South Carolina’s growing energy demands dominated the discussion as prominent business and political leaders gathered in Columbia earlier this month for a daylong summit on energy.

South Carolina’s electric cooperatives had a prominent seat at the table, and their remarks reflected their focus on keeping the lights on at affordable rates.

John Frick, CEO of The Electric Cooperatives of South Carolina, joined the chief executives of Duke Energy South Carolina, Dominion Energy South Carolina, and Santee Cooper for a fireside chat on the state of the utility industry.

Later in the day, Berkeley Electric Cooperative CEO Mike Fuller took part in a panel about data centers that was moderated by James Chavez, CEO of the South Carolina Power Team, the co-ops’ economic development organization. 

Fuller explained how co-ops in South Carolina adopted consumer protections to ensure data center costs and risks aren’t passed on to other co-op members.

“That’s something that we already believe in,” Fuller said. “We had already set those systems in place on our own before any legislation took place.”

The Aug. 5 event, hosted by S.C. Manufacturers and Commerce also covered the possible revival of the Fairfield nuclear project, efforts to reduce the energy sector’s carbon emissions, the future of battery storage and more.