Pee Dee Coal Plant

SELC is fighting a proposal by state-owned utility Santee Cooper to build two new 660-megawatt conventional coal-fired units in Florence County, South Carolina. The plant would emit about 8.7 million tons of carbon dioxide every year, and thousands of tons of soot- and smog-forming pollutants annually for at least 50 years. Furthermore, every year the plant would emit over 300 pounds of mercury into the Great Pee Dee River – a river that already has so much mercury in it that the fish are unsafe to eat.

In addition to harming public health, Santee Cooper’s proposal is a poor economic choice. The $1.25 billion price tag for the Pee Dee plant continues to rise as the costs of building materials skyrocket and the price of coal continues to escalate. Furthermore, with carbon emissions expected to cost $35 a ton, the Pee Dee plant could have a $385 million annual balloon payment based on its carbon costs alone.

The Alternatives

Efficiency gains and renewable sources could meet the region’s needs with lower long-term costs. In fact, if Santee Cooper increased efficiency by a mere 1percent a year, it could avoid building this plant altogether. This is possible in South Carolina, which already uses more electricity per person than 46 other states.

Efficiency is not only the cheapest, fastest, cleanest and safest way to generate power; efficiency and renewables can produce more local jobs than a highly automated plant burning dirty imported fuel.

If building a new plant is absolutely unavoidable, Santee Cooper should pursue more advanced coal technologies that will not further the state’s contribution to global warming.

SELC Action

As the South Carolina Department of Health and and Environmental Controls considered permitting the coal plant, SELC sent formal comments outlining significant concerns under the Clean Air Act and given recent federal court rulings.

SELC appealed the permit following a split vote by DHEC’s board approving the air permit for the coal plant. The board’s approval came despite opposition by Governor Sanford and South Carolina’s Department of Natural Resources. In a letter to DHEC, DNR director Frampton outlined the proposed plant’s “grave” threat to human health as well as the dangers to South Carolina’s air, rivers and fish.