Santee Cooper Board Approves New Rates for 2027 and 2028

Key Takeaways:

• Santee Cooper’s Board approved new retail base rates for 2027 and 2028, following a months‑long public comment process.
• Average retail rates will increase 3.3% in 2027 and 3.1% in 2028, with the typical residential customer seeing about a $6.60 monthly increase in 2027 and a similar adjustment in 2028.
• Customer feedback shaped key updates including balanced demand billing and exclusion of federal holidays from peak calculation.

MONCKS CORNER, S.C. – The Santee Cooper Board of Directors today approved new base rates for retail customers for 2027 and 2028 following a months-long, transparent public comment process. The rates will take effect for bills rendered on or after Feb. 1, 2027, and Feb. 1, 2028, which could include January usage for some customers depending on their billing cycle.

The changes include an average 3.3% increase across retail customer classes in 2027 and an overall average increase of 3.1% in 2028. The typical residential customer would see an average monthly bill increase of about $6.60, or approximately 20 cents a day, in 2027, with a similar impact expected in 2028.

“These changes will help ensure Santee Cooper can continue investing in the electric system our customers depend on, while improving options for customers to manage their monthly bills,” said Jimmy Staton, Santee Cooper president and CEO. “We appreciate the time customers took to share their concerns and ideas throughout this process, and we used that feedback in finalizing the rates.”

Santee Cooper incorporated customer feedback into the approved rate structure. Key changes include:

• Balanced Demand Billing: Residential and small commercial customers will see demand charges calculated using the average of their maximum hourly electricity use during the four highest peak periods each month, rather than a charge based on a single highest hour. This approach is designed to reduce the impact of an isolated spike in electricity use.
• Federal holidays excluded: Federal holidays will be excluded from peak-period calculations.
• Aligned peak hours: The commercial peak demand window will be shortened from four hours to three, aligning small commercial customers’ peak hours with residential customers’ hours and giving businesses more flexibility to manage costs.
• Peak-day alerts: Development of peak-day alert notifications is underway to help customers better plan their electricity use on days when demand is expected to be high.
• Permanent High Impact Load Rate: This permanent rate replaces and builds upon Santee Cooper’s experimental large load rate, which requires high load customers, including data centers, to pay for incremental costs to serve them and sign a 15-year service agreement that includes financial guarantees.

The utility’s financial plan identified a projected revenue deficiency beginning in 2027, making rate adjustments necessary to support ongoing operations and system investments. As a state-owned, not-for-profit public power utility, Santee Cooper bases its rates on the cost of providing service to customers.

The average base rate adjustments by customer class are:

• Residential customers: 4.7% in 2027 and 4.6% in 2028
• Commercial customers: 2.9% in 2027 and 2.9% in 2028
• Lighting customers: 3.2% in 2027 and 3% in 2028
• Industrial customers: 2.6% in 2027 and 2.1% in 2028

Santee Cooper remains committed to helping customers manage their electricity use and monthly bills. Customers can explore energy-saving tools and efficiency programs at www.santeecooper.com/programs-incentives.

Customers who need help managing their bills can also learn about flexible payment options and assistance programs at www.santeecooper.com/residential/payment-assistance.

Customers can find additional information about the rate study and approved changes at www.santeecooper.com/ratestudy.