Santee Cooper names new General Counsel, Chief Strategy and Communications Officer
December 10, 2024
Santee Cooper has named Carmen H. Thomas as its Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel and B. Shawan Gillians as its Chief Strategy and Communications Officer. The utility’s Board of Directors approved both positions at its Dec. 9, 2024, meeting.
Thomas is replacing Pamela Williams, who has announced her retirement. Gillians is taking a new position.
Thomas has extensive experience with public power utilities, having represented Santee Cooper in a variety of contexts over the past 17 years, most of that as a partner with Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough, LLP.
Prior to her legal practice, Thomas served as Planning Manager at the S.C. Department of Commerce focused on economic, community, and rural development projects. She is a former State Planner with the S.C. Energy Office, where she coordinated the state’s annual Strategic Energy Action Plan and implemented energy use and renewable energy policies and projects for South Carolina. She also served with the S.C. General Assembly as a law clerk with the Senate Judiciary Committee and legislative aide with the House of Representatives.
Thomas has a Bachelor of Arts from the University of South Carolina Honors College in journalism and mass communications with a cognate in political science, a Master of Public Administration from the University of South Carolina focused on environmental resource management and local government, and a law degree also from the University of South Carolina. She serves on the Board of Governors of the University of South Carolina Alumni Association.
She has been a member of the South Carolina Bar Association since 2007 and has served in a variety of roles within the Bar, currently serving on its Ethics Advisory Committee. She also is a member of the Board of Directors of the S.C. Bar Foundation.
Gillians has held several positions at Santee Cooper, including serving as the utility’s first Director of Sustainability and Associate General Counsel, a position she was named to in January 2023. She joined Santee Cooper in 2011 as an Attorney, and has served as Associate General Counsel, Treasurer, and also Director of Legal Services and Corporate Secretary. She has been in private practice with Buist Moore Smythe McGee, and later with Womble Bond Dickinson, where she specialized in energy matters.
Gillians serves on the Nominating Committee for the South Carolina Bar Association and is a member of the bar associations in South Carolina and Texas. She has also served in the House of Delegates of the S.C. Bar and as secretary/treasurer, and then chair, of the South Carolina Supreme Court Commission on Continuing Legal Education.
Gillians received her Bachelor of Arts in economics and religion from Wofford College (and currently serves on the Wofford Board of Trustees), a Juris Doctor from The College of William and Mary, and a Master of Business Administration from the University of South Carolina.
Among her many civic activities, Gillians serves on the boards for the Trident United Way, Roper St. Francis Hospital/Berkeley Hospital, the Children’s Trust of South Carolina, and the Historic Charleston Foundation.
About Santee Cooper
Santee Cooper has served the people of South Carolina for 90 years. Santee Cooper is the state’s largest power provider and the ultimate source of electricity for 2 million people across the state. It also provides clean drinking water to more than 200,000 people. Through its affordable, reliable and environmentally responsible electricity and water services, and through innovative partnerships and initiatives that attract and retain industry and jobs, Santee Cooper helps power South Carolina.
