Sandifer Update

Dear Friends,

As we look for solutions in these challenging economic times, I believe that we must address another issue that's vital to our future--the issue of energy. With skyrocketing costs and growing demands, we cannot effort to sit on our hands when it comes to tackling this challenge. Our state must adopt energy policies that protect our environment and help our economy grow.

As a member of the Public Utility Review Subcommittee, I have been working with other House and Senate members and private citizens to look at all facets of the energy issue. We believe that the outflow of our work will be new energy-related legislation that will be introduced when the new legislative session begins in January.

I recently drafted the op-ed below that ran in newspapers around the state. I wanted to personally share it with you, so that you can have a better understanding of why this issue is so important to our future.

I truly appreciate the trust you have placed in me. It is a great honor to represent you in our general assembly! If I can ever do anything to help you, please don't hesitate to call.

Gratefully,

Bill Sandifer

South Carolina Needs Energy Solutions that are Fact-based, Environmentally friendly, and Good for Our Economy

By Rep. Bill Sandifer

S.C. House of Representatives

Americans have an insatiable appetite for energy and South Carolinians are no exception. Since Edison invented the electric light, we have continued to increase our dependence on electric energy. Think of the increasing number of appliances in the average home. Think of the increasing number of automobiles per household. As our population continues to rise and the number of households increases, energy demands grow exponentially.

To protect our citizens and ensure our excellent quality of life, South Carolina must be pro-active in finding solutions that will keep our energy flowing, protect our environment, and help our economy grow. Energy will be a long-term challenge for our state and will be one of the greatest factors affecting our economy and quality of life.

In South Carolina, we have been blessed with relatively affordable and abundant energy thanks to past decisions by legislators, business leaders and the public. Now, we stand at another critical junction in our state’s history. The scarcity of fossil fuels, skyrocketing costs, and impending federal mandates make action timely and very necessary.

Earlier this week, Gov. Sanford received a report from his Climate, Energy, and Commerce Advisory Committee, a group tasked with evaluating climate change and developing a plan of action. While the report makes positive points, I believe some of its recommendations are short sighted and would harm our economy. The governor has embraced studies that say that climate change is real and man-made and his panel makes sweeping recommendations to reduce our state’s carbon emissions. Meanwhile, other credible studies conclude that the climate in South Carolina is similar to what it was in the first half of the 20th Century. A report by the Science and Public Policy Institute concludes that the state gets about the same amount of rain, major droughts are less severe, agricultural yields are rising, forest industry development and investments are at record highs, and the tourism industry is strong.

Also, the final report from the governor’s panel recommends a voluntary greenhouse gas reduction goal of five percent below 1990 levels, to be implemented within 12 years. While we need to reduce greenhouse gases, doing so in such a time period would put great financial strain on our utilities and drive up consumer energy costs. Additionally, the report from the governor’s committee recommends an energy portfolio standard whereby our state’s electric needs would be met with five percent renewables and five percent energy-efficiency programs by 2020. The utilities all agree that this goal will be very difficult to achieve without significant costs to the consumer. Unfortunately, the governor’s committee provides no cost impact on electric rates for these changes.

What I believe is lacking from the governor’s report and what we absolutely must address is the economic impact on South Carolina. The Institute for Energy Research estimates that legislation capping greenhouse gas emissions in South Carolina would result in a huge annual household income decline by 2020. The state would also lose somewhere between 18,000 and 28,000 jobs in that same time period, due to such legislation. With our high unemployment rate, we simply cannot afford to lose jobs. Therefore, it is imperative that the recommendations in the Governor’s climate report and their underlying assumptions receive close scrutiny.

To truly deal with the energy issue, we must look at the bigger picture and address the facts, environmental impacts, and economics of the situation. To look at all of the angles, the General Assembly is taking strategic action this Fall. The Public Utility Review Committee, which I am honored to serve on, is currently working and will deliver a report to House and Senate leaders by the end of the year. We will recommend legislative action that will be at the forefront of debate when the S.C. General Assembly returns in January. We are eager to serve, committed to our state, and ready to lead the discussion on energy.

The committee will look at a the broader scope of what we are facing such as evaluating what energy resources our state has, how we use electricity in South Carolina, what renewable forms of energy are available, what programs are currently in place or need to be in place to promote energy efficiency, and what message needs to be sent to South Carolina’s Congressional delegation about the challenges South Carolinians would face if certain federal energy policies were adopted. These are all complex questions that must be addressed and I willingly accept this challenging assignment.

Working together, we can develop solutions that are real, workable and financially sound, and solutions that protect our precious environment and ensure prosperity for our state.

Legislators to Return to Columbia

My fellow legislators and I have returned to Columbia today to make targeted budget cuts necessitated by declining revenue and the national economy. Just like so many families are having to refocus their priorities in challenging times, we as a state are having to make some tough choices. The S.C. House budget committee met late last week to draft and approve a spending plan that will use budget cuts and one-time money to deal with shortfalls. The entire House and Senate have returned to session today to make targeted budget cuts while protecting the funding for some of the most critical areas of government like K-12 education and healthcare. Republican members are advocating that our cuts need to go beyond the 6 percent requirement of the Board of Economic Advisors. Our budget plan will reduce the budget an additional percentage point--a 7 percent reduction in spending--to better secure this budget and future budgets. We will not receive a salary for the time working on the budget plan. Watch for more information about the work we do in Columbia.