Santee Cooper remains in the top 2% of electric utility companies nationwide for maintaining reliability. We do that through a variety of ways: investing in infrastructure, saltwater corrosion patrols, and vegetation management to name a few. We also must stay ahead of our area’s population growth.
As far as infrastructure and population growth, we recently bought the Cherokee Cogeneration Partner LLC , a natural gas-generating facility in Cherokee County that will enhance grid reliability and add nearly 100 megawatts to the utility’s combined electric system. The generation will benefit Santee Cooper’s retail and wholesale customers, including Central Electric Power Cooperative’s member cooperatives across South Carolina.
In a press release, our President and CEO Jimmy Staton summed up the importance of adding this generating facility.
“We’ve seen increased customer demand caused by new and expanded industries and a fast-growing residential and commercial base in areas served by Santee Cooper, our municipal wholesale customers, and the state’s electric cooperatives,” he said. “That’s a good problem to have, frankly. Adding the Cherokee plant to our portfolio will help Santee Cooper meet that demand in an affordable and reliable way and help us integrate additional renewable power as we bring it online over the next few years.”
We’re also working toward improvements to the transmission system in Marion and Horry counties. As part of the Marion – Red Bluff Transmission Line Project , we will rebuild and upgrade about 40 miles of existing transmission lines and construct about 10 miles of new 230-kV transmission line. The upgrades will create a more resilient electric power grid and increase reliability for customers.
Those are just two of the most recent infrastructure improvements we’re making to make sure you have the reliable power you’ve come to rely on. Maintaining that reliability is important to us, and Santee Cooper will put in the elbow grease to make sure we keep our excellent reliability for our customers.