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Santee Cooper CEO, president defends need for new coal-fired generating plant
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Mar 4 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Jamie Durant Florence Morning News, S.C.
Santee Cooper CEO and president, Lonnie Carter, defended the need for a new coal-fired generating plant during a speech Monday to the Florence Rotary Club.
Carter said Santee Cooper has a responsibility to provide reliable power to the residents of South Carolina.
"Most people take electricity for granted, and that's the way we want it, but those days are gone," he said.
But, he said, one of the problems faced by the power company is repairing the damage done by well-meaning people in the fight for and against the 600-megawatt coal-fired generation facility, which would be located on a 2,709-acre tract in Kingsburg. It is scheduled to become operational sometime after 2012.
"There is a lot of misinformation that has been provided to the community," Carter said. "We need to (correct) that in a professional and responsible way."
He said the company is also trying to get people interested in the need for conservation and renewal as one way to help control the need for more power.
"One reason we need more power is the size of homes being built today," he said. "They are bigger than they have ever been in this country."
He also gave Santee Cooper's reasons for not using IGCC technology, also known as integrated gasification coal combustion technology as suggested by a number of conservation groups.
"Only four plants in the world operate on this technology," Carter said. "All of them have had a number of problems and none of them capture 100 percent of the carbon dioxide emissions."
Carter said Santee Cooper has been a focus of many organizations lately who have lead the public to think the company has the government's backing to do as they wish. That is not the case, he said.
"Remember we do not have any taxpayer money," Carter said. "Santee Cooper has never received one dime from the state of South Carolina -- we've always paid into the state of South Carolina."
Santee Cooper is the third largest publicly owned power company in the country and nearly half the people living in South Carolina get their power, either directly or indirectly through an energy co-operative, from Santee Cooper. Carter said the company celebrated 87 years of serving the state in February.
"We're out there doing what is in the best interest of our customers," he said. "It's not a game that we play. You can count on Santee Cooper to continue to provide reliable, responsible energy to the state of South Carolina."
Pee Dee Sierra group hosting chapter director
The Pee Dee Sierra group is hosting program speaker John Ramsburgh, who recently joined the Sierra Club of South Carolina as chapter director.
The discussion, which will highlight the chapter's conservation and legislative priorities, is at 7 p.m. Thursday at St. Luke Church, 1201 Cherokee Road, Florence.
Ramsburgh's also been active in statewide efforts to stop the Santee Cooper coal-fired plant proposal for the Pee Dee river, and he's been active in statewide efforts to promote a clean, renewable energy future for South Carolina.
SOURCE: From local reports