JEFF LEWIS, General Manager
I’m the kind of guy who doesn’t like to see the needle anywhere near the E on my gas gauge when I’m driving. I want to fill up way before the warning light comes on. I wish it were as easy to refuel our supply of electricity to meet our state’s increasing demand for power.
Hundreds of thousands of South Carolinians likely felt stranded on the side of the road Christmas Eve of 2022. That’s when several days of freezing temperatures drove the demand for electricity to record highs. As a result, many utilities implemented the kind of temporary, planned power outages we aren’t used to seeing in South Carolina— rolling blackouts.
Fortunately, co-op members in our state didn’t have their power cut off. But I can tell you that the needle was as close to E as it could go that weekend. And the risk of running empty remains. The North America Electric Reliability Corporation recently warned about an elevated risk of “insufficient operating reserves” when demand spikes across the grid. National Rural Electric Cooperative Association CEO Jim Matheson called these threats to reliability unacceptable and said that “America’s ability to keep the lights on has been jeopardized.” I agree.
How have we reached this point?
Demand for electricity is growing by leaps and bounds due to South Carolina’s rapid population growth and the state’s success in recruiting new industry. Unfortunately, South Carolina hasn’t succeeded in building new, large-scale power plants to keep up. The issues that led to the abandonment of the new units at the V.C. Summer nuclear power plant have left us even further behind. And proposed environmental regulations from the EPA are pushing utilities to permanently shutter coal- and natural gas-fired power plants before they can build adequate replacement generation.
What can we do to solve this problem?
We need to upgrade our power grid by building new power plants, pipelines and transmission lines. We must streamline burdensome permitting processes that hold these projects hostage for years and years. We have to untangle supply chain bottlenecks that threaten our ability to accommodate new development.
So what actions are we taking?
We are raising the alarm about the need for more power generation. We are reaching out to lawmakers and providing them with the information they need to push this issue forward. We are piloting energy efficiency and demand-reduction programs to help save every watt of electricity when we face power shortages.
Finally, we are informing you— our members. It’s important that you understand these challenges in case we ever need to ask you to conserve energy on a frigid winter morning. We hope you will join us in creating awareness of this issue, both in conversations with your neighbors and with your elected officials.
We cannot sit back with the needle on E and hope we come across a gas station. We must act soon to upgrade our power grid. Otherwise, jobs and industry will flee South Carolina, and blackouts may become a routine part of our lives. That is a future we cannot accept. We must be proactive and speak up about the urgent need for new power generation now
JEFF LEWIS,
General Manager
