Congressman James Clyburn announced Tuesday that South Carolina will receive more than $109 million in stimulus money, to be used for energy efficiency and weatherization.

Clyburn’s office told News 2 that about half the money will be provided to homeowners for things such as insulation, repairing leaks and air conditioning equipment.

A family of four that earns less than 44 thousand dollars a year could receive up to $6500.

You would need to apply for the money.

Families can apply by calling the South Carolina Energy Office at 803-737-8030.

The other half of the money will go to state energy programs such as alternative and renewable fuels.

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A Boston company that helped New York City develop a plan to address climate change has been hired for similar work in Charleston.

At Mayor Joe Riley’s direction, Charleston has been working on a plan for local action to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions blamed for climate change, and now the Coastal Conservation League has agreed to pay as much as $660,000 to hire the national consulting firm Serrafix to further that effort.

“We proposed doing it in Charleston because Charleston is interested in doing it, and it’s a scale we can deal with,” said Megan Desrosiers of the Coastal Conservation League. “The goal of this is to capture what is lost, and turn it into something that can stimulate the economy.”

In other words, instead of throwing money away on energy that’s wasted because of factors such as poor insulation or inefficient air-conditioning systems, spend that money on job-creating efficiency improvements that reduce energy needs and energy costs.

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By the staff out www.charlestonbusiness.com

Santee Cooper plans to spend more than $113 million on energy efficiency programs and promotions designed to encourage customers to save electricity.

On Monday, the utility’s board approved the initiative as a step toward achieving its goal of generating 40% of its energy from conservation and non-greenhouse gas emitting resources by 2020. This particular measure is designed to help the utility exceed the conservation and energy efficiency component of the goal.

If customer participation meets expectations, the initiatives will save more than 208 million kilowatt hours annually when the programs are fully launched, Santee Cooper estimates.

Specifically, the board approved plans to:

• Continue promoting energy-efficient compact fluorescent light bulbs for residential customers and expand promotions to commercial customers;

• Encourage residential and commercial customers to replace older, inefficient refrigerators by offering rebates for Energy Star-rated models;

• Help residential customers improve the energy efficiency of their existing homes or construct new energy-efficient ones.

These new initiatives and savings are in addition to Santee Cooper’s current energy efficiency programs that include low-interest energy efficiency loans, free in-home energy audits, free on-line energy audits, commercial thermal energy storage and many other programs.

In a separate action, the board approved a $2 million increase to Santee Cooper’s Low-Interest Loan program, expanding it from its current limits of $3.5 million on loan to $5.5 million. This increase allows Santee Cooper to continue the popular program, which offers customers an affordable way to pay for energy efficient improvements such as installing energy efficient heat pumps, adding an optimum amount of insulation, and installing energy efficiency windows.

“We know the burden is on Santee Cooper to design programs that meet customers’ needs while also helping them save energy. These programs will help our customers change their habits and their energy infrastructure, resulting in long-term benefits for us all,” said Santee Cooper President and CEO Lonnie Carter.

Santee Cooper’s progress in developing renewable energy, conservation and energy efficiency programs is part of its long-term plan to meet South Carolina’s energy needs. That plan also includes the addition of new base load generation, such as the controversial $1.25 billion coal plant the utility plans to build in rural Florence County.

The state anticipates 1 million more residents by 2025.

“Our job is to make sure that the lights stay on across South Carolina, in a low cost, reliable, and environmentally friendly manner. These energy efficiency programs are one part of the overall solution,” Carter said.

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Already a big user of alternative energy, the BMW Manufacturing plant in Greer, S.C., is investigating whether wind turbines can help complete the cycle of self-sufficiency.

BMW is partnering with California-based Gold Ring Power LLC to study using wind energy, according to this GreenvilleOnline.com story.

A couple of 50-foot towers have been installed at the plant site to measure wind speed and direction. After two weeks they will be moved to other locations throughout the 1,100 acre-site, to determine areas that would maximize power production.

BMW’s Greer campus needs a peak of about 30 megawatts of energy per day, and that is expected to rise with a $750 million, 1.5 million square foot expansion, according to an article on Goupstate.com.

BMW already maintains a power station on-site, with four huge turbines fueled by methane gas siphoned from a nearby landfill. The plant generates nearly 63 percent of the plant’s electricity, according to the article, which indicated BMW has saved more than $1 million annually from the program.

BMW has employed an array of environmentally friendly features at the site, according to GreenvilleOnline.com. It put in a solar-powered trash compactor at the site, and a household waste container so far has generated three tons of waste. The plant also has been looking at adding solar.

In its data center, BMW is using energy saving techniques.

In Germany, BMW has been testing electric drivetrains on the Mini platform it owns.

This article comes from www.environmentalleader.com.  BMW logo by Scott Gable.

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