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Santee Cooper, Allied Waste Launch New Renewable Generation Station Fueled by Anderson Landfill Biogas

Santee Cooper Contact: Mollie Gore
Corporate Communications
843-761-7093
mrgore@santeecooper.com

Allied Contact Jim Zeumer
Corporate Communications
480-627-2700
jim.zeumer@awin.com

BELTON, SC – Continuing a partnership to expand renewable electricity in South Carolina, Santee Cooper and Allied Waste announced today the startup of a new 3.2-megawatt generating station fueled by renewable biogas at the Anderson Regional Landfill.

The renewable Santee Cooper Green Power station is the state-owned utility’s fourth landfillbiogas powered generating station, and its second with Allied Waste. The two organizations opened the Lee County Generating Station in 2005.

The $3.8-million Anderson Regional Landfill Generating Station includes two Caterpillar 20-cylinder engine generators, and it provides enough power for about 1,500 homes. Added with Santee Cooper’s existing landfill-biogas powered generating stations in Lee, Richland and Horry counties, it brings the utility’s renewable landfill generation to more than 17 megawatts.

“Santee Cooper takes seriously its responsibility to be a good environmental steward, and landfill biogas generation is a project with no downside,” said Lonnie Carter, Santee Cooper’s president and chief executive officer. “Santee Cooper was the first utility in South Carolina to generate renewable Green Power when we opened our first station, at the Horry County Landfill, in 2001.

We are an industry leader, and we are pleased to be working with Allied Waste, a respected environmental steward in its industry.”Allied Waste has 57 landfill biogas-to-energy projects operating at company landfills around the country with 18 additional projects in various stages of development. Existing landfill biogas projects provide sustainable energy for a wide variety of uses ranging from electricity production to powering manufacturing facilities.

“More and more businesses and communities are recognizing that landfills are a viable source of eco-friendly energy,” said Rob Wall, Allied’s general manager for upstate South Carolina. “By partnering with industry leaders like Santee Cooper we are developing innovative projects that are moving this country one step closer to energy independence.” “The great thing about this project is we are literally pumping methane, which is a greenhouse gas, out of the landfill that produces it from naturally decomposing garbage,” said Tom Kierspe, Santee Cooper vice president of engineering and construction services. “We are turning that biogas into renewable Green Power that helps diversify our fuel mix, and it’s a real environmental success story.”

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, every 1 megawatt of power produced through a facility such as the Anderson Regional Landfill Generating Station is equal to removing almost 8,000 cars from area roads or planting over 10,000 acres of trees.

The Anderson project is supported by Santee Cooper customers who purchase blocks of Santee Cooper Green Power. Residential customers can purchase the premium power in blocks of 100 kilowatt hours for $3 each (prices vary for commercial and industrial customers). Santee Cooper reinvests 100 percent of Green Power revenues in new or expanded renewable energy projects.

“Santee Cooper is pursuing a goal set by our board of directors last year, to generate 40 percent of our energy by the year 2020 from non-greenhouse gas emitting resources, biomass fuels, conservation and energy efficiency,” said Marc Tye, vice president of conservation and renewable energy. “Projects like the Anderson Regional Landfill Generating Station push us toward that important and aggressive goal.”

In addition to landfill generation, Santee Cooper is also generating solar power and has just contracted for forest waste-generated biomass energy. The utility is exploring the potential for wind energy along South Carolina’s coast, and it is evaluating the potential for new small-scale hydro facilities. More information about the utility’s renewable projects and conservation and energy initiatives are available at www.SanteeCooperGreen.com.