Experts discuss how energy efficiency would create jobs in SC (AUDIO)

More than 60 business and elected officials attended a roundtable in Columbia Tuesday to discuss how energy efficiency and clean energy will benefit the state and improve national security. The meeting was hosted by SC Businesses for Clean Energy, a coalition of over 100 businesses.

The roundtable included a panel discussion featuring experts on energy and economic policy in South Carolina, including Suzanne Watson, policy director with the American Coalition for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE).

Watson cited efforts by the South Carolina Electric Cooperatives to weatherize tens of thousands of homes as a positive step toward reducing energy costs and creating jobs. A state-specific report released last year by ACEEE asserts that investing in energy efficiency could gradually create more than 20,000 jobs in South Carolina as companies choose to locate here.

Watson says a good example of new energy efficiency companies is one in North Carolina, which analyzes power bills, compares them to others in the area, and finds ways to lower costs.  Watson says North Carolina has adopted an energy efficient standard which requires utilities to be more efficient. She says such a standard has created jobs in 24 states.

AUDIO: Watson on energy efficient jobs (1:16)

Watson says a number of people at Tuesday’s discussion were in favor of nuclear power, but she points out that nuclear power doesn’t come inexpensively.

ACEEE does not argue in favor of any one energy source because every state has its own particular resources and goals. But invest in energy efficiency first and you will reduce the costs for any new generation power source that you build.

ACEEE is a nonprofit organization founded in 1980, funded by foundations, federal and state grants, contract work and contributions.

Panelists also included Grant Jackson, senior vice president for community development with the Greater Columbia Chamber of Commerce and Russ Keller, vice president for Advanced Technology International of South Carolina Research Authority.

Jackson cited a July 2010 poll of South Carolina small businesses that showed 68 percent support clean energy initiatives.

There is a realization in South Carolina that we do not have coal, oil, or uranium, and that we have to import these energy sources from other places.  At the same time, we have abundant offshore wind, solar, and biomass, as well as, hydrogen and nuclear energy potential. Clean energy is a path to jobs.

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