Santee Cooper Brings Mindful Approach to Generation, Transmission Projects
By JimmyStaton, Santee Cooper President and CEO
July 29,2025
Santee Cooper is South Carolina’s electric and water utility, and we’re proud to be owned by the people of this state. We are always mindful of that ownership as we carry out the work required to meet South Carolina’s current critical need for additional energy. That mindfulness shows up in our project management philosophy, which prioritizes safety, transparency, engagement with the community, affordability, full regulatory compliance and reduced impacts to property owners and the environment.
That mindfulness is why our recent planning efforts to add a much-needed 230kV transmission line within our existing right of way through a portion of the Beidler Forest included engagement with the Audubon Society of South Carolina starting in November.
Santee Cooper considered several routes, and the existing pathway was determined to have the lowest environmental impact. The Audubon Society received a detailed explanation of our plans, and it agreed with those plans, which do not include the removal of ancient trees. This critical line will provide reliable power to support the growing demand in Berkeley, Dorchester, and Charleston counties.
That mindfulness is also why Santee Cooper and Dominion Energy ran a transparent, competitive process with qualified bidders to select a natural gas provider for our proposed natural gas-fueled station in the Canadys community. At the conclusion of that process – and based on an evaluation of each proposal against the clearly stated criteria – Santee Cooper and Dominion selected Kinder Morgan as the provider for the project.
Our efforts to bring these and other new power and transmission resources online will be transparent, environmentally mindful, and open for public engagement.
Santee Cooper strives to balance our operations with environmental stewardship. When we closed our Conway coal-fired generating station, we not only removed ash and other materials from the site, we replanted and restored the ash and cooling ponds to native wetlands. At our Camp Hall commerce park in Ridgeville, we also are conserving almost 30 percent of the land for environmental preservation and are replanting native species and making other improvements for wetlands. As part of our cooperative management of lakes Marion and Moultrie, we are studying and preparing to invest in resources to protect the fish and wildlife that depend on these natural resources.
Preparing and delivering the power and transmission resources for the future of our state is a significant endeavor. We look forward to continued engagement with our communities on these efforts.
This Op-Ed appeared in The Post and Courier on Jul 29, 2025.