Our Economy: Real Jobs

Santee Cooper has attracted supporters to its coal proposal by promising new jobs for the Pee Dee region. The utility even went so far as to commission a study claiming that the Pee Dee could expect 9,000 new jobs and nearly a billion dollars of economic development as a result of its coal plant.

However, an independent assessment has shown these to be false promises. In fact, building the coal plant would produce only a couple hundred local jobs. Long-term, the plant would employ far less than 100 local residents. Further, 70% of the money invested in the plant would go to other regions and states – not the Pee Dee and not South Carolina. Why give our money away for so little gain?

Building a coal plant is not a good way to create jobs or stimulate our state’s economy.

But energy can be a source of jobs and economic development in South Carolina if done the right way.

For instance, a recent study found that a commitment to renewable energy sources could create approximately 20,000 new manufacturing jobs in our state, about 2,000 of which would be located in the Pee Dee region.

In Florida, researchers have found that expanded programs to save energy would create a similar amount of new jobs.

The best news is that these clean sources of energy are abundant enough in our state to avoid the need to build a new coal plant altogether.

Clean energy can be a win-win for our state and its utilities in terms of jobs and economic development. With coal, everybody loses.