While headlines from a recent Santee Cooper board meeting centered on the revival of a long-abandoned nuclear project, South Carolina environmentalists were focused on another development — rising costs for a planned natural gas plant in rural Colleton County.
According to utility staff, the price tag for the 2,200-megawatt plant at Canadys Station has doubled from $2.5 billion to $5 billion since state lawmakers approved the collaboration earlier this year.
Utility officials say the price spike was driven by strong regional demand for gas plant equipment and workers, both of which are in short supply as states scramble to retire dirty coal plants while meeting rapidly growing demand due to AI data centers.
“This project hasn’t even scratched ground and the cost has already doubled,” said Eddy Moore, a greenhouse gas emissions specialist with the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. “That’s a huge concern for ratepayers.”
Nevertheless, utility officials argue the project will still be a good deal for ratepayers, producing energy at about $2,300 per kilowatt, slightly less than the $2,400 per kw they say is common for similar projects.
Moore, however, argues that with renewable energy and battery technologies improving rapidly, the boom in natural gas plant construction may represent a “bubble.”
“There’s a real danger we’ll find ourselves buying the top of the bubble — and potentially paying for maybe the second most expensive gas plant in history,” Moore said.
According to an Oct. 24 Santee Cooper release, the Colleton County plant is expected to be operational in the early 2030s.
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