Consulting giant Deloitte and investors in utility company SCANA Corp. have gotten a final nod for their $34 million settlement of proposed class action claims that Deloitte gave cover to SCANA as it hid delays and cost overruns for a $9 billion nuclear energy expansion project it eventually abandoned.

In a Monday order, U.S. District Judge Jacquelyn D. Austin granted approval to the deal, finding that it is "in all respects, fair, reasonable, and adequate to the settlement class."

Judge Austin entered a final judgment terminating the action and made separate filings approving the parties' plan of allocation.

The judge also approved the request for fees and costs for the investors' legal team, which includes attorneys from Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC and the Tinkler Law Firm LLC.

The class counsel had requested 33.33% of the settlement fund, which is over $11 million, plus reimbursement of over $6 million in litigation costs. Judge Austin said Tuesday that those requests were "fair and reasonable."

Judge Austin granted preliminary approval to the deal in November 2025, finding at the time that she would likely be able to grant final approval to the deal.

In its October 2025 motion for preliminary approval of the deal, the institutional investor leading the consolidated securities class action had called the settlement "an excellent result for the class" when considered alongside separate settlements related to the same alleged misconduct.

Final approval of the deal ends claims that Deloitte gave cover to SCANA with "unqualified, 'clean' audit reports" on the utility company's financial reports and internal controls, even as SCANA misrepresented to investors that its expansion of the South Carolina nuclear station was on track for completion before its deadline to earn $1.4 billion in nuclear tax credits.

In reality, according to the complaint, SCANA and Deloitte knew it was "unrealistic" to say they would actually meet their deadline to earn those tax credits, and SCANA eventually announced it would abandon the project.

The disclosure that the nuclear project was off precipitated probes by state and federal authorities, including the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The class is represented by William Tinkler of Tinkler Law Firm LLC, and Laura H. Posner, Steven J. Toll and Jan E. Messerschmidt of Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC.

Deloitte is represented by Christopher A. Ogiba, Lesley A. Firestone, Tiffany Payne, Mark A. Nebrig, John A. Fagg Jr. and Nader S. Raja of Moore & Van Allen PLLC, and Scott A. Edelman, Jed M. Schwartz and Andrew B. Lichtenberg of Milbank LLP.

The case is International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 98 Pension Fund v. Deloitte LLP et al., case number 3:19-cv-03304, in the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina.