State Energy Policy Discussion

State business and industry leaders will gather at 1 p.m. Tuesday, January 6, at the SC State House to discuss the need for a statewide energy policy and the need for ongoing local and state support for reliable, affordable energy for residents and businesses alike.

Accprding to the press release, projections for the need for new facilities indicate that significant new capacity needs to be on line by 2014. Santee Cooper is in position to meet that timetable with its proposed new Florence County facility. Additionally, SCANA and Duke Energy are working tirelessly to develop four new nuclear reactors in South Carolina.

S.C. Manufacturers Alliance, South Carolina Chamber of Commerce and Pee Dee Supporters for Progress leaders have called this press conference to start this new year and a new legislative session with a clear message. Those that produce the jobs in South Carolina today and those who will do so in the future need additional sources of energy. "We must see these new plants be built over the next decade, or South Carolina will begin this new century much as it did the last – standing idly by as other parts of the country embrace the new possibilities of a new time. This generation of private and public leaders must emulate previous generations and make the wise choices that will secure our energy security for the next 50 years."