SC residents should voice support of solar proposal
On Monday, the Santee Cooper board will vote on a solar proposal that represents a significant departure from the rest of South Carolina.
Santee Cooper customers should understand that years of work by utilities, solar businesses, and conservation groups went into passing legislation intended to bring more solar to our state. That approach is proving successful for Duke Energy and SCE&G customers who now have easy access to solar energy for their homes and businesses.
Many of the same parties responsible for supporting and advancing successful solar programs across the state are now criticizing an unnecessarily complicated and expensive solar proposal by Santee Cooper that will ultimately limit customer choice.
It is reasonable to expect that our state-owned utility would respect an approach to solar energy that was good enough for the state legislature to adopt with a unanimous vote, that was good enough for Gov. Nikki Haley to sign into law, and that is now bringing clean energy choices to residents and businesses across South Carolina.
Santee Cooper customers should consider sharing their thoughts on this solar proposal with the board at info@santeecooper.com.
A more detailed analysis of this proposal can be found at: http://coastalconservationleague.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/SanteeCooper_Solar_Handout_1015_Final.pdf.
Hamilton Davis, energy program director, Coastal Conservation League, Charleston
This story was originally published December 4, 2015 at 9:17 AM with the headline "SC residents should voice support of solar proposal."