South Carolina is launching a statewide initiative next year to determine the best way to cut utility bills for people who live in manufactured housing by testing different approaches to energy efficiency in 1,200 Palmetto State homes.

The South Carolina Budget and Control Board’s State Energy Office has awarded Central Electric Power Cooperative, Inc. $2.9 million for demonstrations to evaluate the effectiveness of energy efficiency improvements by making upgrades to more than 1,200 manufactured homes state-wide.  Central Electric Power Cooperative will provide additional funding to bring the total project amount up to $3.3 million.

“The benefits of this grant will reach across the state and far into the future,” said John Clark, director of the South Carolina Energy Office. “This project will enable our office and utilities throughout the Southeast to identify the most cost effective improvements we can make to existing manufactured homes.”

The study will include the following field tests:

•    200 manufactured homes will receive standard weatherization assistance
•    60-80 site-built homes will receive weatherization assistance
•    200 manufactured homes will receive energy efficient roof retrofits
•    200 manufactured homes will receive high efficiency heat pumps
•    200 manufactured homes will receive ENERGY STAR appliance upgrades
•    400 homes will receive new power meters

Data from the field tests will enable utilities and policy makers to determine which energy efficiency approaches have the greatest impact and should be emphasized in the future.

“Unfortunately, moderate and lower income families generally have high percentages of their income going to pay for their greater energy burden,” Clark said. “The study will allow us to combat this problem in our state, an area with one of the heaviest concentrations of manufactured housing in the nation.” 

Nineteen of the 20 electric cooperatives in the state will participate in this statewide study, including Aiken, Berkeley, Black River, Blue Ridge, Board River, Coastal, Edisto, Fairfield, Horry, Laurens, Little River, Lynches River, Marlboro, Mid-Carolina, Palmetto, Pee Dee, Santee, Tri-County and York.

Central Electric Power Cooperative, through its 20 distribution cooperative members serves 1.5 million South Carolinians throughout all 46 counties and 70 percent of the state’s land mass.

More information will be available through Central Electric Power Cooperative or your local co-op. To learn more, visit Central Electric Power’s website at http://www.ecsc.org/

This grant is part of $68 million in federal economic stimulus funds awarded by the U.S. Department of Energy to the South Carolina Energy Office for the purpose of reducing energy costs, increasing the use of renewable energy, and creating jobs.  Other stimulus-funded activities of the Energy Office include energy efficiency retrofit grants and loans for schools, colleges and universities, state agencies and local governments; technical assistance for the public and private sector; clean energy industrial grants; renewable energy grants; clean energy job training; Energy Star appliance rebates; alternative fuel development; and other clean energy projects.

About the South Carolina Energy Office
The South Carolina Energy Office (SCEO) provides a broad range of resources designed to help citizens, businesses and public entities save energy and money. In recent years, the SCEO has helped save South Carolina over $300 million through public and private energy-saving measures and new energy technologies. The SCEO is a unit of the South Carolina Budget and Control Board. Additional information can be found at www.energy.sc.gov.