a five year period I was subjected to frequent harassment, intimidation, ridicule, humiliation and severe verbal abuse from this individual.  

Once the manager decided to launch the final stage of their targeted campaign to destroy my career at Santee Cooper, the Employee Relations department placed me in a "Probationary Period".  They started a series of mandatory, weekly "Employee Assistance Program" ("EAP") sessions at a local psychologist's office.  This program was merely a FARCE, an elaborate RUSE.  Under the EAP, if I ever missed any of my sessions with the psychologist's office for any reason it was grounds for immediate dismissal from the company.  I have information this psychologist's office was told "we want to make sure this employee does not get violent when we fire them".

In addition to the weekly psychologist "sessions" I also had weekly one-on-one "EAP Status" meetings with my manager.  I experienced similar mistreatment in the first several meetings, so at my request a director of Employee Relations began to attend all subsequent meetings with me and my manager.  In a few of the meetings this director witnessed first-hand some of the bullying behavior this manager had exhibited towards me over the years.  During one meeting in particular this manager actually rose to their feet and got directly into my face as a threatening gesture, while they abused me verbally at a high volume (a treatment I endured many other times over the years).  The Employee Relations director was sitting right beside the manager at the table as they did this, yet while apparently serving as my "Employee Relations" representative, the director did nothing during the meeting that day to shield me from the manager's fury or to diffuse the situation.  The director did not speak up to the manager at all, not once.  After a few more EAP status meetings the director did eventually ask one of my PEERS to conduct all subsequent meetings with me instead of my manager.

At times other Santee Cooper employees related to me various accounts of this manager's bullying behavior being unleashed on at least twenty other employees in the past.  It is an irrefutable fact that over the years other employees could easily hear my manager verbally harassing me in their cube during our weekly progress meetings.  Several employees sat mere feet away from this manager's cube in their own respective cubes; some of these folks were actually supervisors themselves.

But all of these employees seemed to be in denial about witnessing my manager's bullying episodes affecting me.  As witnesses these employees may have been able to effect some positive change at Santee Cooper by reporting these bullying behaviors to members of Senior Management.  Perhaps it would have helped to improve management's overall ethical treatment of its employees.  However, I suspect each of these witnessing employees rightly chose to remain silent to protect their own livelihoods, by not "rocking the boat" and therefore drawing undue attention to themselves.  Senior Management, from my manager's boss on up, repeatedly "turned their heads and looked the other way" as my manager's intimidating behavior continued for five years.

********************************
Advice to all Senior Management of Santee Cooper:  
1. Create, publish and enforce new Santee Cooper policies and procedures specifically prohibiting all forms of workplace bullying.
2. Enforce disciplinary consequences for all incidents, reported or otherwise discovered through other avenues.
3. Encourage employees to freely report any bullying and/or disrespectful behavior they may witness in the workplace from managers to their employees at all levels.  
4. Assure all Santee Cooper employees there will be absolutely no chance of retaliation against them for bringing these situations to the attention of Senior Management.  
5. Actively enforce these policies with a "NO TOLERANCE" stance on every situation.  
6. Display Anti-bullying posters on the walls of hallways and workspaces of all five floors of Santee Cooper's Main office building, all three floors of the Annex building, all other Santee Cooper headquarters buildings, the Energy Control Center, all remote offices and throughout all Santee Cooper generating stations in the State of South Carolina.  
7. Ensure that Bullying is not an accepted behavior anywhere within the fine culture of Santee Cooper, publicize the fact that it will not be tolerated, and enforce these principles.  **This will help prevent the Agency from losing loyal, dedicated employees due to mistreatment by their managers.
*************************************

Extremely overpaid poor management.  Basically, the company is run by a group of Citadel grads that only promote other yes-men Citadel grads.  It's ridiculous! The former CEO who recently was allowed to resign in disgrace, was a Citadel grad so you would think Santee Cooper would figure out that the Citadel develops good followers, but not good leaders!  But no, the only people that can change this are in charge and they are Citadel grads.

During a time of crisis when the multi-billion dollar nuclear construction was halted due to their incompetence, management went AWOL.  Literally, they did not show up to work for two days!

The nuclear debacle cost us billions of dollars and probably be the end of a 75 year old company!! During the crisis, NO information, strategy, or hope was given to the employees.  If we want to know what's going on, we have to depend on the local newspapers to give us an update because our incompetent overpaid management team fails to do this.

Now, the work environment has become cut-throat and is really really bad.  In case Santee Cooper gets bought-out, VPs and managers are wanting to make sure their friends (good ole boy network alive and well) are in good positions for a sweet severance package. 

One case in particular is the recent promotion of a manager to VP of HR.  The job probably pays in excess of $250k not counting the secret bonuses they receive.  The job was "GIVEN" to a guy with one year of experience in HR.  The only reason anybody can gather is that he is a Citadel grad.  I guess he will now receive the golden parachute severance package, now that he is an executive?

