The Power Behind the Progress: Duke Energy in Greenville County

South Carolina's population is booming, but is its power grid ready for the strain? In this episode, we go behind the scenes with Duke Energy in Greenville County to understand how they are tackling one of the biggest challenges in the state: keeping the lights on for a rapidly growing number of homes and businesses. Ryan Mosier, Communications Manager for Duke Energy, reveals the complex strategy required to not just keep up with growth, but to stay ahead of it, ensuring reliable electricity for everyone.

What does it really take to power a thriving community? This in-depth discussion explores the massive undertaking of managing and upgrading our electrical infrastructure. We delve into the history of Duke Energy in the Upstate, from its origins powering textile mills with hydropower to the construction of its first coal plant in Greenville in 1911. Ryan Mosier explains how the unique geography of the Upstate, with the Saluda and Keowee rivers, led to the development of Lakes Jocassee and Keowee, which were crucial for both hydropower and the Oconee Nuclear Station. The conversation highlights the constant pressure of South Carolina electric utility growth and details how electric utilities plan for the future using sophisticated data modeling and a comprehensive 15-year plan to guide infrastructure upgrades. We also cover Duke Energy's "all-of-the-above" strategy, which includes a newly proposed natural gas facility in Anderson County—the first new plant in over a decade—to meet the projected demand. Furthermore, the episode sheds light on the Duke Energy Foundation community involvement, showcasing its commitment to being a good corporate citizen through philanthropy and employee volunteerism, including initiatives like Yam Jam to fight food insecurity.

About Our Guest:

Ryan Mosier is the Communications Manager for Duke Energy in South Carolina. In this role, he shares the story of what it takes to generate and deliver power, engaging with communities, stakeholders, and customers to ensure a reliable flow of both electricity and information. He offers insight into the company's long-term strategies, daily operations, and deep-rooted community involvement across the Upstate.

Episode Resources:

• Learn more about the Duke Energy Foundation

• Discover more about Mill Village Farms

• Learn about the OneSC Fund

Introduction

Katy Smith: You flip the switch and the light comes on. Electricity is something we take for granted, but for most Greenville County residents, our homes and businesses are powered by the planning, management, and care of Duke Energy. I'm Katy Smith with Greater Good Greenville, and on this episode of Simple Civics, Greenville County, we'll hear from Ryan Mosier, Communications Manager for Duke Energy in South Carolina. He will give us an overview of our electric utility, including Duke Energy's history, its ties to our topography and economic development, how they're looking ahead to not just keep up with the growth of residents and businesses, but to anticipate it so we will all have reliable service and how Duke Energy is embedded in the community as a good corporate neighbor. Ryan is interviewed by Kelly Byers, a Travelers Rest City Council member and local government enthusiast. We'll put links to both of their bios in the show notes.

Kelly Byers: Ryan, let's start with an overview of Duke Energy.

A Century of Power: The Historay of Duke Energy in the Upstate

Ryan Mosier: Duke Energy has been serving customers since 1904. That's when the company we know as Duke Energy today came about, when some visionaries in the Charlotte region decided that to improve the economics of the early 20th century Carolinas, which was primarily textile at the time, that we needed to find a way to power those industries. They harnessed the power of the Catawba River, and our first power plant did that. It supplied electricity to mills in the Rock Hill area, and then that became the way of the future for the power company.

We started creating systems of hydropower plants on the Catawba and other river systems across both North and South Carolina. With the textile history of Greenville and the upstate, we've had a significant presence here in Greenville County since the early part of the 20th century as well. Our first coal plant venturing past the hydropower operations was actually right here in Greenville. And that came online in 1911. So we've been producing power in and around Greenville for more than 100 years.

Kelly Byers: I know the history of Duke and Greenville is largely based around Jocassee, correct?

Ryan Mosier: I would say that the history of Duke Energy and Greenville goes back to our first coal plant in the early 20th century. As the company expanded and looked for different ways to produce power, they realized that the geography in the upstate of South Carolina was a unique asset that we needed to capitalize on. The way the river systems cut through the property in the upstate, the Saluda River and others, the Keowee. That gave us the opportunity that if we put dams strategically along there, you could create these very powerful reservoirs that could provide clean 24-7 electricity through those dams and continue to help power the economies of the Carolinas.

