Who Provides Power, Water and Gas Across South Carolina

South Carolina has no single utility company. Your electricity may come from a state-owned authority, a member-owned cooperative, a city department or an investor-owned company. Water and sewer often come from a separate local system, and natural gas from yet another provider. The offices listed on this page cover all of those types, from small neighbourhood water companies to large power suppliers. Knowing which type you are dealing with tells you who sets your rates, where to pay and who to call when something goes wrong.

That distinction matters most when you move. A new address in Lexington may mean a city department for water and a different company for power. A rural address outside Aiken may sit in a cooperative's territory that ignores city limits entirely. Confirming the provider for each service before moving day saves you from surprise deposits and gaps in service.

State Regulators and the Laws Behind Utilities

Investor-owned electric, natural gas, water and wastewater companies fall under Title 58 of the South Carolina Code of Laws. The Public Service Commission of South Carolina, based in Columbia, sets their rates and approves service rules after formal hearings. Its seven commissioners are elected by the General Assembly. Dominion Energy South Carolina, Duke Energy Carolinas and Duke Energy Progress are the large investor-owned electric companies. The old South Carolina Electric & Gas name still appears in older records, including one listing in Walterboro.

A separate agency, the Office of Regulatory Staff, represents the public interest in those cases. It was established under a 2004 state law and employs auditors, engineers and consumer specialists. If an investor-owned company will not resolve a dispute, the Office of Regulatory Staff takes consumer complaints, and the Commission handles formal ones.

Drinking water is a different matter. The South Carolina Department of Environmental Services, which took over environmental permitting from the former DHEC in 2024, regulates public water systems and wastewater permits. Plants such as the Catawba River Water Plant in Lancaster and the Camden Water Treatment Plant operate under state drinking water rules.

Cooperatives, Santee Cooper and Municipal Systems

Much of rural South Carolina is served by electric cooperatives. These are owned by the customers they serve, who elect the board. This directory includes Aiken Electric Cooperative, Horry Electric Cooperative, Pee Dee Electric Cooperative and Little River Electric Cooperative in Abbeville. Cooperative rates are set by each board rather than through a Public Service Commission rate case. The place to raise concerns is the co-op office or its annual member meeting. Central Electric Power Cooperative in Columbia is the wholesale organisation that supports the state's co-ops.

The South Carolina Public Service Authority, known as Santee Cooper, is a state-owned utility created in 1934. It sells power wholesale to cooperatives and directly to retail customers, including many around Horry County and the Grand Strand. It answers to its own board. The abandoned V.C. Summer nuclear project, which Santee Cooper and SCE&G pursued until 2017, remains part of the state's rate debates.

Cities and towns run utilities too. Cayce Utilities Departments, Clemson Utility Billing, the City of Aiken Water Billing office and the Lexington Utilities Department are examples. Municipal customers often receive one bill covering water, sewer and sometimes gas or trash. City councils set those rates, so budget season is when changes are usually decided. Customers outside city limits often pay different rates than those inside.

Small private water companies fill the gaps. Shady Acres Water Company in Chapin and Cassatt Water Co Inc in Kershaw County serve limited communities. They may keep shorter office hours than a city department, so call before you drive over.

How Utilities Differ Between Metro, Small-Town and Rural South Carolina

The Midlands around Columbia has the densest mix of providers. Central Electric Power Cooperative sits in Columbia, and Cayce and Lexington run their own departments. Lexington County has more listings than any other county in the state, partly because water and sewer here are split among many small providers.

Aiken shows how layered service can be. Within one small area you will find Aiken Electric Cooperative, city water billing, a natural gas pipeline company and Beech Island Water Works. Browse Aiken County to see how they fit together.

In the Upstate, the Anderson Regional Joint Water System supplies water across a wide area rather than serving one city. Anderson County also lists offices in Belton. Clemson, in Pickens County, runs its own utility billing for the university town.

The coast and the Grand Strand deal with seasonal population swings and hurricane planning. Horry Electric Cooperative's Myrtle Beach office and Santee Cooper's Conway office both serve customers who often have vacation homes and rental properties. Landlords and second-home owners should keep their account contacts current.

In the rural Pee Dee and Lowcountry, towns like Hartsville, Darlington and Walterboro rely on a mix of Duke Energy Progress, cooperatives and county water systems. Offices may be a long drive apart, so phone first and ask about payment by phone or mail.

