Horry Electric, Santee Cooper encourage off-peak energy use across Grand Strand

HORRY COUNTY, S.C. (WBTW) — Santee Cooper and Horry Electric Cooperative customers could see some changes that impact how they use their energy.

Horry Electric rate restructure

Horry Electric recently announced that it is restructuring its rates to encourage off-peak energy use. Beginning in October, customers could see an increase or decrease in their rate depending on whether they continue using the same amount of energy.

“When people called in to our service department or they asked an employee, what can I do to lower my bill, the only option was for us to tell them to use less,” said Jennifer Cummings, public relations and marketing coordinator for Horry Electric.

Horry Electric has been looking to restructure its rates since 2022, she said.

Here’s how it says it will work: During the winter between 6 a.m. and 9 a.m. and in the summer between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m., customers will be charged $12 times whatever their single highest hour of energy use is out of the entire month.

The cooperative said the restructure is revenue-neutral because rates during off-peak hours are decreasing to 6.9 cents per kilowatt hour.

Cummings said customers can see how their rates could change using the cooperative’s online rate calculator.

“They can pull up kind of real-time use, what they’re seeing and what will look like for their account compared to today’s rate, as well as on the restructured rate,” Cummings said.

The changes begin in September and will be reflected on customers’ October bills.

Santee Cooper rate hike and new peak rate

Santee Cooper, meanwhile, said it is also looking to introduce a peak rate .

“Now, if you can wait until 6 o’clock to start cooking dinner or to run your dishwasher or your dryer, those high-using appliances, that will help flatten the peak for everybody else,” spokesperson Tracy Vreeland said.

Besides the peak rate, Santee Cooper is also looking at a 5% rate increase, Vreeland said.

The utility has not increased its rates since 2017, but Vreeland said it’s necessary now because of inflation and more people moving to the area.

“We’ve been able to keep those rates flat by reducing budgets and refinancing debt, but we’re at the point now that we have to invest in our infrastructure,” Vreeland said.

Santee Cooper will have several public meetings between August and October to hear from customers. If the 5% hike eventually gets board approval, it would take effect in April.

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Adrianna Lawrence is a multimedia journalist at News13. Adrianna is originally from Virginia Beach, Virginia, and joined the News13 team in June 2023 after graduating from Virginia Commonwealth University in May 2023. Keep up with Adrianna on Instagram, Facebook , and X, formerly Twitter . You can also read more of her work, here .

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