Green Living: Energy Saving Tips from Santee Cooper Green
October 14, 2008
MONCKS CORNER, SC – October 14, 2008 – As the largest producer of power in South Carolina, Santee Cooper takes seriously the responsibility to help its customers in the wise and efficient use of electricity. Conservation and efficiency are equally important to the state-owned utility as generating electricity, and Santee Cooper has offered programs in that vein for more than 40 years.
At the same time, Santee Cooper anticipated the increased role of renewable energy when in 2001 it became the first electric utility in South Carolina to offer Green Power to its customers.
In addition to its conservation and energy-efficiency initiatives, Santee Cooper’s Green Power Program is one more tool enabling customers to make a positive impact on the environment. Santee Cooper launched its Green Power Program in 2001, and has just launched a new promotion to increase retail customer participation: Between October 1 and December 31, Santee Cooper will give two environmentally friendly shopping bags to residential customers who sign up for Green Power — the bags are made from recycled material and make ideal replacements for disposable grocery bags.
Santee Cooper Green Power customers support the development of renewable energy in South Carolina by purchasing blocks of renewable power each month at $3 per block. Each block of Green Power is equivalent to 100 kWh, or about 10 percent of a typical household’s monthly energy use. Green Power is also available to commercial customers in blocks of 200 kWh at the price of $6 per block. The money raised through Green Power sales is put entirely into the development of new renewable energy projects.
“Our Green Power Program has grown from a landfill generating station in Horry County to similar facilities in Anderson, Lee, Richland and, eventually, Georgetown counties. We also have incorporated solar in the mix and are exploring the feasibility of wind power along South Carolina’s coast and the potential for biomass energy,” says Vice President of Conservation and Renewable Energy, Marc Tye. “Ultimately, our goal is to purchase or generate 250 megawatts of additional renewable energy by 2020, and our customers’ support of Green Power will help us achieve that milestone.”
Visit www.SanteeCooperGreen.com/GreenPower or call (843) 347-3399 ext. 3564 for more information on Green Power from Santee Cooper.
Customers that do not receive power directly from Santee Cooper also have the opportunity to support renewable energy. All 20 of the state’s electric cooperatives and The City of Georgetown offer Green Power. For customers of other utilities, Santee Cooper offers Green Power Tags. To learn more about this program, contact Santee Cooper Director of Program Development, J.D. Steedly, at (843) 761-4109.
Santee Cooper
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.
