Santee Cooper strengthens leadership with four appointments to management team

Clockwise from top left – Traci J. Grant, Carey Salisbury, Jason McKinney, and Scott Smith

Santee Cooper recently welcomed four new appointments to its management team – Director of Inclusive Strategies Traci J. Grant, Senior Director of Generation Carey Salisbury, General Auditor Jason McKinney and General Manager of Projects and Construction Scott Smith. These appointees will help further the company’s mission with years of valuable experience in their respective fields.

Traci J. Grant has been named to a new position at Santee Cooper, Director of Inclusive Strategies, reporting to Chief Financial and Administration Officer Ken Lott. Grant, who will also continue in her role as Corporate Secretary, joined Santee Cooper 26 years ago as a financial analyst and has worked in the budget, customer billing, pricing and planning areas. She was named Group Leader of Pricing in May 2004 and Manager of Budget and Customer Billing in February 2017. She moved to Director of Corporate Services in March 2020. Grant has also served on Santee Cooper’s Corporate Engagement and Oversight Committee and is a recent graduate of the Diversity Leaders Initiative (DLI), an award-winning program of Furman University’s Riley Institute. She has a Bachelor of Science from South Carolina State University, where she studied agribusiness and economics.

Carey Salisbury has been named Senior Director of Generation, effective Jan. 6. Salisbury has served as Interim Senior Director of Generation since August 2023 and will continue to report to Chief Operations Officer Mike Finissi. Salisbury, a registered Professional Engineer, is a 2000 graduate of Clemson University, where he earned a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering. He joined Santee Cooper in 2001 and has held several positions during his 23 years of service, including Engineer with Capital Projects, Maintenance Engineer, Group Supervisor of Electrical Maintenance, Superintendent of Electrical Maintenance, Manager of Renewable Generation and Manager of Cross Generating Station.

Jason McKinney was hired as General Auditor in October and reports to Chief Audit and Risk Officer Monique Washington. Prior to joining Santee Cooper, McKinney served nearly six years as the Director of Internal Audit for Lexington Medical Center in Columbia, South Carolina. He previously served 17 years as Joint Venture Audit Director at Roper Saint Francis Healthcare in Charleston. McKinney received his bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of South Carolina Darla Moore School of Business in 1993 and his MBA in accounting and hospital administration from The Citadel in 2007.

Scott Smith joined Santee Cooper in September as the General Manager of Projects and Construction and reports to Chief Operations Officer Mike Finissi. Smith retired from American Electric Power as the Senior Vice President of AEP Transmission Field Service after more than 22 years with the utility. He also held several positions in the banking industry from 1987 to 2001, including Vice President at Citi Bank and First Fidelity. Smith enlisted in the United States Army in 1982 and completed his service as a Captain in the combat engineering field in 1994. He is a 1984 graduate of the Valley Forge Military Academy and College with a degree in finance. He also received a degree in accounting and finance from Drexel University’s LeBow College of Business in 1987.