Andy Brack – Page 9 – Building a better South

By D. Lowell Atkinson and Andy Brack

FEB. 19, 2014 — Improving the energy efficiency of your home saves you money on your utility bill.

But there are broader benefits that accrue as consumers and businesses weatherize and retrofit their homes and buildings.

For example, using less energy in the home reduces the need for government fuel subsidies, such as the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, a federal program that helps pay for home heating and cooling for the most vulnerable and low-income residents.

This program served more than 72,000 S.C. households in 2012, up from 18,218 households in 2009. In spite of more households receiving benefits, the state’s allocation has dropped a dramatic 44 percent over the same period. That means benefits are lower for people on the program.

Because residential weatherization and retrofits can reduce air leakage while maximizing and upgrading heating and cooling systems, investments in energy efficiency can lower energy consumption for residents. And that produces safer, healthier and more energy-efficient homes, reducing the need for the subsidies.

Another value of energy efficiency is its impact on disposable incomes. The Electric Cooperatives of South Carolina reported in 2013 that the average participant in its energy-efficiency pilot program saved $288 a year and $8,500 over the 15-year life of the improvements — after considering the typical retrofit cost of $7,684.

That means retrofitting the homes of all 72,016 S.C. recipients of the federal subsidy program would yield $59 million in savings for the government, homeowners and taxpayers. Retrofitting 225,000 homes by 2020 — a goal of the state’s electric cooperatives — would save homeowners $184 million. Most of these households would use the savings to satisfy other financial priorities and to pump money into local economies through the purchase of goods and services.

Per capita spending on electricity in South Carolina was $3,634 in 2009, according to the U.S. Department of Energy, and our state now boasts the highest average retail electricity prices in the Southeast, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. So imagine how much money South Carolinians would save if they embraced energy-efficiency strategies that are common in other states. Improving the energy efficiency of homes is low-hanging fruit that is spoiling because it’s not being plucked by state residents.

Boosting home energy efficiency also provides other benefits often overlooked in conventional program evaluations. Residents in energy-efficient homes experience fewer shut-offs for non-payment because their costs are lower; they don’t have to move or relocate as much because they can stay in their own home.

And utilities, governments, property owners and rate payers get reduced infrastructure costs from not having to build as many power plants. Property values increase, which boosts local tax revenues. And community pride grows as neighborhoods stabilize. Overall, society benefits thanks to more local spending, job creation and improved health.

There are environmental benefits, too. With half of our state’s power coming from nuclear plants, there would be less nuclear waste to bury. Plants would last longer. And air quality would improve because we’d burn less coal to meet routine power needs.

State government could help by adopting a statewide energy-efficiency appliance standard so that washers, dryers and refrigerators sold in stores are required to be more energy efficient overall. As conveyed in the Center for a Better South’s “Getting Greener” policy guide ( green.bettersouth.org), adopting standards for 15 kinds of equipment in states across the South would allow the region to save enough energy to fuel 10 power plants.

South Carolinians also can support energy efficiency by contributing to a residential rehab or retrofit program with local community development organizations. Donors and investors can help by financing energy-efficient homes among the underserved who have few traditional financing options. And contributors can claim a 33 percent tax credit if they invest with any of the 22 certified community development corporations or community development financial institutions in South Carolina. Learn more at communitydevelopmentsc.org.

Mr. Atkinson is a program associate at the S.C. Association of Community Development Corporations; Mr. Brack is president of the Center for a Better South. Contact them at Lowell@scacdc.net and brack@bettersouth.org.

February 19, 2014February 19, 2014

Old privy, near Dexter, Ga.

There’s no telling how old this privy is outside an old farmhouse just north of Dexter, Ga., in Laurens County. The unpainted house had some signs that someone might have been restoring it awhile back (new brick foundation in the rear; random concrete blocks at front holding up building.) But there was no electricity going into the place on Georgia Highway 257 near Dexter’s new water tower.

Just beyond the privy, you can see a small grove of seven mature pecan trees with a field in the rear.

Dexter has about 500 people and is a few miles southwest of Dublin, the county seat for Laurens County. Some 23.6 percent of residents of Laurens County (population 48,434) live in poverty.

February 17, 2014

Familiar scene

This scene of a flat Interstate highway could be anywhere. On Interstate 16 near Savannah? Or on Interstate 26 near Charleston? Maybe Interstate 55 in Mississippi or 65 in Alabama? How about I-40 near Wilmington? (Answer: I-16 at Exit 132, Ash Branch Church Road in Bryan County just north of Pembroke, Ga.)

What’s so familiar about the scene is that there are miles and miles of little development between large cities. Over the last 50 years, Interstates connected America in new ways never imagined years earlier, but that connectedness started an outpouring of talent and people from rural areas to cities and the suburbs. Bryan County, which is in Savannah’s metro area, has a poverty rate of 14.7 percent.

February 7, 2014February 8, 2014

Farm buildings, Round O, S.C.

