Little River Electric Cooperative, Santee Cooper and Abbeville County School District Dedicate Green Power Solar School at Diamond Hill Elementary School
October 23, 2009
ABBEVILLE, SC – October 23, 3009 – Little River Electric Cooperative, Santee Cooper and the Abbeville County School District dedicated today a Green Power Solar School at Diamond Hill Elementary 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 look at the opportunities and challenges with solar technology. Students, educators and utility representatives gathered to officially commemorate the pole-mounted solar array at the state’s 18th Green Power Solar School.
“Little River Electric believes that conservation and renewable energy exploration is vital to meet the future electricity needs of our state. Through this partnership, we are challenging tomorrow’s leaders to consider energy sources for the future. We foresee that our young people will learn a great deal from this experience,” said Roland White, Little River Electric General Manager.
Santee Cooper believes that renewable energy exploration and conservation are vital as we work to meet the future electricity needs in our state. It’s critical that we challenge tomorrow’s leaders to think about the opportunities and challenges offered by these energy sources, and how they can benefit future generations,” said Marc Tye, vice president of conservation and renewable energy at Santee Cooper.
Santee Cooper and the state’s electric cooperatives have partnered to install Green Power Solar Schools in each cooperative territory. The 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 Abbeville County School District is grateful to be a part of,” said Dr. Ivan Randolph, superintendent of the Abbeville County School District. “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 electric cooperatives promote renewable energy. It helps fulfill Santee Cooper’s commitment to reinvest Green Power funds back into renewable resources across South Carolina and supports the utility’s goal to generate 40 percent of its power by 2020 from non-greenhouse gas emitting resources, biomass fuels, conservation and energy efficiency. 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 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 has contracted for 50 megawatts of biomass energy beginning in 2012, and the utility is pursuing offshore wind energy.
Little River Electric Cooperative
Little River Electric Cooperative is a member-owned, nonprofit electric cooperative that serves more than 12,900 accounts in Abbeville, Anderson, Greenwood, and McCormick counties. As a Touchstone Energy Partner, Little River joins over 600 electric co-ops nationwide to share the Touchstone Energy core values of integrity, accountability, innovation and commitment to community. Visit www.lreci.coop for more information.
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.
