Nov 4 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Jim Faber The Island Packet, Hilton Head Island, S.C.

Palmetto Electric Cooperative and Santee Cooper are pushing conservation as the main way for customers to offset recent and upcoming rate increases caused by changes in global demand for coal.

Members of the two nonprofit utilities met with The Island Packet on Monday in an effort to address customer concerns ahead of a 14.5 percent rate increase slated for Dec. 1.

That increase comes on the heels of a 13 percent increase by Palmetto Electric in September.

David Ensor, manager of fuel planning and supply for Santee Cooper, said Santee Cooper and the electric cooperatives it supplies are urging customers to use less electricity.

But those efforts haven't been fully embraced at a time when homes are getting larger and people are using more electronics.

"We can't tell someone how much electricity they can use any more than ... a local gas station can tell someone how many miles they can drive," Ensor said.

Santee Cooper generates power for the electric cooperatives in South Carolina as well as serving residential and commercial customers in Horry and Georgetown counties.

Ensor and G. Thomas Upshaw, president and CEO of Palmetto Electric, encouraged common-sense conservation efforts like turning off and unplugging appliances overnight and turning the thermostat up or down a few degrees based on the season.

That conservation message, which Palmetto Electric has been encouraging for years, will be the sole focus of the cooperative's upcoming advertising campaign, according to Jimmy Baker, vice president of marketing and public relations.

Santee Cooper already has stepped up its own conservation efforts by running energy efficiency audits for all its buildings, not filling employee vacancies, cutting raises and holding on to older equipment longer. Those steps could cut $10 million in costs, said Laura Varn, vice president of corporate communications.

Palmetto Electric also is working to cut costs by reducing the number of contractors it hires, instead using its own staff to do more installation work, Upshaw said.

About 78 percent of Palmetto Electric's costs come from wholesale power costs, Baker said. Those costs are the reason behind the rate increases. Global demand for coal has increased dramatically in recent years as China and India race to fire up new coal plants, Ensor said.

That's led coal prices to jump from around $50 per ton a year ago to around $120 per ton, according to the federal Energy Information Administration.

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