When will the incompetence stop?  Unfortunately the only ones that can stop the madness are the same ones that got us into this mess.  And like I said they are too incompetent to fix the situation because they truly do not know how.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Public utilities are usually a more secure job with a somewhat bright future. While they hardly ever experience business failure, upward mobility in the sector can be comparatively  slower than firms in a more overtly fluid business. Utilities are famous for not being very aggressive but recent events have altered that idea.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Ideas and subsequent actions are often slow to progress which can be extremely frustrating. The trade-off of stability or job security for measured actions is comforting for some employees but troublesome for others. Political actions are another potential obstacle for utilities that often are limited in methods of raising capital.


What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
As in most medium to large companies there are favorable areas in which to work. The seeming threat of being replaced by contract employees not requiring overhead expenses is/was a real threat. Other than those uncontrollable stresses Santee Cooper is an outstanding employer. The workplace is pleasant and located in an out-of-the-way town.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
As corporations age and faces change, the work day is as relaxed as practical. The work environment around the headquarters is somewhat relaxed with some periods of increased activity. Santee Cooper has been fortunate in that executive management has sought to maximize company and employee success and thereby executive management has the support of rank and file employees.

A typical day at work was early morning briefings, handling high volumes of calls, handling reports, processing invoices and incoming wire transfers. Filing, typing, preparing spreadsheets and general office duties. 
I learned how to deal in a high paced office, that its not always about the big picture but the details that get you to the big picture that counts, if the details are flawed so will the picture.

My manager was very personable and encouraging. Always ready to dive in if required, being a part of the team.

coworkers were very team oriented, they were great backup and willing to share the workload.

The hardest part of the job, is making that call when a payment is by wire transfer is not made by the time deadline.

The most enjoyable part of the job was just being a part of a great team who made it easy to get up and go into work.

This organization has serious leadership problems. Management often appears more focused on controlling narratives than solving the very real problems. Decisions are frequently made before data is gathered, and employees are expected to support predetermined conclusions rather than contribute meaningful expertise.

Speaking up about risks, execution issues, or poor planning can damage your reputation. High performers who ask hard questions are often labeled difficult, negative, or not team players, while passive compliance is rewarded.

There is a clear gap between leadership messaging and day-to-day reality. Understaffing, poor accountability, and ineffective management create unnecessary stress and burnout. Many talented employees leave not because of the work itself, but because of leadership culture.

I have never worked for a company that will degrade you over a mistake so bad. Training was nothing and I was expected to jump right in and know everything. Humans make mistakes but it’s how they go about it and degrade you for it, instead of willing to train your properly. It’s one big gossip/clicky group of ladies and make the job even more miserable. We are adults in a real life workplace, if you have an issue with somebody you don’t go around talking behind their back. I was super excited to work for Santee Cooper and hopefully retire here but that is not in the playbooks probably anymore because of how you get brought down by your boss every single day. Save your mental health. 

I had a pleasant experience at Santee Cooper as a summer intern. After a very fast paced adjustment period I was going out on work site visits with a functioning team and learned so much so quickly!
My coworkers were for the most part pleasant, the hardest part of the job was the occasionally unpredictable overtime but it was never too much to handle. The most enjoyable part of the job were the overnight trips where the team spent the vast majority of the day updating or installing new equipment. Management was a bit messy, but I began work while the department was in the middle of some rearranging of power.

As a customer service representative I was responsible for my cash-register, taking payments, opening new customers accounts,weekly reports, informing customers of new product and services. Helping Spanish speaking customers. Giving excellent customers service. I learned a lot from this company, how to be a better person and customer services representative. Management and co-workers were   excellent like a second family. The hardest part of my job was leaving. I enjoy working for Santee Cooper they were a wonderful company I learned a lot of how the power company works and the services they offer.

I was hired at Santee Cooper for the fall semester 2 year associates program. It was a great experience. The management was great, and my co-workers were very eager to teach me everything they knew. There was a lot of downtime during the work day, so the days could get kind of long. The only real con that I had during the program was it was hard to get in contact with HR if I had a question. I would have completed the program, however I had to leave Myrtle Beach and go back to NY to take care of family. 

Santee Cooper has some good things but the poor management in the company kills all the good things. If you are starting in I.T. it is a great company. They will promote you fast to a level 3 if you have skills and a degree. After that you are stuck with no development or advancement opportunities. The pay is not even close to what you can get at other companies, but job security is an amazing because they can't afford to hire anyone that is half decent to replace you. So, if you are okay with subpar pay but want a highly secure job Santee Cooper is the place for you. 

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Intern 3 salaries reported	$17.33 per hour
Specialist 1 salary reported	$59,630 per year
Senior database administrator 1 salary reported	$59,300 per year
Engineer 1 salary reported	$103,135 per year
Associate engineer 1 salary reported	$66,480 per year

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