Santee Cooper's mission is to be the leading resource for improving the quality of life for the people of South Carolina.
To fulfill this mission, we are committed to:
Producing and distributing low-cost, reliable energy, water and other essential services
Providing excellent customer service
Operating according to the highest ethical standards
Maintaining a quality workforce
Being a steward of the environment
Being a leader in economic development
Santee Cooper is South Carolina's state-owned electric and water utility and the state's largest power producer. Based on generation, Santee Cooper is the nation's second largest publicly owned electric utility among state, municipal and district systems, and the third largest based on megawatt-hour sales to ultimate customers.
The source of power for more than 2 million South Carolinians, Santee Cooper provides direct service to more than 163,000 retail customers in Berkeley, Georgetown and Horry counties. Santee Cooper is the primary source of power distributed by the state's 20 electric cooperatives to more than 700,000 customers located in the state's 46 counties. Santee Cooper also supplies power directly to 29 large industrial customers in 10 counties, the town of Bamberg, the City of Georgetown and the Charleston Air Force Base.
Through the Santee Cooper Regional Water System, water is sold wholesale to the Lake Moultrie Water Agency. The agency then sells the water to its four members: the Summerville Commissioners of Public Works, the city of Goose Creek, the Berkeley County Water and Sanitation Authority, and the Moncks Corner Public Works Commission. Santee Cooper's Lake Marion Regional Water System sells its water wholesale to the Lake Marion Regional Water Agency, which is comprised of Berkeley, Calhoun, Clarendon, Dorchester, Orangeburg and Sumter counties, the town of Santee and the city of Sumter.
Santee Cooper began South Carolina's first Green Power program in 2001 and now generates 28 megawatts of electricity from six landfill generating stations. Santee Cooper also has solar installations at 20 schools across the state, Coastal Carolina University, the Center for Hydrogen Research, and the Technical College of the Lowcountry.
In the spring of 2011, Santee Cooper dedicated a 311-kilowatt solar installation in Myrtle Beach, which is the state’s largest at the time. Its 2.4-kW wind turbine in North Myrtle Beach was the first utility-connected turbine on the state grid. Additionally, Santee Cooper has contracted for 154 MWs of power from woody biomass combustion and from anaerobic digestion on a livestock farm.
Santee Cooper is governed by an 11-member board of directors that is appointed by the governor, deemed fully qualified by the Senate Public Utilities Review Committee and confirmed by the state Senate. The board is comprised of directors representing each of the six congressional districts; one from each of the three counties (Berkeley, Georgetown, Horry) where Santee Cooper serves retail customers directly; two directors with previous electric cooperative experience; and a chairman appointed at large.
