Electric
ECU fulfills its Mission in the delivery of electric service by owning and operating six electrical substations. These substations deliver power at a voltage of 12.47 kV and serve 25 circuits. The circuits run for a total of 394 miles and serve 17,000 customers. The 394 miles of circuits consist of 248 miles of overhead line and 146 miles of underground line.
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Seventeen electrical lineman maintain the substations and circuits that provide highly reliable electricity to ECU customers. See Electric Reliability Statistics for reliability results.
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Power Supply
ECU’s power supply is provided by the Piedmont Municipal Power Agency (PMPA). PMPA is a joint action agency made up of ten cities is the upstate that purchased a 25% share of Catawba Nuclear Station Unit 2, which provides 277 MW of capacity output. ECU also has an entitlement from the Southeastern Power Administration (SEPA) that provides hydro-electric generation. Any power supply requirements above what is provided by PMPA and SEPA is provided by Santee Cooper through a supplemental power supply arrangement between PMPA and Santee Cooper. ECU’s generation mix is 82% nuclear power, 10% natural gas and 8% hydro-electric. ECU is proud to say that is has no coal fired generation in its generation mix.
Electric System Reliability
To measure system performance, the electric utility industry has developed several measures of reliability. These indices known as SAIDI, SAIFI, CAIDI, and ASAI, include measures of outage duration, frequency of outages, system availability, and response time. Click the button below to view the reliability indices for the Easley Combined Utilities electric system. This information is maintained monthly by our GIS department.
Load Management Program (LMP)
Easley Combined Utilities’ Load Management Program is used to help reduce wholesale electric cost when the demand for electricity is at its peak. It will also delay the need to construct additional electrical generation, which will save money and reduce the environmental impact on the planet.
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The program works by reducing the amount of energy needed during peak hours. Peak hours are when the energy usage by ECU customers is the highest. By installing a load management device (LMD) on a customer’s HVAC unit, ECU will be able to turn the compressor off for a short period during peak hours, while leaving the HVAC fan running. Keeping the HVAC fan running insures that the customer’s comfort will not be impacted.
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By controlling the operation of the compressor, energy usage during the peak times will be reduced and ECU costs for electricity during peak hours will be reduced. In addition, since generation requirements are based on peak hour’s energy usage, future generation construction will be delayed.
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Participants in the program will begin to save money immediately on their power usage. Upon sign up and installation of the LMD, the customer will receive a one-time $20 account credit and will be placed on the ECU Load Management Program Residential Rate, which is a discount off the ECU Residential Rate.
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Please visit our Load Management Program FAQs page for more valuable information regarding this program.
