Santee Cooper expands renewable power generation in Lee County

BISHOPVILLE, S.C.--Santee Cooper has doubled the generating capacity of renewable Green Power at its Lee County Generating Station through the installation of a 5-megawatt turbine generator. The $8 million project increases total capacity at the Lee County Generating Station to 10 MWs, making it Santee Cooper’s largest renewable Green Power station.

Santee Cooper, South Carolina’s first utility to generate Green Power beginning in 2001, opened the Lee County Generating Station in 2005 with three 1.8-MW engines. The engines and turbine are fueled by methane gas that is naturally produced by decaying garbage at the adjacent Lee County Landfill, an Allied Waste facility.

Landfill biogas is the cornerstone of Santee Cooper’s renewable energy program, which dates to 2001 when the state-owned utility opened the 3-MW Horry County Landfill Generating Station. The expanded Lee County Generating Station brings Santee Cooper’s renewable generating capacity statewide to 21 MWs.

“This expanded Green Power generating station continues Santee Cooper’s position as the state’s leader in renewable power,” said Lonnie Carter, Santee Cooper president and chief executive officer. “We continue to pursue practical solutions to increasing our renewable energy portfolio, from our ongoing exploration of offshore wind energy to new biogas initiatives like this expanded generating station. We have a great relationship with Allied and its parent, Republic Services, and we are pleased that we can continue to work together to the benefit of our state.”

Lee Postal, general manager of Republic Services, said, “Our investment in this project demonstrates our ongoing commitment to environmental responsibility. Through the expansion of our gas wells, this landfill will continue to serve as a source of clean, renewable energy.”

The additional Lee County generator became commercially operational July 1. In addition to the Horry and Lee facilities, Santee Cooper operates a 5-MW landfill biogas station at the Richland County Landfill and a 3-MW station at the Anderson Regional Landfill.

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 31 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 685,000 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.

Republic Services is a leading provider of solid waste collection, transfer, recycling and disposal services. Allied Waste merged with Republic Services in December 2008. Republic Services, Inc. has been building on success since its inception in 1998, becoming an industry-leading provider of waste and environmental services. The company provides trash collection services to commercial, industrial, municipal and residential customers in 40 states and Puerto Rico through its 400 collection companies. Republic Services owns or operates 242 transfer stations, 213 solid waste landfills and 78 recycling facilities. The company is headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona and has 34,000 employees. For more information, visit the Republic Services web site at www.republicservices.com.

Offshore wind farm would boost existing industry, generate jobs in South Carolina

CHARLESTON — A wind farm off South Carolina’s coast not only would reduce the state’s dependence on fossil fuels, but also boost the existing maritime industry and create a host of new companies, a visiting wind farm specialist said Thursday.

Nick Longfield, managing director of Ocean Marine Services Ltd. of the United Kingdom, told a group of Charleston maritime businesses that spin-off companies will generate jobs that help build the offshore wind farms and maintain them once operational.

The nature of those businesses will run the gamut from divers and boat owners to ferry labor and materials offshore, to suppliers of safety equipment and tools.

“Many satellite companies will develop from an offshore wind farm project,” Longfield said. “And if you’re there at the start, you’ll not only benefit locally, but you will become the experts.”

Clemson University’s Restoration Institute, a partner in Palmetto Wind, South Carolina’s pioneering offshore wind farm initiative, welcomed alternative energy specialist Longfield to the United States for a series of presentations on the logistics of developing offshore wind farms.

Longfield has more than 35 years of experience in the maritime and alternative energy industries. He became involved in Great Britain’s first offshore wind farms a decade ago, including conducting site surveys and developing techniques for environmental impact studies.

Speaking to members and guests of the Propeller Club of Charleston, who sponsored his visit, Longfield said that countries around the world are examining fossil fuel alternatives to generate power.

“We need to diversify where we get our power from,” Longfield said.

Elizabeth Colbert-Busch, director of business development at the Restoration Institute, said there’s little doubt that offshore wind power is coming to the United States.

Investment interest from Europe is a clear economic indicator of the inevitability of U.S offshore wind energy, Colbert-Busch said.

By 2030, one-fifth of electricity generated nationwide is forecast to come from coastal or offshore wind farms, according to U.S. Department of Energy estimates. South Carolina utility Santee Cooper has committed to generating 40 percent of its power from non-greenhouse gas and biomass sources by 2020.

“We in the U.S. can benchmark the experiences of our European friends and apply our own expertise to boost the economy, create sustainable jobs and generate clean renewable energy,” Colbert-Busch said.

A 48-turbine wind farm produces enough electricity for about 120,000 U.K. homes, Longfield said. Such vast projects require a shift in the mindset of the general public, he said.

It took construction of turbines that stand 360 feet tall out of the ocean within miles of the shore for many U.K. residents to think about energy conservation and clean power for the first time.

“When a wind farm is out there it makes people think where their electricity comes from,” Longfield said.

Progress Energy Carolinas deploys crews to help Georgia Power restore power

Progress Energy Carolinas is sending 150 line crew members, contract workers and support staff to assist Georgia Power with restoring service to its customers across Georgia, where severe storms and tornados have left about 40,000 homes without electricity.

Progress Energy Carolinas teams began departing today to assist Georgia Power. Crews will be based in the Atlanta area and will work in some of the hardest-hit regions of the state. They are expected to remain in the area through the end of the week. The deployment will not affect Progress Energy’s ability to respond quickly to outages on its own system.

Progress Energy has mutual-assistance agreements with utilities in the region. The pacts help to reduce restoration times by reinforcing the on-the-ground workforce during major outages. Progress Energy’s customers have benefited from the agreements in the past after major hurricanes and ice storms.

Progress Energy crews have already assisted utilities in Kentucky, West Virginia and the Carolinas this year following storms that left hundreds of thousands without electricity.

Work and travel costs accrued while assisting other utilities are funded by the requesting utility, not by Progress Energy customers.

Progress Energy Carolinas deploys crews to assist restoration efforts in Virginia and West Virginia

Progress Energy Carolinas will deploy more than 150 line crew members, contract workers and support staff to assist with power restoration in Virginia and West Virginia, where high winds have left hundreds of thousands of homes without electricity.

Progress Energy Carolinas teams will depart on Friday morning to assist host utility AEP in service restoration. Crews are expected to be deployed for up to one week. The strong winds left destruction in parts of the Midwest and Appalachian regions.

As of 11 a.m. today, AEP reported approximately 212,000 customers without power in its Ohio, Kentucky, Virginia and West Virginia service areas.

Progress Energy has mutual-assistance agreements with utilities in the region. The pacts help to reduce restoration times by reinforcing the on-the-ground workforce during major outages. Progress Energy’s customers have benefited from the agreements in the past after major hurricanes and ice storms. Progress Energy crews returned just last week from Kentucky, where they assisted with restorations following a devastating ice storm. Work and travel costs accrued while assisting other utilities are funded by the requesting utility, not by Progress Energy customers.