Cooperatives Make Record Investment in Renewable Energy, Conservation

The record investment includes a three-pronged approach to improving the environment and saving energy. The following measures represent the beginning of this process.

• Encouraging homegrown renewable energy. Electric cooperatives in South Carolina will offer a pilot program for net metering for members who wish to install their own renewable energy generation facilities, such as solar systems, in their homes. Net metering will reward consumers who produce more electricity than they use by allowing them to sell the excess to their cooperative. The program will encourage the entrepreneurial spirit of cooperative members and provide a working laboratory for future renewable generation partnerships.
  
  
• Producing efficiencies to save energy and money. Cooperatives have set a goal to develop a program to place energy efficient compact fluorescent lights (CFLs) in the home of every cooperative member in the state, approximately 7 million bulbs within 10 years. CFLs use 75 percent less energy and last up to 10 times longer than standard light bulbs. At completion, the energy savings from the program would equal the energy used by 35,000 homes.
  
  
• Investing resources in clean energy research. Cooperatives have invested $2.5 million into a partnership with the University of South Carolina to develop technology that reduces carbon dioxide and other emissions from coal-fired power plants. Coal remains the least expensive and most plentiful resource for generating electricity, but its environmental impact is substantial. Plans call for university researchers to develop affordable technologies that will make coal cleaner and more efficient.

The initiatives follow two major studies commissioned by electric cooperatives in South Carolina. The first study explored the potential in South Carolina for producing power from renewable resources. The second study researched the amount of energy that cooperatives and their members could save by using energy efficiency measures.

"We initiated these studies to give ourselves a starting point," said Ron Calcaterra, CEO of Central Electric Power Cooperative. "To have an independent expert tell us what potential exists for the development and use of renewable resources in South Carolina, and what measures can be taken to increase and encourage the efficient use of energy."

"These studies are meant to find opportunities, not to find an excuse for inaction as it relates to environmental responsibility," said Couick. "We purchase power from other sources. This gives us a yardstick to measure those generation sources' environmental impact. We can't hold them to an impossible standard, but we need to hold them to the highest standard. For over 30 years, Santee Cooper, the state-owned utility, has met those high standards, and we expect them to continue to do so."

Renewable resources study – Surprising results came out of the study on the potential for use of renewable resources in South Carolina as a whole. For one, the largest contribution to renewable energy production would come from burning wood biomass, which includes logging residue, commercial thinning and urban wood waste. Biomass is generally accepted as a renewable resource; however, this resource comes with its own significant environmental impact.

A second significant conclusion of the study showed that if the environmental impact could be overcome, the total renewable resources (biomass plus other renewables) that could practically be used would meet only three to five percent of South Carolina's total electrical energy requirements.

"From the standpoint of potential, the renewable resources identified in the study located in South Carolina could produce enough energy to meet the energy needs of 200,000 to 300,000 homes," said Calcaterra. "That sounds like a lot and it is. But in 2005, there were approximately 2 million housing units in South Carolina and we are adding thousands more each year."

Energy efficiency study – There are encouraging results from the energy efficiency study which revealed significant energy savings potential for consumers served by South Carolina's electric cooperatives. (This study, unlike the renewable resources study, focused only on electric cooperatives.) The report suggests that the maximum potential, given the necessary incentives and marketing, for cost-effective savings—that is, savings that exceeded implementation costs—would be between 5 and 20 percent of the total projected power sales by 2017.

"You're going to find that energy conservation is more practical than renewable energy because you have in this country a fair amount of waste in electricity use—we're all guilty of it," said John Tiencken, general counsel for Central Electric Power Cooperative. "So, there are opportunities to carve electricity use from the American home."

The report also determined that one of the greatest opportunities for saving energy in electric cooperative members' homes would be the replacing of standard lighting with energy efficient lighting such as compact fluorescents.

"It's important that we deal with information rather than speculation when considering renewable energy resources and energy efficiency measures," said Couick. "We know we need to look beyond traditional means for providing power. We also know we need to encourage our members to help us by using energy resources wisely. Our 1.6 million cooperative members deserve our attention and efforts to serve them responsibly. That responsibility includes caring for the environment while also providing a reliable service at an affordable price."

Both studies can be viewed and downloaded at www.ecsc.org in the Newsroom section under News Releases.

About Central Electric Power Cooperative

Central Electric Power Cooperative was organized in 1948. Central, acting as an aggregator of energy requirements of the cooperatives, negotiates energy supply arrangements and transmits that energy to the cooperatives. Central is one of the largest such cooperatives in the U.S. Sales in 2006 exceeded $750 million.

About The Electric Cooperatives of South Carolina, Inc.

The Electric Cooperatives of South Carolina, Inc. is the state association of 20 independent, member-owned electric cooperatives. More than 1.6 million South Carolinians in all 46 counties use power provided by electric cooperatives. Together, the co-ops operate the state's largest electric power system with more than 70,000 miles of power lines across 70 percent of the state. More information is available at www.ecsc.org.

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