
Santee Cooper will retire all four units at the 1,150-MW Winyah coal-fired plant, as South Carolina's largest power provider looks to shift its generation toward less carbon-intensive resources.
Santee Cooper, legally known as South Carolina Public Service Authority, will retire Winyah units 1 and 2 in 2027 and units 3 and 4 in 2023, as part of a new business strategy approved Sept. 9 by the utility's board of directors. In turn, the utility plans to procure 1,000 MW of solar capacity by 2024, phase in 200 MW of battery storage by 2028 and implement demand-side programs with Central Electric Power Cooperative Inc.
The utility will also need to add 500 MW of natural gas in 2027 when Winyah is fully retired, and up to 600 MW in the early 2030s. Santee Cooper said it will determine specific plans to procure natural gas capacity, such as power contracts or new plants. The company expects about half of its generation to come from natural gas through direct plant ownership or power purchase agreements.
Retiring Winyah and adding new capacity would dramatically change the utility's generation portfolio. It now relies heavily on Winyah and the 1,790-MW Cross power plant, Santee Cooper's other coal-fired facility. The utility expects to continue to rely on Cross after retiring Winyah. However, Santee Cooper said it could retire Cross units 1 and 2 in the event of lower customer demand and could shutter all four units if a carbon tax is imposed.
"This is a comprehensive, forward-focused roadmap grounded in some of the best strategies used by progressive utilities around the country," Santee Cooper President and CEO Mark Bonsall said in a Sept. 9 statement. "These are proven technologies and practices through which Santee Cooper can better serve its customers for decades to come. The phasing out of coal over several years helps us make this transition, and it [is] our goal to do so without layoffs."

Financial situation
Santee Cooper's business plan also addressed its strategy to cut down debt tied to the failed V.C. Summer nuclear project. The utility will put $925 million toward reducing its debt related to the abandoned expansion over the next two years. In addition, Santee Cooper will explore other options to improve its financials metrics from the project, such as potentially securitizing its nuclear debt.
But the road to paying off debt from the V.C. Summer expansion is long: The utility's outlook indicates that it will have debt obligations from the project until at least the late 2050s.
The company said it wants to pursue additional savings to accelerate its debt payoff while avoiding rate increases to the extent possible. Santee Cooper's plan includes freezing retail base rates until 2024 and ensuring future rate increases do not exceed inflation over time.
