Melissa Williams, melissa.williams@sierraclub.org
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Dominion Energy plans to retire its entire South Carolina coal fleet by 2030 and add as much as 2,000 megawatts of solar and up to 900 megawatts of battery storage by 2048.
Dominion, which serves more than 750,000 customers in the Palmetto State, announced the proposed retirements in its updated long-term energy plan, after its first version was unanimously rejected in December by the South Carolina Public Service Commission. That plan was sent back because Dominion made faulty assumptions regarding everything from fuel prices, energy efficiency, coal retirements, and renewable energy, according to commissioners.
Dominion’s modified energy plan states they are pursuing a plan that will retire three coal-fired units at Wateree and Williams Stations in 2028, and convert the Cope Station from coal to fracked gas by 2030.
All of the plants are located in majority Black communities, and have for years been releasing toxic pollution into local waterways that can poison drinking water, make swimming and fishing unsafe, damage children's developmental health, and cause cancer.
Unfortunately, Dominion’s plans also add 1,000 megawatts of new fracked gas. Gas is not clean, and the climate-damaging impacts from methane and carbon dioxide emitted by extracting, transporting and burning all fossil fuels show the urgent need to move completely away from coal and gas toward toward safe, abundant and truly clean resources like wind and solar, paired with robust investments in energy efficiency and storage.
In response, Will Harlan, senior representative for the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal campaign in South Carolina, released the following statement:
“The closure of these plants will be a huge health benefit for families and children who have been forced to live, work and play in the shadow of coal-burning plants that pollute their air and the rivers where they boat and fish. These communities have fought long and hard for protections that others take for granted, and now there’s hope for real change.
“But while we’re very glad there’s an end in sight for Dominion Energy’s coal in South Carolina, adding fracked gas is a shortsided move that means communities in Orangeburg County won’t get the safe, clean energy they deserve—and we’ll continue to support and work alongside them until they do.”
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3.5 million members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.