Renewable Energy

While nothing can beat energy efficiency at meeting our energy needs at low cost with zero pollution, renewable energy has enormous potential in South Carolina.

Most recently, the state’s electric cooperatives produced a study showing that the state could generate at least 6% of its energy from renewables within ten years – and that study didn’t even include the state’s enormous potential for wind and solar energy.

Many states are moving forward with ambitious goals to produce renewable energy. States like Illinois, Minnesota, New York and Oregon are aiming to get a quarter of their energy this way, while nearby North Carolina recently committed to generating more than 12% of its energy from renewables.

While it is true that some renewables are dependent on the weather, like wind and solar; others, like bioenergy, are not. Just like the hydropower used in our state, which is dependent on rainfall, renewables can be combined with other resources to provide reliable, clean energy year round.

What’s more, as the cost of coal plants rise, renewables are increasingly the cheaper option. Bioenergy and wind power are already cheaper than coal and the cost of solar power keeps dropping. Add in all the cost savings of a pollution-free energy source and it is no surprise that renewable energy in the United States is growing faster than coal.

What is clear over the long term is that renewable resources like bioenergy, wind, small hydropower, and solar – together with energy efficiency – are sufficiently abundant in South Carolina to make our state energy independent from fossil fuels like coal.

Unfortunately, Santee Cooper remains in the dark when it comes to renewables. In planning for its new coal plant, Santee Cooper has never studied how much energy it could produce with renewables. Today, less than 1% of its energy comes from renewables like bioenergy, wind, small hydro or solar.

If it combined a commitment to renewables with an aggressive energy efficiency program, Santee Cooper would have all the power it needs for years to come.