South Carolina and nuclear power
South Carolina is a significant player in the nuclear power sector, ranking as the third-highest state in the U.S. for nuclear generation capacity. The state relies heavily on nuclear energy, which accounted for about 55% of its electricity production in 2022. South Carolina operates four nuclear power plants: Catawba, Oconee, H. B. Robinson, and Virgil C. Summer. However, the state lacks domestic reserves of coal, oil, natural gas, or uranium, necessitating the import of these resources to support its energy needs, with coal accounting for roughly one-third of electricity generation.
The use of natural gas has increased significantly, rising by 60% from 2012 to 2022, and coal consumption has substantially decreased over the past decade. Renewable energy sources, including hydroelectric power, solar energy, and biomass, contributed about 7% of the state's energy production in 2022, with ongoing efforts to diversify the energy portfolio. Despite challenges in expanding nuclear infrastructure due to economic factors and cost overruns, nuclear and coal remain the dominant energy sources in South Carolina, reflecting the state's unique energy landscape and consumption patterns driven by industrial and residential demands.
South Carolina and nuclear power
Summary: South Carolina has developed and relies on extensive nuclear power and coal-fired facilities. More than enough energy for the state is generated, and the surplus is delivered to other states.
Production and Consumption
South Carolina is highly dependent upon imports of raw materials for energy generation. The state does not have reserves of coal, oil, natural gas, or uranium of its own. All of these raw resources must be imported into the state to allow for sufficient energy production. Energy in South Carolina is generated primarily through nuclear power and coal-fired plants. Other energy production is based on imported crude oil. These technologies account for the bulk of South Carolina’s energy production.
Energy consumption in South Carolina is dominated by industry and transportation. Industry uses a variety of energy sources, including electricity, coal, biofuels, hydroelectricity, petroleum, and natural gas. The transportation sector relies primarily on petroleum. Home and commercial consumption use primarily electricity, natural gas, and petroleum. Renewable resources are minimally employed.
South Carolina has one of the United States’ highest rates of electricity consumption. The state’s extremely warm summers necessitate the use of air conditioners, which drives up consumption; in the winter, the use of heaters has a similar effect. The state’s high consumption of electricity can also be attributed to industrial consumption, which accounts for a significant percentage of overall energy use. While electricity use is high, the cost of electricity is lower than the national average. Electricity is produced primarily through nuclear energy. Following nuclear energy generation is the use of coal-fired plants and, to a much lower degree, hydroelectric power and wood fuel electricity production.
Nuclear Energy
Since the 1970s, South Carolina has been an important contributor to nuclear power generation in the United States. The third-highest-ranking state for nuclear generation capacity, South Carolina has four operating nuclear power plants: Catawba (York), Oconee (Oconee), H. B. Robinson (Darlington), and Virgil C. Summer (Fairfield). In 2017, nuclear power accounted for nearly 60 percent of the state’s electricity production. In 2007, North Carolina’s Duke Energy proposed a two-reactor plant, known as the William States Lee III (or Lee Valley) plant, to be located in Cherokee County and to feature Westinghouse Electric’s Advance-Passive 1000 reactors, Generation III reactors. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) granted approval for the project in December 2016, allowing construction to begin. However, Duke Energy cancelled the project in 2017, when the cost of building other reactors ran too high and made the Lee Valley project economically infeasible. Low natural gas prices were another factor in the decision. Similarly, two additional reactors at the V. C. Summers plant were abandoned, part-built, in mid-2017 because of cost overruns and the bankruptcy of reactor manufacturer Westinghouse Electric. Despite these setbacks in expanding nuclear power, continued nuclear energy production should be expected in South Carolina, particularly because of the state’s limited in-state resources.
Coal and Natural Gas
Having no coal reserves of its own, South Carolina relies on imported coal from other states. Although Kentucky provides the majority of coal to South Carolina, other states contribute coal as well, including Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Tennessee. Importing coal from these other states remains critical to South Carolina’s electricity, as coal burning accounts for approximately one-third of the state’s electricity production. In mid-2017, coal contributed about 20 percent of South Carolina’s electric power generation, second only to nuclear power. However, coal prices are increasing while natural gas prices are decreasing. These two factors have resulted in a move away from coal-fired plants and toward natural gas plants, a trend that may continue as costs for coal and associated carbon taxes increase.
Through the Transcontinental Gas Company and Southern Natural Gas Company, natural gas is piped into South Carolina. The pipeline infrastructure comprised more than 2,500 miles of pipe. Through this system, the S. C. Pipeline Corporation delivers the product to natural gas retail companies. Retailers then rely on smaller-scale pipelines to distribute their product to both businesses and homes.
Renewable Energy
Hydroelectric power and wood or wood-derived fuels represent about 5 percent of the state’s energy production as of early 2017. Waste from grain production and anaerobic digesters are other biomass energy sources. These are the primary renewable resources employed for electrical generation in South Carolina. About twenty generating stations have experimented with generating electricity from landfill gas as well.
With a population increase of an estimated 28.3 percent between 2000 and 2030, South Carolina is looking into an increasingly diverse energy portfolio. Diversifying the state’s energy portfolio is being motivated, in part, by the reliance on out-of-state reserves and resources. Additionally, the United States continues to design emission taxes to reduce carbon dioxide output. These taxes could add billions of dollars to the cost of coal production in South Carolina.
However, because of the low-cost and high-production value of the energy landscape in South Carolina, both nuclear and coal plants are likely to remain significant sources for the state’s energy production in the near term. At this point, there has been little investment in renewable energy sources such as wind or solar. Major companies in the Carolinas, such as Duke Energy, have publicly stated that they hope to continue to diversify their energy portfolios through the use of renewable energy sources and energy conservation efforts. In 2014 the state also began instituting net metering rules for solar power and offering tax credits for solar and hydroelectric power. Renewable energy, then, may have a more significant role in the future energy production landscape of South Carolina.
Bibliography
Daly, Matthew. "After Failure of South Carolina Nuclear Plant, Backers Seek Federal Aid." PBS NewsHour, NewsHour Productions, 14 Aug. 2017, www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/failure-south-carolina-nuclear-plant-backers-seek-federal-aid. Accessed 19 Sept. 2017.
Institute for Energy Research. “South Carolina.” http://www.instituteforenergyresearch.org/states/south-carolina.
Henderson, Bruce. "Duke Energy Wins License for S.C. Nuclear Plant It May Never Build." The Charlotte Observer (SC), 21 Dec. 2016, www.charlotteobserver.com/news/business/article122205799.html. Accessed 19 Sept. 2017.
South Carolina Energy Office. “Energy Education Resource Hub.” http://www.energy.sc.gov/index.aspx?m=4&t=28.
"State Profile and Energy Estimates: South Carolina." U.S. Energy Information Administration, US Dept. of Energy, 17 Aug. 2017, www.eia.gov/state/analysis.php?sid=SC. Accessed 19 Sept. 2017.
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. “New Reactors.” http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/new-reactors.html.