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Berkeley Electric recovers stolen copper
 | | Arrow points to suspect captured on Berkeley Electric surveillance video |
Three hundred pounds of stolen copper has been returned to Berkeley Electric Cooperative and one man has surrendered, after surveillance video and a tip from a scrap yard clerk helped authorities pinpoint a suspect. Because Berkeley Electric has cameras covering its site in Moncks Corner, Electric Co-Op Today reports, officers had footage of two people going from vehicle to vehicle inside the truck shed, stealing copper. Law enforcement is still looking for the second person shown in the videos.
A year ago, South Carolina's electric cooperatives partnered with Crime Stoppers to raise awareness of the expense and danger associated with copper theft from electric utilities. In April, a man suspected of attempting to steal copper was electrocuted and found dead at a Berkeley Electric substation.
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Co-ops' project advancing solar in S.C.
South Carolina electric cooperatives' plan to partner with Santee Cooper in the construction a solar farm in Walterboro is a major sign that solar is gaining momentum in the state. That's one of the observations on solar energy in S.C. presented in an article in Charleston's City Paper.
South Carolina has been slower to advance solar energy production than some other states--for reasons that include concerns about how solar will affect consumer electricity rates. Statewide CEO Mike Couick told City Paper that the co-ops' solar farm with help cooperatives learn how to incorporate solar in a way that "maximizes the value to our members and prevents customers from reaching into each other's pockets."
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S.C. companies generating their own power
 | S.C.'s BMW site produces electricity using landfill gas
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BMW and Boeing are producing power at their South Carolina sites, part of a national trend that's leaving utilities with more worries about who will pay for costly transmission lines and power plants. The number of commercial sites with electricity-generating capacity has quadrupled to 40,000 over the last seven years.
While on-site generation still makes up less than 5 percent of electricity production in the U.S, companies like Wal-Mart say their generation is nearing grid parity. Wal-Mart told The Wall Street Journal it expects to be paying as little for solar as for utility-produced power in less than three years. Both BMW in South Carolina and an Apple data center in North Carolina were included in the newspaper's report on increased power production by company facilities. BMW produces half its required power using methane gas from a nearby landfill.
Related Story:
Companies unplug from the electric grid, delivering a jolt to utilities
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Wall St. Journal report: Energy in America
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