SAN FRANCISCO, CALIF; December 11, 2002:
The Center for Resource Solutions (CRS) announced today that
Santee Cooper, South Carolina’s
state-owned electric and water utility, has achieved national
Green Power Accreditation for its Green Power program.
Santee Cooper’s Green Power electricity
is generated from methane gas at a landfill, and meets the
national and state Accreditation
standards for environmental and consumer protection.
The newly accredited Green Power program
is available to Santee Cooper’s nearly 135,000 residential and commercial retail
customers. Santee Cooper, with headquarters located in Moncks
Corner, S.C., is also the primary source of power distributed
by the state’s 20 electric cooperatives to approximately
615,000 customers located in all of the state’s 46 counties
and plans to make green power available to all of their electric
cooperative customers. Horry Electric Cooperative and Santee
Electric Cooperative now market Green Power to their customers.
The program gained national Green Pricing Accreditation status
by meeting or exceeding a series of stringent guidelines that
include the use of renewable resources, appropriate product pricing
and marketing, and customer education. Accredited utility programs
also undergo an annual independent verification process to document
that they have delivered the green power promised to their customers.
Environmental, consumer, and clean energy groups all collaborated
through CRS to establish the Accreditation criteria. The national
criteria were then reviewed through a local statewide process
involving consumer and environmental protection organizations.
The S.C. Coastal Conservation League, State Energy Office and
the state chapter of the Sierra Club, worked with Santee Cooper
and approved the state Accreditation criteria. This strategic
collaborative effort ensures high-quality green energy programs.
"The Green Pricing Accreditation Initiative is part of
efforts by consumer and environmental protection groups across
the country to help use the power of customer choice to promote
renewable energy and protect the environment," said Jan
Hamrin, CRS Executive Director.
“Santee Cooper is a pioneer in green power pricing in
South Carolina,” said Stephen Smith, Executive Director
of Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. “Santee Cooper is
offering the first green power product in the state and the second
product to be accredited in the Southeast. Customer demand for
clean electricity is turning the Southeast into a regional renewable
energy powerhouse. We believe Accreditation is the best way to
ensure that electricity customers get the renewable energy they
are promised."
Santee Cooper’s green electricity
is offered in blocks of 100 kilowatt-hours each to residential
customers who pay a
monthly premium of $3 per block. Commercial customers are offered
Green Power in 200-kwh blocks at $6 per block. All the premiums
collected will be used to fund future renewable energy projects.
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Santee Cooper’s Green Power Program product is generated from a project
located at the Horry County Solid Waste Authority landfill near Conway, S.C.
which began operation on Sept. 4, 2001.
“Santee Cooper is proud to be South Carolina’s leader
in the area of renewable energy,” said Santee Cooper President
and Chief Executive Officer John Tiencken. “Our commitment
to Green Power is an extension of our environmental stewardship.”
More information on the Green Pricing Accreditation Initiative
and its standards is available at www.resource-solutions.org.
Information on the Santee Cooper Green Power Program is available
at www.santeecooper.com/greenpower.
Based on generation, Santee Cooper is the
nation’s third
largest publicly owned electric utility among state, municipal
and district systems.
# # #
For more information contact:
Keri Bolding
Communications Director
Center for Resource Solutions
P.O. Box 29512
San Francisco, CA 29512
(415) 561-2100
or
Willard Strong
Santee Cooper Media Relations
1 Riverwood Dr.
Moncks Corner, SC 29461
(843) 761-4053
