Central Electric Power Cooperative (South Carolina)

Central Electric Power Cooperative is a cooperative in South Carolina.

Pee Dee Generating Facility
Central Electric is the largest customer of Santee Cooper, a state-owned electric and water utility that had proposed in 2006 constructing two 600-megawatt pulverized coal-fired power plants, the Pee Dee Generating Facility, along the Great Pee Dee River in Florence County, South Carolina, near Kingsburg.

On August 24, 2009, the board voted to suspend plans for the plant. As reasons for the cancellation, Santee Cooper CEO Lonnie Carter cited a decrease in electricity demand related to the economic downturn and pending cap-and-trade legislation that could greatly increase the operating costs of coal-fired power plants. Additionally, Santee Cooper board Chairman O.L. Thompson said Central Electric stated that it intends to gradually reduce its power load from the utility, cutting approximately 1,000 megawatts beginning in 2013.

Central Electric buys power wholesale from Santee Cooper and distributes it to the state’s 20 electric cooperatives. Under the board’s deal, five of those electric co-ops would receive power from another provider. Those five co-ops are located in the Upstate and would presumably receive their electricity from Duke Energy.

Contact Details
Central Electric Power Cooperative South Carolina Website: http://www.cepci.org/

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