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Green Power supporters show their energy smarts
By Walter Allread
 Through the Green Power program, York Electric gives its members a chance to support the development of renewable energy sources in South Carolina. Thanks to their support, it's working.
The co-op's chief power supplier, the state-owned utility Santee Cooper, has built power plants at landfills in Richland, Lee and Horry counties. These power plants use naturally occurring methane as fuel. A fourth landfill-based power plant – the first in the Upstate – will come online soon in Anderson County. A solar pavilion demonstration project at Coastal Carolina University in Conway, added last summer, diversifies the mix of Green Power resources.
It costs more to generate electricity this way than by using fossil fuels, such as coal and natural gas, or with nuclear fission. Santee Cooper consumers and residential members of co-ops around the state pay $3 per month per 100 kilowatt-hour block of Green Power. All proceeds help fund the renewable energy projects.
Being energy-conscious consumers, Green Power supporters usually offset the modest cost of their investment in renewable energy by taking a few simple steps at home. Here are some energy-saving tips from York Electric members who support the Green Power program.
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| Mary Rose Randall and her cat, Tippy, beside the cold frame where she taps the power of the sun to grow organic vegetables year-round. |
Tap into the sun
When Rock Hill residents Mary Rose Randall and her husband, Bruce, upgraded their Rock Hill home's heating and air conditioning system, they installed a programmable thermostat. Mary Rose says the added cost of the digital thermostat was soon recovered in energy savings. The same is true of their energy-efficient washing machine, one of those new, front-loading models. "It has a sensor so if you wash less clothes, it automatically uses less water," she says.
The Randalls plan another project that may be more than most people are willing or able to tackle, but it's one that will tap into our planet's chief energy source -- the sun. The Randalls plan to renovate a porch into a solar greenhouse. The greenhouse will not only allow Mary Rose, an avid organic gardener, to grow more food but also will help heat the home in cooler weather. Special ductwork and automatic fans will move solar-heated air from the greenhouse into the home, she notes, and should reduce the amount of natural gas the Randalls use for home heating.
Mary Rose is already tapping the sun's power, on a small scale, by using a cold frame to grow greens. A cold frame traps heat by admitting sunlight during the day through its covering, then retaining the heat radiated from the surrounding soil during cooler night hours. The cold frame allows Randall to grow kale, Arugula and lettuce year round. Even when temperatures dipped to 13 degrees in December, she notes, the greens only got "a little brown" around the edges.
Greenhouses and cold frames are basically passive solar designs. Anyone can use passive solar techniques, such as closing or opening drapes and blinds to block or admit sunlight, to reduce their power use for heating and cooling.
Switch to CFLs
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| Diane Self, who commutes from her home in Clover to her job in Charlotte, purchases 12 blocks of Green Power each month. That has the same positive environmental impact as not driving for 18 months. "I want my next car to be a hybrid," Self says. |
Many Green Power supporters, including Diane Self of Clover, have switched from using standard, incandescent light bulbs to compact fluorescent lighting (CFLs). As Self knows, CFLs use far less electricity to produce about the same amount of light as standard, incandescent bulbs. CFLs cost more but last longer than incandescent bulbs, which also waste a lot of energy by producing more heat.
Self, who purchases a whopping 12 blocks of Green Power each month, says she and her husband, Bryson, are diligent about conserving energy. "We're doing every little thing we can, like cutting off lights when we're not in a room," she says.
She sees her Green Power support as a gift for future generations, including her 12 grandchildren. "It's a way you can give back for your family," Self says. "For less than the price of a cup of coffee per day, you can give them a gift that lasts."
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| Under the green roof of his home, background, Ryan Morrison and his family use Green Power. The program gives co-op members an easy way to make a difference, he says. |
Add insulation
Ryan Morrison likes how Green Power gives York Electric members an easy way to make a difference. "We like to be as environmentally friendly as possible, as long as it's not going to cause much extra heartache. We're about like everybody else," he says.
Morrison and his wife, Nina, recycle regularly and set other good examples for their daughter Payton, 6, and son Carter, 2. "If we leave, we cut everything off," he notes.
The Morrisons' biggest energy savers are actually built into their Rock Hill home. Even though the original structure dates back to 1952, several energy-smart changes were made when the house was moved to its current location and renovated, Morrison notes.
Originally a brick structure, the house was stripped down, allowing plenty of insulation to be added. Instead of brick, the Morrisons went with wood to better fit into their rural setting, Ryan notes. But the refurbished home's rustic charm doesn't mean it isn't up to date, energy-wise. Double-paned windows help reduce heat gain and loss while an energy-efficient heating and cooling system doubtless saves the Morrisons more than they spend each month on Green Power. As Ryan notes, "I don't make a lot of money but I can afford $6 a month."
Like the Morrisons, Vicki and Matthew Smoak also improved their home's insulation. The Smoaks are also planning other energy-saving improvements, such as replacing older windows, Vicki says.
The couple, who buy five blocks of Green Power each month, came to York Electric pre-sold on the program. They began buying Green Power in 2001 in Moncks Corner, where they were members of Berkeley Electric, another independent, consumer-owned Touchstone Energy Cooperative. The Smoaks continued when they moved to York in May. Vicki says, "Everybody should have Green Power. It's one small step people could start taking to improve the environment."
Upgrade thermostats
 Christine Montés and her husband, Jose, own Caromex International, a Fort Mill based import/export company. They buy Green Power at home in Fort Mill and look forward to becoming commercial Green Power Partners later this year. Caromex is moving into a new office in Baxter Village, which is served by York Electric.
Christine and Jose have worked with architects and engineers to make the new office as environmentally friendly and energy efficient as possible, she says. In the office space they now rent, Christine notes, they were not allowed to install programmable thermostats. Now they'll get the thermostats and more, including energy efficient lighting fixtures, special glass for windows and, she says, maybe even some eco-friendly materials such as bamboo flooring.
Green Power has been a good fit with the Montés family's lifestyle at home. "We've been recycling for years," Christine notes. "We feel so committed to Green Power," she says. "With the new office, we will be on York Electric. We know the folks there have a commitment, too."
Related Links
GreenPower Program »
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