Powering a Reliable and Sustainable Future
Santee Cooper is a state-owned, not-for-profit utility that develops base rates for our customers based on the cost of providing reliable service to our customers. We regularly review our rates to ensure the price customers pay is fair and transparent. We monitor costs of providing service and projected revenues and we consider adjusting rates when we expect our existing rates will not be sufficient to recover our future costs.
2026 Rate Study
Santee Cooper completed a months-long public comment process so that customers and others could review and provide input on the proposed changes.
Santee Cooper must continue investing in its electric system to maintain strong reliability and make critical upgrades. On Oct. 30, the Santee Cooper Board of Directors passed an average 3.3% increase across its retail customer classes in 2027, paired with rate structure updates shaped by customer feedback. Another overall average increase of 3.1% will take effect in 2028.
Base Rate Adjustments
The 2027 adjustment includes average increases of 4.7% for residential customers, 2.9% for commercial customers, 3.2% for lighting customers, and 2.6% for industrial customers. The 2028 adjustment includes increases of 4.6% for residential, 2.9% for commercial, 3% for lighting and 2.1% for industrial customers.
We Listened
Santee Cooper held customer focus groups earlier this year, and the rate changes incorporate feedback from those sessions. For example, revised residential and small commercial customer rates include changes in how demand charges are calculated, and intended to reduce the impact of isolated spikes in electricity usage on customer bills.
Balanced Demand Billing
Instead of billing demand on a single highest-hour charge, the new Balanced Demand Billing includes a charge for the average of a customer’s maximum hourly use during the four highest peak periods each month. Additionally, the commercial peak window has been shortened from four hours to three, aligning business peak hours with residential and giving customers more flexibility to manage costs. Federal holidays will be excluded from peak-period calculations.
VIDEO: What is Demand?
Customer Impacts
Customers use electricity in different ways. Click on your customer class below to learn how the proposed rates could impact you.
Rate Study Mission and Pricing Principles
To guide Santee Cooper as it studies potential new rates, Santee Cooper follows these pricing principles:
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Mission: Limit price increases to less than inflation.
- Equity: Allocate costs to specific customer classes in a reasonable, equitable and defensible manner.
- Efficiency: Design prices so that conservation savings are shared with the customers.
- Adequacy: Provide sufficient revenue to preserve the financial integrity of Santee Cooper.
- Notice: Ensure customer notice and engagement in rate proceedings.
- Protection: Allow reasonable relief mechanisms for financially distressed customers.
- Transparency: Require openness in annual review of compliance with Pricing Principles.
These pricing principles were adopted by Santee Cooper’s Board of Directors in January 2020 and readopted in June 2024.
Additional Documents and Information
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Santee Cooper Board Approves New Rates for 2027 and 2028 - Santee Cooper Newsroom
- 2026 Report on Public Comments, Volume I FINAL REVISED
- 2026 Report on Public Comments, Volume II FINAL
- Financial Planning and Requirements Report
- Generation Transmission and Distribution Report
- Managements Process Request and Rate Recommendation Report
- Managements Rate Recommendation Presentation to Board May 1
- Rate Study Public Comment Presentation
- Santee Cooper Electric COS Study Report 04.20.26 With Appendices A and B
- Santee Cooper Electric COS Study Report Appendix A
- Santee Cooper Electric COS Study Report Appendix B
- Rate Study Revised Rates Presentation
- Revised Proposed Rate Schedules 2027
- Revised Proposed Rate Schedules 2028
- 2026 Rate Study Addendum Report on Public Comments and Revised Rate Schedules
- Aug. 31: Myrtle Beach Public Comment Meeting Transcript
- Concentric Independent Rate Report for Board August 31, 2026
- Concentric Independent Rate Report Presentation August 31, 2026
- 2026 Rate Study Fact Sheet
- Department of Consumer Affairs Letter and Comments on Santee Cooper 2026 Electric Cost of Service
- Office of Regulatory Staff Letter and Comments on Santee Cooper 2026 Request for Rate Adjustment
- July 28: Myrtle Beach Public Comment Meeting Transcript
- July 28: Pawleys Island Public Comment Meeting Transcript
- July 27 Moncks Corner Public Comment Meeting Transcript
- Customers can request information from Santee Cooper here.
Frequently Asked Questions
We monitor costs of providing service and projected revenues and we consider adjusting rates when we expect our existing rates will not be sufficient to recover our future costs. Santee Cooper must continue investing in its electric system to maintain strong reliability and make critical upgrades.
To learn more about how your rate is changing, click on your rate class below.
Electricity is flowing constantly to supply power to our homes and businesses. Demand is defined by how much electricity is being used at any given time. The more electricity a home or business is using at the same moment, the higher their demand. Learn more by viewing our video.
It is our job at Santee Cooper to make sure we always have enough electricity available to supply all our customers, no matter how many appliances or heating/cooling systems are being used at one time. As the number of homes and businesses on our system continues to grow, so does the total demand we must serve. It costs Santee Cooper more to serve high demands, and the peak-hour demand charge receives that higher cost from the customers who drive it.
To learn more about your demand, click on your rate class below.
To learn more about how the proposed rates will impact your bill, click on your rate class below.
For tips on how residential customers can reduce bills, click here.
The rates will take effect for bills rendered on or after Feb. 1, 2027, and Feb. 1, 2028, which could include January usage for some customers depending on their billing cycle.
Santee Cooper is a not-for-profit public power utility owned by the State of South Carolina and does not have shareholders.