Low energy prices and high temperatures and humidity contribute to the state's high per-capita energy consumption, experts say. Residential power rates in South Carolina are some of the nation's lowest, said Willard Strong, spokesman for Santee Cooper, the state-owned utility. Santee Cooper's residential customers pay an average of 6.6 cents per kilowatt hour, or about a quarter of what some Southern California residents pay for electricity, said Lawrence Golan, executive director of the South Carolina Institute for Energy Studies in Clemson. It's not a big bill. You've got car bills that are bigger.
Utilities do encourage conservation.
Through its Good Cents program, about one in 10 Santee Cooper customers get as much as 26 percent taken off their bills if they use energy-efficient appliances or extra insulation. They put out carbon dioxide, nitrogen and sulfur compounds and microscopic soot particles that can become lodged deep in people's lungs. The company also is adding cleaner natural gas-burning plants, Duncan said.