But that also gave us the opportunity for those forward-thinking folks back in the 60s and 70s to think about the new technology that's nuclear. When you think about Oconee Nuclear Station and some of our other nuclear plants across both North and South Carolina, that was the next step. You needed those reservoirs because they're an important piece of having that type of water regularly available when you're producing a large amount of nuclear energy. But it also gave rise to an economic boost in recreation and tourism and the other things that we now associate with both Jocassee and Keowee, which are significant drivers for the economies of the upstate.

Kelly Byers: What are some big challenges and changes that Duke Energy is taking on?

Planning for South Carolina's Unprecedented Growth

Ryan Mosier: Growth. This is one of those things that you'll hear from just about anybody in this type of infrastructure world who is looking at what we have to do to provide for our customers today, but more importantly, what we have to do to provide for them five years, 10 years, 15 years from now. Population growth and economic development success are great, but you have to be ready for them and you have to prepare for them. That is the thing that most folks I've talked to within the company are thinking about every day.

We just recently presented to our regulators our new and updated 15-year plan. That is the things that we need to be doing over the next 15 years to make sure that every time you go to the light switch, it turns on when you want it to. There's a lot of opportunities for us in South Carolina and in North Carolina, in the upstate and western North Carolina, as we move forward in looking at new ways to power our economies, new generation. But we're also advancing and upgrading the infrastructure itself, the poles, the wires, the substations. All those things are part of what we think about every day so that the power is there when folks need it, 365, 24-7.

Kelly Byers: A lot of utilities, energy is something I think we take for granted until there's an issue. And I know you guys are working really hard behind the scenes all the time to get energy from point A to point B. Can you tell us a little bit more about the logistics of what's happening to get energy to our homes?

Ryan Mosier: The fact that you think it's easier than it is means we're doing a pretty good job of it. The one thing that folks who've worked for the company for a long time are working in the power business, we understand that customers typically only think about their utility, their electric utility, either when they get the bill or when the lights are out. That's good for us that that's the only time you think about us, but it also gives us an opportunity to educate stakeholders and communities and customers about what we do, how we do it, and why we do it.

We're constantly looking for opportunities to share the story of what it takes to create power, what it takes to send energy to communities so that they can build and grow and thrive. And it's not easy. Nuclear plants are not easy. Building huge lakes and reservoirs is not easy. But it's something that's a challenge that we've been taking on now for more than 100 years. We have just proposed building a high-tech, state-of-the-art, new natural gas generation facility in Anderson County. This is the first new power plant for us in South Carolina in more than a decade. And there will be more opportunities after that as well. Again, we have to meet the needs of our customers and our communities for the next 5, 10, 15 years and beyond.

Kelly Byers: Is Duke looking at where populations are already growing or where anticipated growth is happening or both? How do you determine those infrastructure needs going forward?

Ryan Mosier: All of the above. The way we look at it is very analytical and we use current data and we use models. We plug in what we know now. We know what we've done for the last five years. We look at all the things that are coming our way. We know that industrial customers are bringing facilities that they want to locate in South Carolina, in the Carolinas. We know that the trends from the census are that the population is growing. South Carolina had the fastest growing population in the country in 2023. We don't see any reason why those stats, those trends are going to change anytime soon.

We have to factor all of that in. And we adjust our plans as we go along. About every two to three years, we take another look. We run the models again. We make sure and see if anything's changed. And if we need to adjust our plan to add more or take a different route, that's what we do.

Kelly Byers: You mentioned stakeholders and on top of managing a lot of logistical complications, I'm sure dealing with the people aspect of your work is very complicated as well between government regulation and citizen feedback and input and other stakeholders. Can you talk about how Duke navigates all of those players and their interests?

Engaging with Local Stakeholders and Communities

Ryan Mosier: When I talk about the company to external audiences, folks in the community, I like to start with saying that Duke Energy is a large company, but everything we do is local. Everything we do is in someone's backyard, is across the street, impacts a school or a church that someone goes to, their small business or their employer. We know how important that is. That's why we have such a rich and engaged effort with our customers and our communities on a daily basis, whether that's working through the local chambers of commerce or our local elected officials, making sure that our nonprofits are vibrant and making sure that our customers know what's going on. All of these things are extremely important for us as we move through day-to-day to ensure that we're doing what we think we need to do, but also getting that feedback from the community to make sure that we're doing the right things for them too.

