Santee Cooper’s New Energy Plan is Bad News for South Carolina Customers

Santee Cooper, the South Carolina utility, has filed a new long-range energy plan with state regulators that pulls back on earlier solar commitments and keeps a coal plant running longer than planned. Back in 2023, the utility had proposed 1,500 megawatts of solar by 2030 and 3,000 by 2040. The new plan pushes solar investment off until 2052. It also delays the retirement of the Winyah coal plant from 2030 to the end of 2034, with the door left open to pushing that date back further.

The utility says rising electricity demand, partly from data centers, is driving up costs, and it wants to build new gas plants rather than lean more on solar and wind. Critics point out that solar and wind are generally the cheapest new power sources available right now, and that a global shortage of gas turbines is already pushing up prices. South Carolinians have also raised concerns about cost overruns at the Canadys gas plant currently under construction.

For homeowners, this is a signal about where your electricity is likely headed, not a program you can sign up for. If your utility leans harder on new gas plants and delays shutting down an aging coal plant, that can mean higher power bills over time, since gas and coal costs have been less predictable than solar. It is also a reminder that utility planning decisions made now, long before they show up on a bill, shape what you pay for electricity for years to come.