Are we witnessing a historical policy blunder in real-time? While Santee Cooper and Dominion Energy parade their application for the new natural gas power plant at Canadys as a necessary step for grid reliability, the truth smells suspiciously like stranded assets and regulatory complacency. This isn't just a local utility story; it's a crucial flashpoint in the national debate over energy infrastructure investment versus climate responsibility. The push for this gas plant screams of locking in decades of high-carbon dependency just as the market pivots violently toward cheaper, cleaner alternatives.
The Unspoken Truth: Sunk Costs and Political Inertia
The primary winners here are clear: the utility shareholders and the construction firms currently enjoying lucrative, long-term contracts. The losers? Every single South Carolina ratepayer who will ultimately foot the bill for this fossil fuel behemoth. Opponents, like the Southern Environmental Law Center, rightly point to the environmental damage, but the deeper, more insidious issue is the economic one. Natural gas is a bridge fuel that is rapidly becoming a dead end. Building a massive new facility now guarantees that ratepayers will be paying off equipment that could be economically obsolete within 15 years, long before its planned retirement date. This is corporate risk externalized onto the public.
Why now? Because the regulatory environment is still sluggish enough to allow this kind of inertia to flourish. When you analyze the regulatory filings, the primary justification often hinges on 'peaking capacity'—the need for quick power during heat waves. But what they conveniently downplay is the plummeting cost of utility-scale battery storage. A modern battery farm paired with existing renewable sources offers faster response times and zero fuel price volatility compared to building a new gas turbine. This move isn't about maximizing reliability; it's about maximizing the lifespan of outdated thinking within utility boardrooms.
Why This Matters: The Stranded Asset Time Bomb
The concept of the stranded asset is the ghost haunting this entire proposal. As federal incentives for renewables increase and battery technology scales, the economic rationale for burning gas will evaporate. When that happens—and it will happen faster than utility executives predict—who absorbs the loss? Santee Cooper, a state-owned utility, means the taxpayer absorbs it. Dominion, a massive investor-owned corporation, will lobby ferociously to ensure ratepayers cover the difference. This Canadys plant is a 40-year commitment made in a 5-year technology cycle.
Furthermore, this move sends a chilling signal to clean energy developers looking at the South Carolina market: 'We are not serious about the transition.' It artificially suppresses the demand for truly forward-looking solutions like offshore wind or massive solar installations, simply because the incumbent players prefer the familiar, albeit increasingly risky, path of gas. For more on the global energy transition trends, see reports from the International Energy Agency.
Where Do We Go From Here? The Inevitable Pivot
My prediction is that this plant will be approved, but it will become the most expensive, underutilized asset in the state's history within a decade. The backlash won't just come from environmental groups; it will materialize as ratepayer advocacy groups demanding accountability for the poor long-term financial planning. We will see an aggressive, almost desperate, push for federal subsidies to retrofit or prematurely retire this facility by the late 2030s. The true battleground won't be in front of the Public Service Commission now, but in the state legislature five years from now when the first major rate hike tied to this project hits.
The only viable strategy for Santee Cooper is to pivot immediately, using the permitting process delay to pivot the application toward high-efficiency combined-cycle gas turbines paired with massive battery storage—a true bridge—or, better yet, scrap it entirely and issue an RFP for firm, zero-carbon capacity. Anything less is fiscal malpractice.