South Carolina Businesses Acting on Rising Seas

Today was big day for the South Carolina Small Business Chamber in our efforts to protect our small business tourism industry from the coming impact of rising seas due to climate change.

This morning we rolled out our new sea level rise education project at a press event in Charleston.  The project, called South Carolina Businesses Acting on Rising Seas (SCBARS), is a partnership with the American Sustainable Business Council that is providing the funding.

In the last several weeks the SCBARS team has been identifying businesses up and down our coast that NOAA-supplied data indicates are expected to be directly impacted by a 6-foot rise in sea level by 2100.  We’ve been knocking on their doors and educating the owners about the threat.

We ask them to post signs for the tourists to make them aware of the future danger.  Our goal is to turn the tourists into an army of advocates for protecting our coast by asking them to go to SCBARS.org.  From the website people can send letters to their Congressional delegation and President calling on them to take action to reduce carbon pollution and transition the U.S. to a clean energy economy.

The response from these businesses has been very encouraging.  This week we start delivering the signs and hopefully will get permission to place blue tape on the inside or outside of their buildings showing where the high tide will be in 2100 if nothing is done about climate change.

While this was going on in Charleston, I was meeting with the Myrtle Beach Sun News editorial board to tell them about SCBARS.

It was a good day for our small business tourism industry and with the help of our SCBARS project hopefully there will be more good days for future generations of coastal small businesses.

Small Business Chamber opposes Duke rate hike

GSA Business Journal
June 21, 2013

The president of the S.C. Small Business Chamber of Commerce said before the first public hearing on Duke Energy’s request for a third rate increase since 2010 that the request is “not justified and particularly not justified for small businesses.” Frank Knapp Jr. has filed as an intervenor in the rate case.

By Bill Poovey

The president of the S.C. Small Business Chamber of Commerce said before the first public hearing on Duke Energy’s request for a third rate increase since 2010 that the request is “not justified and particularly not justified for small businesses.”

Frank Knapp Jr. has filed as an intervenor in the rate case.

“We are opposing the proposed rate hike,” said Knapp, whose Columbia-based group has more than 5,000 members. “There is no justification for it. The rate of return on equity is way too high.”

The utility is seeking to increase rates by an average of 15.1% to boost revenues by $221 million annually.

The request would increase rates by an average 16.3% for residential customers, 14% for commercial customers and 14.4% for industrial users. Duke Energy’s rates in South Carolina are among the lowest in the Southeast, but rates are determined in part by utilities’ profit margins, or return on equity. Duke is requesting a return on equity of 11.25%, up from 10.5%. The PSC will determine whether to allow that increased profit margin and decide what the 540,000 retail customers in the state can afford.

Ryan Mosier, a spokesman for the utility in Greenville, said previously that the rate increase application is based on the actual costs of new power plants and upgrades, as well as the 11.25% return on equity rate recommended by outside consultants. He said that maximum profit margin is a limit, not a guarantee.

“Like any other business, we still must manage our business and costs to achieve a return on our investments,” he said.

The filing for higher rates could start hitting customers’ pocketbooks in the fall. It follows two recent increases for the Charlotte-based utility. In 2010, Duke sought a 7.2% increase, or $104 million, and was allowed a 5.2% increase, or $74 million. In 2012, Duke sought a 14.2% hike to raise annual revenues by $216 million. The PSC approved a 6% increase that added $93 million in new revenues.

Duke wants the extra revenue mainly to provide $673 million for the new Dan River natural gas plant in Eden, N.C.; $236 million for high-efficiency technology at its Cliffside Steam Station in Mooresboro, N.C.; $141 million for safety and security measures at the Oconee Nuclear Station near Seneca; and $135 million for upgrades at the McGuire Nuclear Station in Mecklenburg County, N.C.

Knapp made the comment hours before the S.C. Public Service Commission’s public hearing on the request at Spartanburg Community College, the first in a series of hearings also set in Greenville, Anderson and Columbia.

The PSC takes up the increase in Columbia starting July 31.

The schedule for the remaining hearings that start at 6 p.m.:

• June 24, Greenville County Council Chambers, 301 University Ridge, Suite 2400, Greenville.
• June 27, Anderson Civic Center, Ballrooms A&B, 3027 MLK Jr. Blvd., Anderson.
• Aug. 1, Public Service Commission, 101 Executive Center Drive, Columbia.

http://www.gsabusiness.com/news/48074-small-business-chamber-opposes-duke-rate-hike

Our next networking seminar: Wed., Nov. 10 at 701 Whaley!

Our last networking event and small business seminar was quite a terrific success! If you missed it, no worries. We have another one coming up fast!

Join us on Wednesday, November 10 at 701 Whaley St. in Columbia, SC for a talk by business coach Keith Spiro, with hosted food and drink by Mac's on Main:

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