ACEEE released South Carolina's Energy Future: Minding Its Efficiency Resources at back-to-back press events in Charleston on November 11 and in Columbia on November 12 attended by South Carolina Senate President Glenn McConnell and Senator Paul Campbell. Speaking at the Charleston event, Senator McConnell stated, “South Carolina must act now before we face an energy crisis. We need to move toward more balanced energy solutions. Energy efficiency is the best first step toward meeting our needs while guarding our resources, our security, and our environment.”

The South Carolina study examines the potential electricity and water efficiency savings that could be realized in the state through the implementation of a suite of eleven electric and five water efficiency policies, and quantifies the growth in gross state product and employment that would result from these investments.

Read the Press Release or Download the Report
Read the SC Post and Courier Story

Of the eleven electricity policies recommended, the report suggests that eight be eligible to contribute towards a utility savings target that would be required by an energy efficiency resource standard (EERS) which would be set at 18% of projected sales in 2025.The EERS represents the core of these policies, providing a foundation to which the other policies contribute to achieve the greatest savings. Five water efficiency policies are named that would assist South Carolina’s public water supply and wastewater treatment systems to meet the growing demand for water and wastewater service cost-effectively. For the complete list of recommendations, download the report.
 
Max Neubauer, lead author of the report and ACEEE research associate, and Suzanne Watson, ACEEE Policy Director, led the development of the recommendations that were developed over months of individual stakeholder meetings and interviews. Listening meetings were held with most of the utilities in the state, the business community, state legislators, the governor's office, environmental organizations, low income community representatives, universities, and many others.

Max Neubauer and Suzanne Watson, ACEEE, in Columbia, SC

Names in the order they appear left to right:

1. SC State Senator Paul Campbell
2. Max Neubeauer, ACEEE
3. Beezer Molton, owner of hosting company, Half-Moon Outfitters, located in a 1st of its kind LEED-certified warehouse in Charleston, SC
4. SC State Senate President Glenn McConnell
5. Suzanne Watson, ACEEE
6. Mike Couick, President/CEO, Electric Cooperatives of South Carolina