Santee Cooper Recognized as a Smart Energy Provider
Staff Report From South Carolina CEO
Wednesday, October 30th, 2019
Santee Cooper has earned a Smart Energy Provider (SEP) designation from the American Public Power Association for demonstrating commitment to and proficiency in energy efficiency, distributed generation and environmental initiatives that support a goal of providing low-cost, quality, safe and reliable electric service.
Chris Van Dokkumburg, Planning Analyst at Holland Board of Public Works and Chair of the Energy Services Committee in Michigan, presented the designations on Oct. 29 during the Association’s annual Customer Connections Conference held in New Orleans, Louisiana.
The SEP designation, which lasts for two years (Dec. 1, 2019 to Nov. 30, 2021) recognizes public power utilities for demonstrating leading practices in four key disciplines: smart energy program structure; energy efficiency and distributed energy programs; environmental and sustainability initiatives; and the customer experience. This is the first year the Association has offered the SEP designation. Santee Cooper joins more than 60 public power utilities nationwide that received the inaugural SEP designation.
“This designation highlights utilities that are really stepping up to deliver their customers top-notch programs and services,” said Van Dokkumburg. “These utilities are going beyond ‘keeping the lights on,’ and their communities should be proud.”
“We’re honored to be recognized for our efforts to support our community’s responsible energy use,” said Mike Poston, vice president of retail operations at Santee Cooper. “We met our Reduce The Use goal two years early, saving customers 209 gigawatt hours a year. It’s encouraging to be recognized as a best-of-breed utility when it comes to smart energy.”
Santee Cooper’s Reduce The Use programs helped close to 75,000 of its 185,000 residential and commercial direct-service customers save energy and money. The 2018 annual energy savings is enough to power the needs of more than 16,500 average residential customers. Even better, these programs saved customers more than $250 million since their launch in 2008.
Through Reduce The Use, Santee Cooper offers customers rebates for a variety of energy efficiency improvements, from smart thermostats for their homes to lighting controls for their businesses. It also offers the Smart Energy Loan program, a low-interest loan that helps residential customers make upgrades such as high-efficiency electric heat pumps, duct replacements and heat pump water heaters.