Sanford pursues energy stimulus

Gov. Mark Sanford on Monday assured the U.S. Department of Energy that South Carolina will consider improving efficiency-related building codes and utility policies, in a letter that opened the door to $50.5 million in energy-related stimulus funds for the state.

In order to receive a share of State Energy Program stimulus money, governors were required to provide written assurances by Monday that they would consider such policies.

In South Carolina, a House bill already has been introduced to bring the state's energy-related building codes, which date to the 1990s, up to the modern standards used in North Carolina and Georgia. Environmental groups, some building companies and industries that stand to benefit, such as insulation manufacturers support the legislation.

Ben Moore, a project manager for the Coastal Conservation League, said updating the codes would save the people who buy new homes hundreds of dollars every year. The Home Builders Association of South Carolina, which has not taken a position on the legislation, said the regulations would raise the cost of building a standard home by $675 to to a total of $875.

The bill sponsored by Rep. Harry Cato, R-Greenville, would make the 2006 International Energy Conservation Code the law in South Carolina. House co-sponsors include Charleston-area Democrats Robert Brown, Anne Hutto, Leon Stavrinakis and Seth Whipper, and Charleston-area Republicans Chip Limehouse and Jim Merrill.

"It's the kind of thing that, in South Carolina, our Legislature usually leaves us behind the curve on," Merrill said. "There's a bipartisan group of us that is trying to get us set up for a move into the future."

The bill is just the sort of legislation that the stimulus plan requires states to consider.

There is $3.1 billion available to states for improving the energy efficiency of buildings. The spending is meant to create short-term jobs and long-term savings on energy, while reducing the carbon emissions blamed for global warming.

Covering the politics of the Lowcountry, South Carolina and the Nation.

Sanford, who has been a persistent and vocal critic of the federal stimulus package, last week rejected $700 million in funding designed to help the state balance its budget over the next two years. A provision in the federal law allows the state Legislature to request the money Sanford rejected, and it is expected to do so.

Sanford's press secretary, Joel Sawyer, said the State Energy Program funding is different because it would be used for one-time expenses and would not create expectations for future state funding.

South Carolina plans to spend the money improving efficiency at public schools and colleges and at state office buildings.

"Taxpayers pay the utility bills on all these buildings," State Energy Office Director John Clark said in a recent interview. "I'm confident the taxpayers will save three or four times the amount spent."

House Speaker Bobby Harrell, R-Charleston, is no fan of the $787 billion federal stimulus package, but he said the state ought to take all the money that is available because South Carolina taxpayers will be paying for it either way.

Harrell said energy efficiency funds will be put to good use.

"We have buildings all over the state that are old and in need of this kind of up-fit," he said.

Reach David Slade at dslade@postandcourier.com. Reach Yvonne Wenger at ywenger@postandcourier.com