BERKELEY COUNTY, S.C. (WCSC) – South Carolina electric cooperatives are backing two lawsuits challenging new federal emissions regulations because experts fear they will limit the ability to provide reliable, affordable power to customers.
The Environmental Protection Agency sets regulations in place regarding emissions from coal and new power plants.
These two principles are at the core of co-ops, says Mike Fuller, CEO of Berkeley Electric Cooperative.
“The Berkeley Electric Association is a non-profit organization. Our purpose in life is safe, reliable, affordable energy, and when these proposals come up, or in some cases, don’t even propose rules, that impact reliability and affordability, that’s something we’re obligated to take care of.” Be a part of it “Be the voice of our member owners and consumers,” Fuller says.
He says the industry welcomes clean energy such as solar and battery power and has moved away significantly from coal, but there is still a need for gas plants to support energy demand.
“I think it’s not surprising probably anywhere in South Carolina but especially here in the Lowcountry. We have a hard time keeping up with demand anyway. So, all it takes is one cold snap and it could be catastrophic to our system and the lights would go out and thus outages.” “Now, as I said, we’ve got the systems in place, but with the demand we’re seeing, I don’t know if we can rein it in,” Fuller says.
The EPA rule would require coal and gas plants to reduce emissions starting in 2032 and meet new emissions standards. The cooperatives say this means they will have to reduce their production or capture and store emissions using technology they do not believe has yet proven effective.
Environmentalists say the EPA has the right to regulate emissions, and that fossil fuels are the biggest emitter of greenhouse gases that threaten the environment.
“I certainly think the EPA should have the authority to regulate air emissions, which they do here,” says Taylor Allred, energy and climate program director at the Coastal Conservation League. “Greenhouse gas emissions have a well-understood and documented negative impact on public health. Climate change is already being felt very acutely here in Charleston, where we have seen a significant increase in coastal flooding.”
Berkeley Electric Cooperative and other co-ops that work with Santee Cooper Electric are actively working on using solar energy as a power source, Fuller says. Santee Cooper has committed to adding 300 megawatts of solar capacity each year from 2026 to 2032. Each megawatt will be able to power 740 homes.
“So we’re already doing that, but where we are now with these new gas plants, there has to be a transition. We could go straight to solar,” Fuller says.
Fuller uses December 2022 as an example of when companies consider when making a decision. A cold wave threatened the network at that time.
“It was so cold, maybe at 4:35 a.m., the phones started going off saying, ‘Hey, we’re at a critical point where we’re probably going to have to have frequent power outages.’” “So we were in a situation where we were trying to “Knowing which feeders were going to come out because we didn’t have the capacity to meet the level of demand that was out there.”
He says it is too early to fully rely on solar energy and batteries in a situation like this, so, in order to become energy independent and meet the needs, new gas plants are needed. Santee Cooper expects demand to increase 40% by 2030, cooperative representatives say.
But Allred says from an environmental standpoint and looking at the financials, he doesn’t see the point in investing in new gas plants.
“Especially building new fossil fuel infrastructure at this point, it’s going to be a lot more expensive for all of us, you know, not just in terms of the pollution impacts, but it’s frankly very expensive, and the utilities know that the taxpayers of the United States are shouldering everything.” From the risks of fluctuations in fossil fuel costs. Gas costs in particular are very volatile, Allred says.
He’s considering trial-and-order plants that end up costing taxpayers in the long run, and he’s wary of investing in new gas plants.
“Although we have made some progress, especially with respect to retiring some coal plants, we still have a long way to go. Fossil fuels are the largest contributor to the greenhouse gas emissions that drive global climate change,” Allred says. “Also a lot of negative impacts on local air and water quality.”
Fuller says transitioning to clean energy while still having reliable power is everyone’s goal, but they just disagree on the direct path to getting there.
“I think by adding more gas generation, it allows us to provide more solar because it’s a coupling of the two. So they have to be equal because when solar isn’t available, we have gas,” Fuller says.
This issue can be seen on a national and state level in South Carolina’s energy reform bill, in which leaders say a new gas plant is needed in Canada to secure energy independence, while some who live there worry about the impacts of fossil fuels. In their backyard. Lawmakers are in special session to work on the bill now.
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