Ricky Junquera, ricky.junquera@sierraclub.org
SOUTH CAROLINA -- Dominion Energy and Santee Cooper are asking the South Carolina legislature to fast-track a new multibillion-dollar gas plant in Colleton County. House Bill 5118, known as the "Ten Year Energy Transformation Act,” practically writes a blank check allowing them to build a massive methane gas plant on the Edisto River in Canadys -- without having to disclose the costs of the project and the locations of pipelines for the project.
"This legislation reads like a utility wish list’ says Paul Black, Sierra Club's State Field Organizer. “It weakens every guard rail protecting us from these massive state-mandated monopolies, sabotages clean energy competition, and provides an unfair advantage to methane gas plants."
The proposed Dominion and Santee Cooper project, if built, would cost billions of dollars and would lock South Carolinians in for the costs of building the plant, its pipeline infrastructure, and fluctuating fuel costs for decades. The two are pushing lawmakers towards this option before considering cheaper, less risky alternatives like solar, storage, and energy efficiency.
For its part, the South Carolina Legislature is now working double-time to further aid Dominion and Santee Cooper by eliminating crucial consumer protections established after the VC Summer fiasco designed to protect South Carolinians from another situation just like it. The erosion of safeguards will leave ratepayers exposed to potential financial exploitation and abuse by utility companies.
“How are they going to build a gas plant up the road and put us on the hook for even more money? These power bills are already ridiculous,” said Jacqueline Levine, a Lowcountry community member.
On Tuesday, at the State House, many community members turned out to voice their concerns at the Public Utilities Subcommittee Hearing. However, utility representatives and their industry supporters were allowed to speak first, and many concerned ratepayers were not given a chance to speak. At the follow-up event today, people were still not given enough time to be heard.
Paul says, “We had a dozen community members show up to testify between Tuesday and Thursday morning and not a single one was able to speak to the committee. Folks drove from out of town, flew home early, and took time off work only to have the corporate greed prioritized once again. It’s shameful.”
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of 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.