Blue Ridge Electric Cooperative, Santee Cooper and Oconee County School District Dedicate Green Power Solar School at Tamassee-Salem Middle & High School
May 11, 2009
Phase 2 of innovative environmental program continues
SALEM, SC – May 9, 2009 – Blue Ridge Electric Cooperative, Santee Cooper and the School District of Oconee County dedicated today a Green Power Solar School at Tamassee-Salem Middle & High School.
The school has been equipped with a solar cell array which is already producing electricity from the sun’s rays, providing students with a hands-on learning look at solar technology, the opportunities and challenges. Students, educators and utility representatives gathered around the pole-mounted solar array to mark the introduction of the Green Power Solar School program at the school.
“Blue Ridge Electric Cooperative feels that this innovative program will ignite the minds and imaginations of our young people to better understand the present energy challenges our country faces and to seek solutions to those challenges,” said Charles E. Dalton, Blue Ridge Electric Cooperative President and CEO. “We anticipate much exploration and learning for our young people as a result of this partnership.”
At Santee Cooper we believe that renewable energy exploration and conservation are important components that will impact the growing electricity needs in our state. It’s critical that we challenge tomorrow’s leaders to think about energy sources that will benefit future generations,” said Marc Tye, vice president of conservation and renewable energy resources at Santee Cooper.
The Green Power Solar Schools initiative is designed to encourage interest in the environment and demonstrate the feasibility and limitations of renewable power generation. Each Green Power Solar School receives a 2-kilowatt solar power system, which will provide a teaching, research and hands-on demonstration opportunity for students. The project uses a new renewable energy curriculum designed especially for the program that meets state science standards. Each school program is supplemented by an Internet-based monitoring system that provides real-time access to information on the system’s performance as well as other solar schools in South Carolina.
“This is a wonderful educational partnership that Oconee County School District is grateful to be a part of,” said Dr. Michael Lucas, superintendent of the School District of Oconee County. “This project demonstrates that by working together, we can bring added resources and opportunities to our young people that will expose them to the latest technology critical to meeting the complex challenges of our changing world today.”
Green Power Solar Schools represents one way that Santee Cooper and the state’s 20 electric cooperatives promote renewable energy, and it fulfills Santee Cooper’s commitment to reinvest Green Power funds back into renewable resources across South Carolina. In September 2001, Santee Cooper became the first electric utility in the state to generate and offer Green Power to its customers from methane gas collected at the Horry County Solid Waste Authority Landfill near Conway. Since then, three additional landfills in Lee, Richland and Anderson counties have opened, as has the 16-kilowatt solar installation at Coastal Carolina University. Santee Cooper, all 20 electric cooperatives and The City of Georgetown market Green Power to their customers.
Five schools, served by Palmetto Electric Cooperative, Berkeley Electric Cooperative, Pee Dee Electric Cooperative, Aiken Electric Cooperative and Laurens Electric Cooperative, became Green Power Solar Schools in 2007. Coastal Electric Cooperative, Edisto Electric Cooperative, Fairfield Electric Cooperative, Horry Electric Cooperative, Mid-Carolina Electric Cooperative, Lynches River Electric Cooperative, Santee Electric Cooperative, Tri-County Electric Cooperative, York Electric Cooperative, and Black River Electric Cooperative dedicated their Green Power Solar Schools in 2008.
Santee Cooper Green is a utility-wide commitment bringing together all the eco-friendly, conservation-minded approaches that Santee Cooper practices and all the programs and opportunities for its customers to “go green.” More information can be found at www.SanteeCooperGreen.com
Blue Ridge Electric Cooperative is a member-owned, nonprofit electric cooperative that serves more than 62,700 accounts in Anderson, Greenville, Oconee, Pickens, and Spartanburg counties. As a Touchstone Energy Partner, Blue Ridge joins over 600 electric co-ops nationwide to share the Touchstone Energy core values of integrity, accountability, innovation and commitment to community. Visit www.blueridge.coop for more information.
Santee Cooper is South Carolina’s state-owned electric and water utility, and the state’s largest power producer, supplying electricity to more than 163,000 retail customers in Berkeley, Georgetown, and Horry counties, as well as to 29 large industrial facilities, the cities of Bamberg and Georgetown, and The Charleston Air Force Base. Santee Cooper also generates the power distributed by the state’s 20 electric cooperatives to more than 700,000 customers in all 46 counties. Approximately 2 million South Carolinians receive their power directly or indirectly from Santee Cooper. The utility also provides water to 137,000 consumers in Berkeley and Dorchester counties, and the town of Santee. For more information, visit www.santeecooper.com. For information on how Santee Cooper lives
green and how you can go green, visit www.SanteeCooperGreen.com.