Kelly Byers: Well, in my role in different nonprofits in the community, I've had the great pleasure of working with the Duke Energy Foundation. I know that the company is really good about giving back. Can you share with our listeners about the foundation and how we might have interacted with Duke in that way?

The Duke Energy Foundation and Community Involvement

Ryan Mosier: Philanthropy is a real cornerstone for the way we work within the communities that we serve. These are shareholder dollars that we do. It's not customers paying for these things that we're doing. These are funds that would otherwise go to the profit of the company. We take that off the top and we allot a certain amount every year to make sure that we're doing the right thing as a corporate citizen in the counties and cities and states that we have a presence in.

An example of the types of things that the foundation really focuses on in South Carolina, we have a big campaign in November. That's a month-long campaign, and its sole focus is to support the organizations that fight the good fight when it comes to fighting hunger across our state. Food insecurity, the organizations like food pantries and others that distribute food, mobile meal services. Throughout the month of November, we put hundreds of thousands of dollars into the system to try to do two things. One, give them the funding and support they need to do the job, but also to help shine a light on them so that everybody else and other corporate citizens understand the importance of the work that they do and look to support them.

We have an event in November in Greenville called Yam Jam, and it grows every year. It's such a great event because it brings corporate citizens and groups of their employees together. It highlights an issue, which is food insecurity and hunger, and it supports the organizations that do that work every day, like Mill Village Farms right here in Greenville. It's critically important that we take the time both to fund and to provide sweat equity. And our employees are large champions for being out in the community and rolling up their sleeves and getting the job done.

Kelly Byers: I know Duke Energy Foundation recently contributed to the OneSC fund in response to SNAP cuts. So thank you for that as well. What is Duke looking forward to in the future?

The Future Grid: Strategy, Infrastructure, and Communication

Ryan Mosier: We are pursuing not just in South Carolina, but across our corporate footprint, because we're seeing the challenges of growth, not just in the Carolinas, but in the Midwest, in Florida, where we also have customers. We're looking at what is the right thing to do, where do we need to do it, and when do we need to have it done by. We talk about an all-of-the-above strategy for making sure, again, that the power's there when you need it. And understanding when you need it is three, five, 10 years down the road. We have to make smart decisions now, invest where it makes sense, get help from communities that we serve, whether that's in legislative space or other rulemaking or just having community support for projects and making sure they understand the importance of these things so that we can efficiently get these projects put into place so they're there to serve our customers when customers need them.

Kelly Byers: We're interested in talking to utilities because of how they intersect with all levels of government and citizens in Greenville County. We'd love to hear how you engage further with the community to make these decisions.

Ryan Mosier: There are things that you don't think about that affect everybody that the utility has a role in. Whether it's the way a tree is trimmed on a side street in a neighborhood, the way that infrastructure is planned when you're upgrading something and how that affects traffic, for example. It's those types of issues that are so hyperlocal that are something that we deal with on a daily basis. And our folks offer great insight. We have so many technically great folks in the field that have years of experience, our engineers and all these guys and gals that are out there every day trying to make sure that the electric grid is there and is giving the communities we serve what they need when they need it.

The communication piece of that is so critical, and it is a two-way flow of information. We're always looking for new ways and better ways to make sure that we're engaging our communities. The power company and the utility industry is not an easy thing to talk about a lot of times. The stuff that is done behind the scenes that people don't see can be very technical, it can be very intense, time-consuming.

It's a good thing and a bad thing that folks don't necessarily see the sausage making of everything that we do. One, that's what we want. We want them to be able to go about their daily lives and not have any concerns whatsoever about the electricity that's being provided to power their homes and their lifestyles. But that also, to the earlier question about communication and understanding with customers and communities, is that they don't know what it takes. They don't understand the sometimes Herculean effort to keep the lights on or to restore after a major weather event comes through, like a Hurricane Ian or something like that.

That's why we have so many folks in the community that are always talking, that are always out there understanding, asking questions, being part of organizations, chambers, rotaries, but sharing the story of Duke Energy in Greenville, in Greenville County and in South Carolina.