Cross Generating Station Unit 4

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State-owned Santee Cooper (South Carolina Public Service Authority) constructed two new electric generating units at the Cross Generating Station. These two new units provide 1200 megawatts (MW) of energy, adding to the station’s existing capacity of 1160 MW. The third unit became operational in January 2007. Construction on Unit 4 began in 2004[1] and was commissioned in October 2008.[2]

Coal supply

In a 2007 media release CONSOL Energy announced that it had reached an agreement with Santee Cooper "to supply approximately 6.5 million tons for the 2007-2011 timeframe. The coal is expected to be shipped from CONSOL Energy's Bailey Mine to Santee Cooper's new Cross #3 and Cross #4 units that are based in South Carolina South Carolina."[3]

Project Details

Sponsor: Santee Cooper (South Carolina Public Service Authority)
Location: Cross, Berkeley County, SC
Capacity: 600 MW
Type: Pulverized coal
Projected in service: 2009
Status: Construction

Financing

Citizen Groups

Employment

A 2011 Ochs Center for Metropolitan Studies report, "A Fraction of the Jobs" found that coal-fired power plants underestimate jobs by more than half. The analysis looked at the six largest new coal-fired power plants to come online between 2005 and 2009, including Cross, and combed through each project’s initial proposals and job projection data, including public statements, published documents and other material. They then compared hat data to actual employment — before, during and after construction — in the areas where the projects were built, relying chiefly on the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages.[4]

They found that only a little over half - or 56 percent - of every 1,000 jobs projected, appeared to be actually created as a result of the coal plants’ coming online. In four of the six counties, the projects delivered on just over a quarter of the jobs projected. Only one county, the Walter Scott unit number 4 project in Pottawattamie County, Iowa, saw an increase in construction employment that was roughly commensurate with the numbers predicted before the project there got under way.[4]

Construction Employment Change in Counties with New Coal Plants

Plant County Total Projected Employment Actual County Construction Employment Change (Peak) Actual Change as % of Projection
Sandow Unit 5 Milam 1,370 463 33.7%
Nebraska City Station Unit 2 Otoe N/A -73 N/A
Weston Unit 4 Marathon 1,200 429 35.7%
Council Bluffs Energy Center Unit 4 Pottawattamie 1,000 2,407 240.7%
Cross 3 & 4 Berkeley 1,400 509 36.3%
Oak Grove Units 1 & 2 Robertson 2,400 329 13.7%

Resources

References

  1. ↑ Cross Generating Station Unit 4, Southeast Construction press release, June 2005.
  2. ↑ "Santee Cooper fires up fourth coal-fired unit", Charleston Inspired, Charleston Regional Development Alliance, October 3, 2008.
  3. ↑ CONSOL Energy, "CONSOL Energy Signs Coal Deals with Scrubbed Utilities in Midwest and Southeast", Media Release, September 7, 2007.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Tom Zeller, "Coal, Jobs and America’s Energy Future" NY Times, March 31, 2011.

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