The board of South Carolina’s state-owned utility (why do we have a state-owned utility again?) voted unanimously yesterday to halt plans for the construction of a massive, $2 billion coal-fired power plant in the Pee Dee region of the state.
Led by chairman O.L. Thompson, the Santee Cooper board voted not to pursue the project thanks to a combination of different factors, most notably our state’s worsening economy and the imminent imposition of costly new federal carbon regulations being pushed by the administration of President Barack Obama.
We supported the construction of this plant, obviously, because we love coal. Seriously, people, if you could gargle with coal in the morning instead of mouthwash, we’d be gargling with coal.
Actually, based on the energy needs Santee Cooper outlined, a coal plant was said to be the only way to keep the lights on throughout significant portions of South Carolina. Indeed, Santee Cooper says it now has no choice but to pursue the “nuclear option,” i.e. the construction of two nuclear reactors in Jenkinsville, S.C. with SCE&G.
Not surprisingly, South Carolina’s “environmental community” is opposing the construction of the new nuclear plant – which is currently scheduled to come online in 2020.
Meanwhile, S.C. Gov. Mark Sanford was ecstatic to have something non-scandal related to talk about. The governor, who opposed the coal plant (albeit with some fuzzy math), praised Santee Cooper’s decision.
“Building another coal-fired plant was always going to be a short-term solution to a long-term problem,” Sanford said Monday. “Accordingly, I’d give credit to Santee-Cooper’s leadership for recognizing that the environmental and financial costs associated with a new coal-fired plant were simply too high to make sense in this economy and at this time.”
While Sanford takes his victory lap, however, this decision calls into question the expenses already incurred by his Santee Cooper board, which has invested tens of millions of dollars in a project that it now acknowledges is never going happen.
We’re also interested in seeing how much money we’re going to have to shell out to buy power from other states when we start running out – perhaps as soon as 2012.
Stay tuned for more on that …
By CNSYD August 25, 2009 at 10:12 am
Tree huggers can freeze to death in the dark. I have always found it amusing that just the discussion of building of a nuclear plant has their bowels in an uproar. For decades, multiple nuclear reactors sailed up and down the Cooper River. Two are still there. The “white train” regularly brought in nuclear warheads that would make the bombs dropped on Japan look like a cheap firecracker and there was no weeping and wailing. No one died. France is over 80% nuclear. If boneheaded Jimmy Carter had not stopped reprocessing in this country we would not have the stockpile of spent fuel rods that we do. Now dummies like Reid oppose consolidating waste in one locale in the middle of no where Nevada. Makes good sense to have it spread out amongst hundreds of locale, right?
By Anon August 25, 2009 at 10:17 am
Expenses to date? Every business school student is taught to ignore sunk costs when evaluating continuing a project.
You left out the most important factor:
Even though the Co-Ops are contractually bound to buy power from Santee Cooper for decades to come, they want to switch to out-of-state, for profit Duke.
I’ve yet to hear their justification. There will be no turning back for them if this coal plant isn’t built.
It will be interesting to see if the NC regulators will approve this. Increasing the demand for Duke’s power will not benefit the state’s customers and potentially raise their rates.
By Yeah Doggie August 25, 2009 at 10:43 am
The governor cited an 8% drop, yesterday Santee Cooper cited a 5% drop with more to come. As much as it pains me, he was much closer to being correct than the state govt employees we pay to figure these things out in advance, a la Santee Cooper.
The question that nobody has asked yet is will the yokel who bought many of the construction materials needed for the plant, at the height of materials prices and before they had any permits, be reprimanded or held accountable to rate payers in any way?
Thats like buying a ferrari before you have your drivers license.
Build the nuke plant and be done with it.
By Mike Reino August 25, 2009 at 2:58 pm
Being in Florence County, I can tell you most people here are pretty stunned and disappointed. You have to come to the area to appreciate how much this area needed this project, and SC needs power to grow and attract jobs. ALCOA and Nucor are complaining about not being able to grow because of not enough electricity. I sat down with Ken Ard and others locally, who have been working on this for three years, and they now have to go back to the drawing board, and try to salvage their backyards again, all because Cap & Trade blew the project costs through the roof.
It doesn’t seem like much in Chucktown, Spartanburg or Columbia, but this was everything to rural Florence County.
By meanwhile half a world away August 25, 2009 at 3:31 pm
And in China the coal keeps a burnin to power the manufacturing economy US and other multinational companies sent there.
While we slip into Third World status here we will breathe clean air.
Wonder what the US will be like in 50 years after I’ve gone on?
By CNSYD August 25, 2009 at 4:21 pm
meanwhile, if we had tried to win WWII under all the tree hugger rules we have today, we would either be speaking German or Japanese.
By John Steinberger August 25, 2009 at 7:22 pm
Our air and water are much cleaner today than in the 1970′s. We need power plants to allow for growth and new industry. The enviro-weasels are going to turn the lights out on progress!
By Justin Case August 25, 2009 at 11:50 pm
Actually, you probably do gargle with coal. It explains so much.
http://www.greenyour.com/body/personal-care/mouthwash
The major chemical culprits in mouthwash
Coal-tar colorants and synthetic dyes: Coal tar is a byproduct of the distillation of bituminous coal and is harmful to the environment, is a known carcinogen in animals, and can cause skin rashes and hives. In an ingredient list, if the color’s name is preceded by FD&C, it’s certified for use in food, drugs, and cosmetics. Common colorants found in mouthwashes include FD&C Blue 1 and FD&C Green 3, which are carcinogenic. FD&C Yellow 5 and FD&C Yellow 6 contain impurities that have been proven to cause cancer when applied to skin.
By duh August 26, 2009 at 7:23 am
I will also point out that the enviros had lost every lawsuit they brought and cap and trade is not law yet. The coops just realized they were going to be stuck with the bill and Duke was cheaper. Duke burns coal for something like 75% of their generation and will be heavily affected by cap and trade as well. This was an economic decision and has more to do with Santee Cooper being having poor foresight and generation diversity than anything else.
Duke is building a coal plant in NC. Why did they get er done and the Santee serfdom failed?
Stop ranting about insignificant environmental groups and privatize Santee Cooper for crying out loud.
By rick August 26, 2009 at 7:40 am
How about natural gas turbines for power production while the nuc plant is being built? Built here in SC by General Electric.
By CNSYD August 26, 2009 at 8:28 am
Justin Case, I heard that no matter what you do, eat, drink, breathe, etc. you will die.
By Justin Case August 26, 2009 at 9:25 am
What an astute observation. Who knew?
By wayne December 1, 2010 at 9:52 am
Who would be guarding the tons of plutonium if “Bone Head Jimmy Carter hadn’t stopped the Allied-Gulf project? You do know that plutonium is a by-product of fuel rod re-processing, don’t you?