What is electricity and how is it generated in South Carolina?
Electricity is the flow of electrical power or charge. It is a secondary energy source. That means we get it by converting primary sources such as coal, natural gas, oil, nuclear power and other natural sources into it.
Primary sources can be renewable or non-renewable, but electricity itself is neither renewable nor non-renewable.
Electricity generated in South Carolina is not necessarily consumed in the state. South Carolina has two multi-state utilities (Duke Energy Carolinas and Duke Energy Progress) that share the electricity generated in both South Carolina and North Carolina among their customers in the Carolinas. Therefore, the generation fuel mix does not solely represent the consumption by South Carolina customers, due to electric resources being shared across both states. The pro rata share data represents the portion of electricity consumed in South Carolina.
What follows is a breakdown of the electricity produced and consumed in South Carolina by the method of how it’s generated. The information is provided by the S.C. Energy Office:
2019 Generation and Capacity Mix
