Power As part of the bus transfer deal several years ago between the city and SCE&G, the city gained the hydro–electric power plant at the end of the Columbia Canal next to the Gervais Street bridge. At the time, around 2002, the power plant was cranking out electric power worth about $1 million per year. Since then SCE&G has credited the city with $1 million per year for the eight years, but the power plant has produced less than $1 million in electric power each year. The difference is now $3.2 million, and SCE&G wants its money back. SCE&G has agreed to an interest–free payback over a five–year term. To pay SCE&G the $3.2 million, according to The State newspaper, the city will divide the total by five and proceed to allow one–fifth of the $3.2 million to be retained each year by SCE&G from the franchise fees collected by SCE&G on behalf of the city. For the fiscal year ending this past June 30, SCE&G had collected $5.6 million in franchise fees, which was a 3 percent add–on SCE&G’s Columbia customers paid for the year.

S.C. a national leader in engineering workforce The U. S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics recently disclosed that S.C. continues to rank among the top states in the country for employment concentration in several engineering occupations. S.C. ranks No. 2 in employment concentration of industrial engineers, No. 3 for industrial engineering technicians, No. 4 for environmental engineering technicians, and No. 5 for health and safety engineers. Also, S.C. ranks No. 1 nationally for its concentration of nuclear power reactor operators and nuclear technicians, and the state is No. 8 in the country in concentration of nuclear engineers. In its concentration of chemical engineers, S.C. ranks No. 6 in the nation, and the state is also No. 6 in its concentration of mechanical engineers. It’s No. 9 for environmental engineers and No. 4 in the concentration of chemical plant and system operators. Other engineering areas where S. C. has a nationally ranked concentration include team assemblers (No. 1), engine and other machine assemblers (No. 2), chemical equipment operators and tenders (No. 3), and computer–controlled machine toole operators (No. 3).

More women S.C.’s two candidates for governor, Democrat Vincent Sheheen and Republican Nikki Haley, have been asked by the Southeastern Institute for Women in Politics to plan on appointing more women on boards and as heads of state agencies. Haley refused to sign a pledge to do so, saying she would be dedicated to appointing the best people qualified, but Sheheen agreed to sign a pledge to appoint more women. Roughly one–third of Governor Sanford’s appointments have been women.

CoEE Program appointment The state’s Centers of Economic Excellence (CoEE) Program was created by the state legislature in 2002. It is funded through proceeds from the S.C. Education Lottery. The legislation authorizes the state’s three public research institutions (MUSC, Clemson and USC) to use the state funds to create CoEE in research areas that can advance the state’s economy. Each CoEE is awarded from $2 million to $5 million in lottery funds that must be matched on a dollar–for–dollar basis with non–state investment. So far, 49 CoEE programs have been created, and 35 CoEE Endowed Chairs have been appointed to lead the centers. Results to date include more than $250 million of non–state investment and 3,200 jobs. The latest word from the CoEE Program describes a renowned toxicology expert bringing his research into the environmental causes of birth defects to MUSC. Dr. Louis Guillette will hold the CoEE Endowed Chair in Marine Genomics at MUSC. He will lead the Marine Genomics CoEE, a partnership among MUSC, USC, and the College of Charleston. Guillette comes to S.C. from the University of Florida, where he was the Distinguished Professor of Biology and Professor of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

Should’ve stayed on Assembly Street, 1952 The new S.C. State Farmers Market and Agribusiness Center on S.C. Highway 321 in Lexington County near Dixiana will open in phases beginning on August 16, according to Hugh Weathers, S.C. Commissioner of Agriculture.

Buses Columbia’s bus system, aka CMRTA, has an annual budget of about $11.5 million, but the Lexington County participants are trying to reduce their participation. Meanwhile, a protest group in the northeast quadrant of Richland County is campaigning against the transportation sales tax set for the Richland County ballot, November 2. The one–cent sales tax would give about one–third of its collections to the bus system that runs just about the lowest service per capita in the country. The bus system in Charleston runs on an annual budget of $20 million, funded by a half–cent county sales tax, and the Charlestonians are in the process of replacing about a third of its aging fleet with new environmentally friendly buses powered by low–sulfur, clean diesel fuel that will mean reductions of more than 90 percent in its carbon emissions. Like most American cities, Charleston runs its bus system with a separate transit authority responsible for transit only. In Columbia, the bus system is run by Central Midlands, a council of governments populated by elected officials responsible for everything.