Santee Electric Cooperative, Inc. Rate Selection Guide
Santee Electric Cooperative (SEC) is a member-owned cooperative serving about 44,855 customers across four northeastern South Carolina counties. Its NISC SmartHub portal supports Green Button XML downloads with 12-14 months of billing and usage history, and an undocumented SmartHub API exposes 15-minute interval data — but there is no formal third-party authorization program, Green Button Connect My Data, or EDI.
Market Overview
Member-owned cooperative with wholesale supply from Central Electric Power Cooperative; no retail supplier choice in South Carolina. The SC Public Service Commission's customer data protection rule (§ 103-823.2) governs third-party data disclosure.
Need to pull your actual usage data to compare rates? See the Santee Electric Cooperative, Inc. Data Access Guide →
Current Rate Schedules
Santee Electric Cooperative (SEC) is a member-owned distribution cooperative buying wholesale power from Central Electric Power Cooperative, and in August 2023 it moved all classes to a three-part rate: a daily account charge, a per-kWh energy charge, and a Peak Charge applied to the single highest hour of usage during defined peak windows in each billing cycle. Peak windows are 3:00-6:00 PM April-October and 6:00-9:00 AM November-March — only one hour per cycle gets the peak charge, so customers directly control that component. Energy charges adjust monthly via a Wholesale Power Cost Adjuster (WPCA), which has run around +$0.01 to +$0.02/kWh recently. Non-residential schedules split by transformer capacity (125 kVA threshold) and load factor; current rate sheets are posted per schedule at santee.org.
Effective: August 1, 2023 · Full Tariff Book →
| Schedule | Type | Applicability | Structure | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| General Service | commercial | Non-residential accounts at a single delivery point with transformer capacity up to 125 kVA — small commercial, churches, schools, farms; 12-month minimum contract | Daily account charge, per-kWh energy charge with monthly WPCA, plus a Peak Charge on the single highest peak-window hour of the billing cycle — see schedule PDF for current rates | — |
| General Service High Load Factor | commercial | Non-residential loads sustaining a 60%+ monthly load factor over the preceding 12 months — convenience stores, farm refrigeration, and similar steady loads | Same three-part structure with pricing favorable to flat, high-load-factor consumption — see schedule PDF for current rates | — |
| LPD – Large Power Demand Service | industrial | Non-residential consumers at a single delivery point with transformer capacity of 125 kVA or greater; 12-month minimum contract | Daily account charge, energy charge with WPCA, and peak/demand charges on the highest peak-window usage; a Load Control Off Peak Service Rider is available for qualifying seasonal 125+ kVA services — see schedule PDF for current rates | — |
| Large Power Demand Service High Load Factor / Large Industrial Power Service | industrial | Large commercial and industrial accounts with high sustained load factors, and the cooperative's largest industrial delivery points | Demand-billed structures with pricing tiers rewarding sustained load factor; terms negotiated for the largest industrial services — see schedule PDFs for current rates | — |
| CH-6 – Church Service (illustrative of the rate design) | commercial | Churches at a single delivery point with transformer capacity up to 125 kVA | $0.94/day account charge, $0.0910/kWh energy (plus WPCA), and a $4.00/kW Peak Charge on the highest one hour of usage during peak windows (3-6 PM summer, 6-9 AM winter); +$12.00/month for three-phase service (effective May 1, 2026) | $0.0910/kWh + WPCA+ $4.00/kW on single highest peak-window hour |
Rate Recommendations by Use Case
Portfolio billing and usage collection
Standardize on Green Button XML exports from SmartHub for 12-14 months of structured billing and usage data per account.
Green Button DMD is SEC's only supported structured export and is ESPI-compliant, making it portable into analysis tools without PDF parsing.
- Export the full 14-month window on first pull — retention isn't formally published
- Note that the XML includes PII; handle per SC data rules
- Re-export monthly since there is no automated refresh
Interval data for demand analysis
Confirm smart meter status per facility, then weigh the unofficial SmartHub API against manual exports for 15-minute data.
AMI is only partially deployed and Green Button exports carry billing-period resolution; the reverse-engineered NISC API is the only 15-minute channel and carries terms-of-service risk.
- Verify each meter is AMI before promising interval analytics
- If using the unofficial API, expect endpoint changes when NISC updates SmartHub
- Ask SEC directly what interval resolution appears in your Green Button payload
Third-party / consultant access
Run a consent-first manual workflow through Member Services, or use Nectar's API for programmatic access.
S.C. Code Regs. § 103-823.2 requires explicit customer consent for third-party disclosure, and SEC has no authorization portal — so documented member authorization is both the legal and practical requirement.
- Get written authorization specifying data scope and duration
- Use Nectar's API (docs.nectarclimate.com) for programmatic SEC data access
- Never take member SmartHub credentials directly — it risks violating SEC's terms of service
Automated data integration for energy software
Treat SEC as a semi-automatable NISC utility: Nectar API access or member-driven Green Button exports, with the unofficial API as a risk-managed option.
