By Jessica Holdman
SCDailyGazette.com
COLUMBIA — South Carolina’s power cooperatives received $500 million in federal grants and zero-interest loans to help cover the cost of solar and nuclear energy for their nearly 2 million customers over the next two decades.
The award comes less than three months after Central Electric Power Cooperative, Inc., the organization that supplies electricity to the state’s 19 cooperatives, became a finalist for the program aimed at rural power providers. It’s part of the larger landmark clean energy law signed by President Joe Biden in 2022 (titled the Inflation Reduction Act).
Federal officials approved Central for the full amount of funding for which it was eligible. That comes to $442.2 million in grants and more than $57.8 million in zero-interest loans, which can be used to cover 25% of the cooperatives’ cost for any power project.
The funding comes as state leaders grapple with how to increase power production in the rapidly growing Palmetto State.
“South Carolina’s rapid growth has come with great challenges for the power grid, but Central and our state’s electric cooperatives are always looking for creative solutions that minimize costs for our consumers,” Berl Davis, chairman of Central’s governing board and CEO of Palmetto Electric Cooperative in Ridgeland, said in a statement.
Central plans to use the loan and $306 million in grants to buy 150 megawatts from the Catawba Nuclear Station in York County, giving the cooperatives access to about 18% of the unit’s capacity. The nuclear plant is operational and licensed to produce power through 2043. The federal dollars should ultimately reduce what cooperative members pay on their monthly power bill for that agreement.
Central also will use $52.3 million in grants toward buying power from three solar farms in Georgetown County. Two of those solar projects begin operations by the end of the year. The third is under development.
Finally, Central is looking for developers willing to build 200 megawatts worth of solar power, as well as 150 megawatts worth of batteries used to store solar-generated power. The cooperatives have more than $100 million worth of grant money to purchase power from potential projects.
Jessica Holdman writes about the economy, workforce and higher education. Before joining the S.C. Daily Gazette, she was a business reporter for The Post and Courier. S.C. Daily Gazette is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
