For those who don’t know, South Carolina Energy and Gas (SCE&G) is one of the main energy providers for South Carolina, and the provider for the College of Charleston (see map below).

Since 2011, at CofC we collectively consume about 100,000 Megawatt hours, the equivalent of about 14,000 homes in the United States.  This power comes from a dozen different plants throughout South Carolina.  The plants include: Nuclear, coal fired, natural gas, hydroelectric, and even some solar power generation (most significantly the 10 acres of solar panels on the roof of Boeing’s Final Assembly building in North Charleston).

 

Currently the vast majority of our power comes from fossil fuels. However SC will soon triple its Nuclear power profile when new reactors as V.C. Summer come online in 2019-20. This increase in Nuclear will be accompanied with the closure of several coal plants.

Since 2011, CofC energy usage has increased slightly each year.  This increase, when coupled with rising rates, has undoubtedly caused college utility costs to rise since 2012.  As an institution, we urgently need to address these growing costs and consider the ramifications.  This is not a matter of changing a few light bulbs.  We need to fundamentally rethink our consumption habits and redesign existing infrastructure to ensure our institution’s fiscal and ecological sustainability.

–Craig Bennett, Data Manager at the Office of Sustainability