Palmetto Electric Coop helps 3rd graders be energy savers : The Beaufort Tribune Newspaper, Beaufort SC Newspapers

"Third-graders at Okatie Elementary School and all elementary schools in the district can learn how to save energy and save their families money thanks to Palmetto Electric Cooperative. On Thursday, October 14, with the help of the Touchstone Energy mascot CFL Charlie, the co-op distributed Super Energy Saver kits to Okatie Elementary School and will be delivering kits to all the elementary schools in the district over the next two days. The kits help teach students about electricity, electrical safety, energy savings and renewable energy."

SCE&G to lower natural gas rates - Business - TheState.com

"State regulators approved a 4.5 percent drop in South Carolina Electric & Gas’ residential natural gas prices on Friday.
Natural gas wholesale prices have fallen in recent months. That, along with predictions for a warmer winter, has brought forecasts of much lower heating bills this year.
Residential customers should save more than $100 during the winter-heating season this year, SCE&G said."

North Carolina ranks 14th in solar jobs - Triangle Business Journal

Triangle Business Journal - by Frank Vinluan

An estimated 1,033 people work in the state’s solar industry, and Environment North Carolina says solar industry jobs in the state are expected to increase by 37 percent in 2011. The report, “The National Solar Jobs Census 2010,” was conducted by The Solar Foundation and Green LMI Consulting with technical assistance from Cornell University.

FCC approves changes to CableCARD rules - The Hill's Hillicon Valley

By Gautham Nagesh - 10/14/10 01:56 PM ET

"At Thursday's open meeting, the FCC issued an order that would promote competition in the marketplace for set-top boxes by ensuring retail devices such as TiVo have the same access to prescheduled programming as cable providers. The order would also make CableCARD pricing and billing more transparent, streamline the installation process, and ease requirements on manufacturers and operators upgrading their equipment."

Water system finally arriving in Lower Richland - Neighbors - TheState.com

By DAWN HINSHAW - dhinshaw@thestate.com

"Nearly 100 people showed for a ceremonial groundbreaking of the $4.8 million project, most of it paid for with federal money. It will take about six months to finish the work, nothing compared to the five years of planning."

Chevy Volt and Nissan Leaf Fuel Ratings a Struggle for E.P.A. - NYTimes.com

Providing the customary city and highway miles-per-gallon information would make little sense for the Volt, which can drive 25 to 50 miles on battery power before its gas engine kicks on, and even less so for the Leaf, which is powered by only a rechargeable battery."

Inspectors at Hartsville plant after shutdown - Financial & Business - Wire - TheState.com

"The NRC in Atlanta said the election team arrived at the plant Tuesday and is expected to spend about a week trying to figure out what went wrong at the H.B. Robinson Nuclear Station at Hartsville."

Spectacle in Sumter Skies Drawing Stares wltx.com | Columbia, SC News, Weather and Sports |

The trees shake in its wake. It's a helicopter with a 100 foot long attachment including a huge saw blade. All this week Progress Energy is pruning trees that are possible risks to the power lines.

'The helicopter can do the amount of work in a day that a typical crew can do in about a week,' said Progress Energy's Lead Account Executive Dennis Turne"

N.C. lets Duke Energy use trees as renewable fuel - Charlotte Business Journal

John Downey, Senior Staff Writer

"Duke Energy Corp. won an important victory this week when N.C. regulators ruled that wood chips from trees are a renewable energy source. And that’s true even if no replacement trees are planted, regulators said."

Heating bill relief expected - Business - TheState.com

The price of natural gas, the fuel that supplies 70 percent of the nation’s heat, is relatively low for the second year in a row, and falling. Also, forecasters predict a warmer winter across much of the country – especially in the Southeast, which suffered through a historically cold winter last year.

Post Tech - FCC investigates wireless industry for billing practices, announces proposal to prevent shocking bills

Cecilia Kang

"The agency’s 10-month-long investigation, which it previously said was focused on Verizon, could subject other carriers to penalties if the FCC finds those firms charged “mystery fees” that violate its “truth and billing” guidelines. The agency didn’t disclose the names of other carriers that are being probed. An AT&T spokeswoman wrote in an e-mail that the company is unaware of an investigation into its practices. A Sprint Nextel spokesman said the company doesn't generally comment on investigative matters at the FCC."

Economic Scene - Climate Proposal That Looks Beyond Cap and Trade - NYTimes.com

By DAVID LEONHARDT

Published: October 12, 2010

"On Wednesday, the reliably conservative American Enterprise Institute and the left-of-center Brookings Institution will release a joint proposal to increase federal spending on clean energy innovation to as much as $25 billion a year, from the currently planned $4 billion a year. The proposal would also toughen rules for such money, so that recipients could continue getting it only if they were reducing the cost of clean energy. Today, many subsidies for wind, solar power and ethanol are more lenient"

Wind Power Backbone Sought Off Atlantic Coast - NYTimes.com

By MATTHEW L. WALD

Published: October 12, 2010

"The system’s backbone cable, with a capacity of 6,000 megawatts, equal to the output of five large nuclear reactors, would run in shallow trenches on the seabed in federal waters 15 to 20 miles offshore, from northern New Jersey to Norfolk, Va. The notion would be to harvest energy from turbines in an area where the wind is strong but the hulking towers would barely be visible."

Spratt challenges Yucca decision - S.C. Politics - TheState.com

Sammy Fretwell

"In a letter Monday to NRC chairman Gregory Jaczko, Spratt, D-S.C., said he has “deep concerns’’ that NRC staffers have been told to stop reviewing the Department of Energy’s license application."

Economy sandbags nuclear plans - Business - TheState.com

"A drop in energy demand is a major factor driving the cautious stance of both the industry and the government. Power demand dropped by more than 4 percent between 2007 and 2009. So far, it seems that demand in 2010 will be higher than last year, but not as high as 2007. These are big changes for an industry that is accustomed to growth on the order of 1 to 3 percent a year. With slack demand, there is less urgency to build new plants."

Crews investigate possible hazardous spill in Cayce rail yard - WIS News 10 - Columbia, South Carolina |

CAYCE, SC (WIS) - Officials from the City of Cayce and the Columbia Fire Department are on the scene of a possible hazardous material spill in Cayce.

A representative from the Cayce Department of Public Safety said crews are at the rail yard near State Street and Frink street.

At this time there are not any evacuations.

Marketing natural gas as clean energy - CharlotteObserver.com

Bruce Henderson: bhenderson@charlotteobserver.com

"The policy is pretty effective the way it stands now. We never shut off gas when upcoming weather is freezing or below. What has changed, though, are the types of programs we've instituted to assist our customers. We adopted a Share the Warmth program ( www.piedmontng.com), a new program designed to create a fund to help low-income customers pay their energy bills. On a voluntary basis, our customers can agree to round up their monthly bill payment to the next dollar. Across our three-state market, about 15,000 customers have signed up, creating about $90,000 a year in supplemental funding. In North Carolina, about 11,000 customers have donated $60,000."

Energy Update - Rasmussen Reports™

"A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 32% believe reducing energy consumption is more important, showing little change from August."