--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

South Carolinians gulping electricity

State's consumption rate is fourth-highest in the nation

By The Associated Press

South Carolinians have the nation's fourth-highest consumption rate for electric power, a new federal report says. The Energy Information Administration says the typical South Carolinian used 19,000 kilowatts of power in 1999.

That is behind only Wyoming; Washington, D.C.; and Kentucky. North Carolina ranks 14th, according to the Energy Department report.

Low energy prices and high temperatures and humidity contribute to the state's high per-capita energy consumption, experts say.

Residential power rates are some of the nation's lowest, said Willard Strong, spokesman for Santee Cooper, the state-owned utility. Santee Cooper's residential customers pay an average 6.6 cents per kilowatt hour, or about a quarter of what some Southern California residents pay for electricity, said Lawrence Golan, executive director of the South Carolina Institute for Energy Studies in Clemson.

"Knocking humidity out of the air is a very big energy consumer," Golan said, and the low rates don't encourage people to cut electricity use.

"It's not a big bill. You've got car bills that are bigger. You've got food bills that are bigger," he said.

Cathy Love, a spokeswoman for South Carolina Electric & Gas Co., said that utility's rates also are lower than much of the rest of the country.

SCE&G, a subsidiary of SCANA Corp., says its residential customers use an average 1,000 kilowatt-hours per month. With current electrical costs at 7.885 cents per kilowatt-hour, the average residential bill equals $78.85 each month.

The 7.885-cent rate includes the cost of burning coal or natural gas to generate electricity, and basic facility charges. SCE&G serves more than 537,000 electrical customers, mostly in the Columbia and Charleston areas.

Heat pumps are a prime factor in South Carolina's high use of electricity, Love said.

"We're near the top of all 50 states in both the number and usage of heat pumps because we have a distinct summer and winter," and heat pumps can be used to either cool or warm a house, Love said.

The number of heat pumps in use in South Carolina was unavailable. Nationally, the Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute in Arlington, Va., said, 6.69 million central air conditioners and heat pumps were delivered, up 1 percent from 6.65 million units in 1999.

Utilities do encourage conservation. Through its Good Cents program, about one in 10 Santee Cooper customers gets as much as 26 percent taken off their bills if they use energy-efficient appliances or extra insulation.

Love said SCE&G emphasizes energy conservation tips to avoid energy shortages.

"We have such hot summers, and we're all very fond of our air conditioners," she said Monday.

The state's dozen coal-burning power plants get the blame for South Carolina's continuing problem with mercury-tainted rivers and lakes, which makes eating some fish risky. The state's aging coal-burning plants are exempt from recent pollution controls added to the Clean Air Act.

They put out carbon dioxide, nitrogen and sulfur compounds and microscopic soot particles than can get lodged deep in people's lungs.

"We're breathing the effects of the coal-fired power plants," said Caitlin Winans, spokeswoman for the South Carolina Coastal Conservation League in Charleston.

Brian Duncan, a spokesman for SCE&G, said his company has put more than $200 million into emissions improvements at plants during the past decade. It also is adding cleaner natural gas-burning plants, he said.

Staff writer Dave L'Heureux contributed to this report.

http://web.thestate.com/content/columbia/2001/04/24/local/energy24.htm

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), April 25, 2001