Updated: Oct. 24, 2024 at 8:32 PM PDT

ISLE OF PALMS, S.C. (WCSC) - The Isle of Palms is putting 44 solar panels on its public safety building thanks to a state grant that will pay for the installation, saving the city money on its electric bill and creating a reliable energy source.

“We have a resident committee that’s an Environmental Advisory Committee, and they may periodically look at initiatives that we may want to do around the island, and this is one of them, to turn our public works building into a solar-powered facility,” Mayor Phillip Pounds says.

A state grant of $67,000 will cover the purchase and installation costs. Climate and Energy Program Director at the Coastal Conservation League, Taylor Allred says the state funding project is new. He’s excited to see the town taking advantage of it and to see how many others do as well.

“My reaction is that it’s great news. You know, I think that we want to see as much of that as possible. Municipalities should take note across the state and follow suit. It’s a great deal for taxpayers, and it’s a great opportunity to help clean up the grid and save a little bit of money in municipal operations while doing it,” Allred says.

The installation projects will reduce the monthly electric bill for the building from more than $3,000 to about $600 a month. Factoring in the 30-year life span of the panels, and the needed upkeep, the town anticipates this will create about $9,000 in savings over the 30-year life span, on top of the installation being paid for by the state grant. All savings will go back into the town’s general fund.

“We can use it for foot bridges or different things on the island. I mean, $9,000 is not enough to do too much of a project. But, you know, it might be hiring another person, a piece of another person, or giving somebody an additional raise that we may not be able to do with these,” Pounds says.

Allred notes saving a little money is a perk, but there are other benefits to diversifying energy like reliability.

“It definitely offers a lot of potential reliability benefits. Having more distributed generation resources like solar energy can help to provide backup power in the event of disasters like a hurricane, and I would love to see more projects done that incorporate microgrid designs that can incorporate solar and battery storage to be able to keep an area powered, while maybe there are disruptions across the larger grid” Allred says.

The town awarded work for the project to Alder Energy Systems. The company did the installation of panels on the James Island Town Hall, Cultural Center and Fire Station One. Alder has experience installing panels on private businesses across South Carolina as well as other municipalities. City staff explain the project is a win because the state is incentivizing the installation with grants, but it would be hard to invest in solar on their own.

According to state data compiled by the Coastal Conservation League in 2015, solar generation made up only .01% of overall net generation in SC. In 2023, solar grew to well over 3%. Allred calls that a major jump and he’s encouraged to see the investment. South Carolina ranks 19th in the county for total solar installations.

“Solar also creates a lot of jobs and economic growth in the state. There are about 3,500 jobs in South Carolina in the solar industry across about 90 companies, including 21 manufacturers, that are here in the state. And overall, there have been about $3.3 billion of capital investment in solar in South Carolina today,” Allred says.

Isle of Palms approved the contract to Alder to do the solar installation at the public works building. The project is expected to take about 3-4 months including pre-planning. A start day and construction time frame have not yet been set.

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ISLE OF PALMS, S.C. (WCBD) – Three candidates vying for an open seat on Isle of Palms City Council gave voters an opportunity Monday night to hear what they want to accomplish if elected to council.

The candidates were asked about three main issues for this election: beach erosion, short-term rentals, and residents’ quality of life.

The special election comes after former city councilwoman Elizabeth Campsen resigned from her position because she was moving off the island. Former council members Susan Smith and Rusty Streetman announced their candidacies shortly after, followed by newcomer Joshua Hooser.

Voters sent in questions asking about the plan for the future of the beaches. Candidate Susan Smith helped create the environmental advisory committee. She told the potential voters that if elected she wants to get to work on flooding resiliency and beach erosion.

“It’s only going to get more urgent as we see sea level rise and more storm intensity more flooding, and bigger king tides those are significant to have viable livable communities in the coming decades but at the same, there are lots of opportunities to do quality of life initiative and make sure everybody here is enjoying the natural resources,” said Smith.

Rusty Streetman said during the forum his top priority was stormwater drainage. He cited his experience on council working on drainage projects as why voters should re-elect him.

“We continue to have very significant drainage issues on the island we finished some outfall work which has really helped us down on the coastal waterway but we still have a lot of stormwater issues on Palms Blvd. and the interior of the isle where we have the drainage issues that need to be cleaned out, so they flow better,” said Streetman.

Candidates were asked their stance on short-term rentals which, Hooser says is a top priority.

“There a lot of short-term rentals and a decline of residents and houses that are getting bought are being bought by out-of-town investors and they’re either bulldozing or renovating them and pricing people out of the neighborhood and I want to have a city where my kids can grow up and can stay and afford a house to live and I’m hoping to be a new generation and a voice for the future,” said Hooser.

The forum was hosted at the Isle of Palms Exchange Club and sponsored by Lucky Dog Publishing.