NISC SmartHub utilities are commonly supported programmatically, and the platform's Green Button XML provides a standard ingest format even without an official utility API.
- Build ESPI XML ingestion once — it works across NISC utilities
- Maintain consent records for every account per SC regulations
- Monitor NISC announcements for official API or CMD availability
Cost Optimization Strategies
SEC's 2023 rate redesign makes one number the savings target: your single highest hour of usage during the daily peak window. Only one hour per billing cycle receives the peak charge — the other ~89 peak hours bill at the normal energy rate — so even modest load coordination during the 3-hour daily window yields outsized returns. AMI smart meters and SmartHub usage data give members the visibility to manage it.
Cut your single highest peak-window hour
For: All rate classes; largest absolute impact on LPD and industrial accounts
The Peak Charge applies to just one hour per billing cycle: the highest hour falling within 3:00-6:00 PM (April-October) or 6:00-9:00 AM (November-March). Sequencing HVAC, refrigeration defrost, water heating, and process equipment so they never coincide during the window directly lowers the billed peak kW.
Use SmartHub interval data to find the peak hour
For: All members with SmartHub access
SEC's AMI meters feed hourly usage into SmartHub, including Green Button downloads. Pull interval data monthly to identify exactly which hour set the peak charge and what equipment was running, then adjust schedules or controls before the next cycle.
Qualify for High Load Factor schedules
For: Convenience stores, refrigeration-heavy, and continuous-process loads
Accounts sustaining a 60%+ monthly load factor over 12 months qualify for the General Service HLF or LPD HLF schedules, which price steady consumption more favorably. Facilities running near the threshold can smooth operations — e.g., staged refrigeration or continuous processes — to qualify.
Enroll seasonal large loads in the Load Control Off Peak Rider
For: Seasonal 125+ kVA loads on LPD-21
Seasonal services of 125 kVA or greater on the LPD schedule can take the Load Control Off Peak Service Rider, accepting cooperative load control in exchange for reduced charges — a natural fit for grain drying, irrigation, and seasonal agricultural processing.
Track the WPCA and verify savings versus the old rate
For: All C&I members
The Wholesale Power Cost Adjuster moves the energy charge monthly (recently around +$0.01 to +$0.02/kWh), so budget against the all-in rate. SEC publishes the WPCA history table — reconcile it on large bills, and use SEC's own comparison method (energy + peak charge versus kWh × legacy flat rate) to confirm the new structure is working for your load shape.
To implement these strategies, you need your 15-minute interval data. Learn how to download Santee Electric Cooperative, Inc. interval data →
Frequently Asked Questions
How do commercial members get billing and usage data from Santee Electric Cooperative?▾
Register on SmartHub at https://santee.smarthub.coop/ with the account number, identity verification, and billing zip. The Billing section holds 12+ months of statements with PDF downloads, and Green Button Download My Data exports up to 14 months of ESPI XML covering consumption, charges by rate component, and bill dates.
Is 15-minute interval data available from SEC?▾
Only unofficially. SEC's AMI deployment is staged and partial, and standard Green Button exports carry billing-period resolution. The underlying NISC SmartHub platform exposes an undocumented REST API that returns 15-minute interval data — open-source tools like electric-usage-downloader use it — but it isn't supported by SEC or NISC and may violate terms of service. Confirm smart meter status per facility first.
Can a consultant or energy platform pull SEC data automatically?▾
There is no formal authorization program or Connect My Data portal at the utility. Practical options: (1) use Nectar's API for programmatic access to SEC billing data — see docs.nectarclimate.com; (2) have the member export Green Button XML and share it; or (3) coordinate manual authorization through Member Services (843-355-6187). South Carolina law (§ 103-823.2) requires explicit customer consent for any third-party disclosure.
Does Santee Electric Cooperative support EDI?▾
No. No 810, 814, 820, or 867 transaction sets, ANSI X12/EDIFACT support, or trading partner program exists — typical for a cooperative of this size with no B2B billing interface. Use SmartHub PDF/Green Button exports or Nectar's API (docs.nectarclimate.com) for formatted delivery instead.
Is Santee Electric Cooperative the same as Santee Cooper?▾
No. Santee Electric Cooperative is a member-owned distribution cooperative serving Clarendon, Georgetown, Florence, and Williamsburg Counties, buying wholesale power from Central Electric Power Cooperative. Santee Cooper is South Carolina's state-owned public power authority — a separate utility with different territory, governance, and data access processes.
Where are SEC's rates published?▾
Service rates, rules, and regulations are posted at santee.org/service-rates-rules-and-regulations. As a cooperative, rates are set by the member-elected board with wholesale costs from Central Electric Power Cooperative passed through; there is no retail supplier choice in South Carolina. Ask Member Services about Load Control Rider and time-of-use options.
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