This old tin farm building and nearby short grain silos are in the unincorporated Colleton County community of Round O, which has numerous churches and a small post office. While these buildings look little-used, they are located next to the ACE Basin Milling Company, which seemed to be a busy place on the cold, gray January day when the photo was taken.

According to this Web site, Round O got its name because English settlers found it easier to call the chief of the Cherokee tribe in the area “Round O,” instead of his given name of Chief Attakullakulla, which apparently described a purple medallion tattooed on his shoulder.

About 750 people live in the Round O area. Colleton County, a Southern Crescent county split by Interstate 95,, is home to 38,153 people, 21 percent of whom live at or below the federal poverty level.

Quickfacts on Colleton County from the U.S. Census Bureau.
More about Round O, S.C., from Wikipedia

February 1, 2014

Historic store, Sniders, S.C.

This historic store on U.S. Highway 21 about 10 miles west of Walterboro, S.C., was closed in January 2014, even though it looks well-kept and like it had been open recently. Look closely and you can see a cat in front of the gray doors.

It’s harder and harder to find country stores like this that are open today. Once as ubiquitous as mules, they’re dying out as more people move from rural areas to larger cities.

Walterboro, which has lost about 100 people since 2010, has a population of 5,309 people. 38 percent of whom live in poverty. Walterboro is the county seat of Colleton County, a Southern Crescent county split by Interstate 95.

Colleton County, which also has a small piece of coastline, is home to 38,153 people, 21 percent of whom live at or below the federal poverty level.

Quickfacts on Colleton County from the U.S. Census Bureau.

January 30, 2014January 30, 2014

No service, Walterboro, S.C.

Despite the word “service” on this building outside Walterboro, S.C., there’s no service because this old Pontiac-Buick-GMC dealership is closed, just as many similar dealerships across the South closed during the recent recession.

Colleton County, which also has a small piece of coastline, is home to 38,153 people, 21 percent of whom live at or below the federal poverty level.

Quickfacts on Colleton County from the U.S. Census Bureau.

January 28, 2014January 28, 2014

Great barbecue, Holly Hill, S.C.

It’s not a cliche that the South, particularly the Crescent South, knows how to make outstanding barbecue, such as this plate from Sweatman’s just outside Holly Hill, S.C.

Holly Hill is in Orangeburg County, which at 1,128 square miles is almost the size of Rhode Island! The county, home to 91,476 people in 2012, stretches from Eutawville and its Revolutionary War site in the east near Lake Marion to Springfield and North, more than 60 miles to the west. Almost two in three residents of the county are black. Some 24.5 percent of residents live below poverty.

QuickFacts about Orangeburg County from the U.S. Census

January 26, 2014

Sturdy, empty station, Olar, S.C.

This gutted gas station in rural Olar, S.C., stands as a testament to sturdy buildings that litter the South along major highways in the days before the interstates. The empty station looks like a perfect place for a movie set for a film of a time long past.

Situated along U.S. Highway 301 in the Bamberg County town of about 200 people, it’s not hard to imagine a booming business located here in the 1950s with big, American cars zooming by and locals stopping by for a Coca-Cola and bag of peanuts. Across the street today is another abandoned gas station, competition from the past.

Bamberg County is home to about 16,000 people, 27 percent of whom live below the federal poverty level, according to 2012 Census estimates. The majority of residents are black (61.4 percent) with whites comprising 36.8 percent.

QuickFacts about Bamberg County from the U.S. Census.
More on Olar from Wikipedia.

January 24, 2014November 16, 2014

“Im still here,” North, S.C.

Two guys walk past an empty building on Main Street in North, S.C., on a chilly January day. What caught our attention about the deteriorating grand-looking commercial building was the red sign of the establishment at the right — a church that appeared to be closed. Emblazoned at the top: “Im Still Here and Still Standing For Jesus.”

North, which has an old military air strip outside of the town limits that is still used for military touch-and-go landings for C-17 Globemaster transport jets, seems to be a tired, rural town. The reason: It got its oomph more than 100 years because of the railroad, which isn’t a player these days. [History.]

North, which has a population of about 800, is in Orangeburg County, which is South Carolina’s largest. Some 91,476 people were thought to live in the county in 2012, according to the U.S. Census. Almost two in three residents are black. Some 24.5 percent of residents live below poverty.

QuickFacts about Orangeburg County from the U.S. Census

More about North via Wikipedia.

January 22, 2014January 22, 2014

Cross on highway, Bamberg County, S.C.

Cross on S.C. Highway 217, Bamberg County, S.C.

This yellow cross with plastic flowers attached is an all-too-familiar scene across the rural South. It marks the spot where someone died, likely in a terrible car crash.

This cross is located along S.C. Highway 217 next to a bridge over a swamp of the Little Salkahatchie River just inside Bamberg County near the Colleton County line.

Across the South, highway death rates are comparatively high, but have gone down in recent years thanks to improvements in safety features on vehicles.

QuickFacts about Bamberg County from the U.S. Census.

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Op-ed: More to energy efficiency than lower power bills