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RSS FeedSantee Cooper offers zero-interest loans for solar panels |
Posted at Charleston's Home Port by Mike Terry
Jan. 11, 2008
Categorized in: Charleston, SC - General
Santee Cooper offers zero-interest loans for solar panels
Looking for creative solutions to produce more energy without emitting greenhouse gases, Santee Cooper announced last week that the utility will offer interest-free loans to customers to cover their cost of installing solar panels or other renewable energy-generating equipment.
The maximum loan amount is $40,000. As part of the plan, the public utility will purchase excess energy back from customers and place it on the grid.
“Renewable energy is a key focus for us as we meet our customers’ need for electricity now and into the future,” said Marc Tye, Santee Cooper vice president of conservation and renewable energy. “Helping customers in this way sends them the signal that we are serious about Santee Cooper Green.”
Santee Cooper Green is the term the utility coined for its goal of generating at least 40% of its power by 2020 from sources that don’t emit greenhouse gases such as solar, wind and nuclear. Successful conservation efforts also will count toward the goal.
The state’s only public utility, which provides power to some 2 million electric customers, rolled out the aggressive agenda while fighting a public relations battle over plans to construct a new coal-fired plant in Florence County.
Environmental groups have assailed the utility, arguing that coal is the dirtiest form of producing electricity, but Santee Cooper says it can’t keep up with rising energy demands without it, and that a new plant would implement the latest environmental control technology that would meet or exceed federal environmental standards.
To talk to a Santee Cooper marketing representative about the loans, call 843-347-3399, ext. 3277, in Horry and Georgetown counties and 843-761-8000, ext. 3277, in Berkeley County.
as provided by Charleston Regional Business Journal
