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In an effort to enhance grid reliability and meet the growing needs of customers, Santee Cooper purchased Cherokee Cogeneration Partners LLC, a natural gas-generating facility in Cherokee County that added nearly 100 megawatts to the utility’s combined electric system.
The acquisition marked the first time in 15 years that we’ve brought a new resource to Santee Cooper.
Our largest customer, Central Electric Power Cooperative Inc. supported the purchase, and the boards of Santee Cooper and Central each approved the purchase as a shared resource for use in enhancing reliability of our combined system. That means the generation will benefit Santee Cooper’s retail and other wholesale customers, along with Central’s member cooperatives across South Carolina.
“We’ve seen increased customer demand caused by new and expanded industries and a fast-growing residential and commercial base in areas served by Santee Cooper, our municipal wholesale customers, and the state’s electric cooperatives,” said Jimmy Staton, Santee Cooper President and CEO. “That’s a good problem to have, frankly. Adding the Cherokee plant to our portfolio will help Santee Cooper meet that demand in an affordable and reliable way and help us integrate additional renewable power as we bring it online over the next few years.”
The Cherokee facility has been operating since 1998 and is connected to the existing Transco natural gas pipeline, which runs through western South Carolina. Santee Cooper has purchased power from the facility in the past and continued to do so through the acquisition.
The purchase of the generation station was approved by the Public Service Commission in September, and the purchase of the property on which the station is located was approved by the Joint Bond Review Committee in October.