Dollars and Sense

Since Santee Cooper recently became a patron of the economic impact business, Clean Energy for South Carolina thought it would be timely to point out a study conducted by the government of Ontario. In that Canadian province, the government is responsible for both providing power and health care. So when it came time for the government to find out if continued reliance on coal-fired electricity generation made financial sense, they didn't just rely on inflated jobs numbers, they included the environmental and health costs of coal in their study and compared it against other alternatives.

What did they find? They found that the levelized cost of coal is $37/MWh (presumably in Canadian dollars) if environmental and health damages are not included. But when health and environmental costs are included, the cost of coal inflates to $164/Mwh -- that's right, the cost more than quadrupled. In fact, health and environmental costs make up over three quarters of the true cost of coal.

But here's the rub. Unlike Ontario, Canada, where the government provides both power and health care, in South Carolina Santee Cooper doesn't have to pay the environmental and health costs of coal. But YOU DO. Oh and by the way, if you are a Santee Cooper customer, you'll also end up paying for that new coal plant too, through higher rates.

Still think coal is cheap? Still think its a good investment for South Carolina?

Ontario has taken this data and decided it's in its financial best interest to shut down its coal plants. One has already been demolished.

We're a long way from that in South Carolina; the least we could do it stop a new coal plant from being built.

If you support that, you're not necessary an environmentalist, or a someone concerned about your childrens' health -- you could just be someone interested in fiscal responsibility and sound economics for our state.