Net Metering - South Carolina

If you read at all you will have heard the term “Kool-Aid Drinker”. It refers to people who insert a firewall between themselves and reasoned critical thought, and subscribe to a pattern of belief regardless, even, of mounting and verifiable contrary evidence.

The S.C. Business Journal published a lead-off story about Santee Cooper paying $658,157 between Aug. 30 and Dec. 18 to Charleston-based public relations firm Rawle-Murdy to help promote their “green” initiatives and boost their image. They wanted to capture the Kool-Aid Drinkers.

This green program has produced billboard signs, TV ads, radio ads, newspaper ads, internet web sites, and internet ads. They all sprung up like dandelions in the spring. According to Laura Varn, Santee Cooper’s vice president of corporate communications “We brought them on board to help us with the most critical issue facing South Carolina, and that is the issue of how do we meet the future energy needs of the state.”

It appears that with Rawle-Murdy’s research they solved the problem. Bribe the “Kool-Aid Drinkers” with a $2.7 million dollar light bulb give-a-way. As they sit under the glow of their fluorescent light bulbs, they will forget about “true net metering” as a way to reduce future energy demands (do you prefer cherry or grape?). Their research didn’t even touch on zero-energy-homes like what some utilities are doing to reduce energy consumption.

So now Santee Cooper has spent $3.5 million dollars on Kool-Aid and light bulbs and the only solution they have come up with is to burn more coal.

Quit spending our state money on kool aid Santee Cooper and try this! “How Does ‘Zero’ Sound for a Monthly Electricity Bill?”

Thursday, Jan. 31 2008
How Does ‘Zero’ Sound for a Monthly Electricity Bill?

PR Newswire
Comtex

PHOENIX, Jan 31, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ — Catalyst Communities, the developer of Aura at Camelback, a 36-unit sustainable luxury living community to be built in Phoenix’s Camelback Corridor, today announced the launch of its pioneering Zero Electricity Bill program that guarantees buyers will pay zero cost for their monthly electricity bill.

Aura’s unique Zero Electricity Bill program offer is possible due to the synergy of three key elements: the development’s unique LEED Silver Certified energy efficient design, the inclusion of photovoltaic solar electricity on every home and the conservation-minded residents Catalyst Communities expects to attract.

Each of the 36 residences at Aura will be fitted with state-of-the-art solar technology from Agenera, a Phoenix-based solar utility provider. Each unit will be equipped with a dedicated rooftop solar photovoltaic system that will generate up to 100 percent of the electricity needs of the unit. This is part of each unit’s design and not simply an option to buyers.

As part of its unprecedented eco-friendly program, Catalyst Communities will cover all electric utility costs for the first five years of ownership thanks to Aura’s advanced sustainable system design.

True net metering is a proven way to reduce future energy demands and a program that South Carolina should at least be able to try!

Renewable energy, a concept that is sweeping the country. Home builders are saying buyers are harder to find and sales slowing down. If fact, it is happening here in South Carolina. This is not the case in some states where they can build “zero-energy-homes”.

Builders are finding that every home owner wants a home with a little or no electric bill each month. Not only do renewable energy homes save people money over time by reducing power and heating bills, they can reduce water usage, improve indoor air quality and give owners a competitive edge when they need to sell their houses. As the price of electric goes up so does the market value of zero-energy-homes.

In South Carolina where summer heat often exceeds 100 degrees Fahrenheit, selling zero-energy homes equipped with solar panels, tankless water heaters and additional insulation can make buyers be “cash-flow positive” for the additional money spent on their homes in a month due to lower power bills. In an area where monthly summer electrical bills of $500 are possible, the chance for saving on power will attract buyers in a lackluster market and beyond.

Photovoltaics solar panels will last 25 years, your electric bill will never increase with inflation, they create no pollution, have no moving parts, don’t need an annual service agreement, and there is no maintenance. You won’t know you have them until you get your power bill.

It is easy to see why the renewable energy concept of “True Net Metering” could put the South Carolina housing market into one of the top spots in the country.

So why is it there are no zero-energy-homes with renewable energy being built or sold in South Carolina? Our state owned utility, South Carolina Public Service Authority (Santee Cooper), does not want anyone to be able to produce electricity other than Santee Cooper. As a state owned authority, they have absolute control over how energy is produced and transmitted for almost 2 million people in South Carolina. A very large bureaucratic monopoly.

Everywhere net metering is allowed and encouraged with good rules by the utilities, high tech jobs, manufacturing businesses, and whole communities of zero-energy-homes spring up like dandelions in the spring.

With the energy industry professionals telling us South Carolina’s demand for electricity is quickly outstripping supply and electric bills could double over the next 10 years or so, we have to ask the question “Why is Santee Cooper blocking all attempts of allowing “True Net Metering” to its’ customers”!

If electricity use is outstripping supply and building more plants or buying from outside sources it their answer, what is wrong with homes, business, schools, county, and city buildings having photovoltaic cells on their roofs that produce electricity during the peak load times of the day and buy from them?

It’s reasonable to think that Santee Cooper, a state owned utility with a mission statement that reads, “To be the state’s leading resource for improving the quality of life for the people of South Carolina”, that home owners would have great net metering rules and rebates to encouraging renewable energy!

How can they be called a leader in economic development when South Carolina is one of the last states to allow true net metering?

This tried and proven system called “True Net Metering” is working in 40 States sure looks like a no brainer for Santee Cooper, who keeps telling us they need more electricity, but, keeps blocking the sun….