Not every listing is a customer service counter. Cherokee Falls Generation Station in Blacksburg is a power plant, and Baldor Electric Company in Belton is a manufacturer. Southern Natural Gas Company is a pipeline operator. Check what a listing does before you plan a visit.

Practical Steps for Starting or Fixing Service

These steps work for most South Carolina providers:

Keep a note of each account number and phone number in one place. When an issue drags on, written records and dates give you the strongest footing with any office.

Municipal utility departments throughout South Carolina provide electricity, water, sewer, and related services to millions of residents and businesses. Utility governance in South Carolina is shaped by the state's public utility commission, which regulates investor-owned utilities, while municipally owned systems operate under local authority.

Utilities locations are available in 117 cities across South Carolina. They are spread across 43 counties.

Cities with the highest concentration of utility offices include Aiken, Lexington, Anderson, reflecting their larger populations and service area demands.

South Carolina residents should contact their local utility provider directly for account setup, billing questions, and outage reporting. State-level utility assistance programs may also be available through the state's health and human services agency.

Utilities by Counties

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South Carolina residents who need help paying utility bills may qualify for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), administered through the state's community services offices. Contact your local utility provider to inquire about budget billing, shut-off protection, and additional assistance programs available in your area.

Browse Utilities by county across South Carolina to find your local utility department's contact information and service office locations.

Storm Season, Growth and Service Boundaries in South Carolina

Weather and growth shape how utilities work in South Carolina. Hurricanes and tropical storms can cause outages along the coast and well inland, and winter ice occasionally damages lines in the Upstate. Providers typically restore power by dealing with safety hazards first, then the repairs that bring back the most customers. If a small cooperative or water company serves you, outage updates may come through its phone line rather than a large call centre.

Growth matters just as much. The Charlotte-area suburbs around Fort Mill and the Lancaster corridor have added many homes in recent years, and new demand pushes water plants, gas lines and substations to expand. In Lancaster County, one address may involve a county gas provider, a river-fed water plant and a separate electric supplier. Farther west, Cherokee County offices in Gaffney and Blacksburg include both small water systems and a generation station, so check whether a listing is a customer office or a plant before visiting.

Boundaries matter too. State law assigns electric territories, so two neighbours on opposite sides of a road can have different providers. Use the county pages to compare nearby offices, then phone the one that matches your address and confirm hours.

Utilities FAQs for South Carolina Residents

It depends on the type of provider. The Public Service Commission of South Carolina sets rates and service rules for investor-owned electric, gas, water and wastewater companies, and the Office of Regulatory Staff represents the public in those cases. The Department of Environmental Services oversees public drinking water systems and wastewater permits. Electric cooperatives answer to boards elected by their members, Santee Cooper answers to its own board, and city or county systems answer to elected councils. Identifying the owner of your provider tells you where a complaint should go first.

Generally not. South Carolina assigns electric service territories by law, so the provider at your address is usually the only option, whether that is a cooperative, a municipal system or an investor-owned company. Residential natural gas customers also normally have a single local supplier. What you can sometimes choose is a billing plan, such as budget billing or paperless payment. If you live near a boundary, such as the edge of a city or between two cooperatives, confirm the provider by phone before signing a lease or contract.

Call each provider a few days before your move, since water, power and gas are often separate accounts. Expect to give your name, the service address, your move-in date and a photo ID. Many offices ask for a deposit, particularly from new customers without a payment record, and some reduce or waive it based on credit history or a reference from a previous utility. Renters should confirm whether water and sewer are billed to the landlord. Smaller systems like Cassatt Water Co Inc or Shady Acres Water Company may have shorter office hours, so phone first.

Start with the provider. Ask for the dispute in writing, and keep the date and name of whoever you spoke with. For investor-owned companies, you can then contact the Office of Regulatory Staff or file a complaint with the Public Service Commission. For a cooperative such as Aiken Electric Cooperative or Pee Dee Electric Cooperative, take it to member services and, if needed, the board. For a city department, ask for a supervisor and the appeals process, then raise it with your council member. Bring recent bills, meter readings and payment receipts.

For an outage, call your provider's outage line rather than a county office, and give your service address and any damaged equipment you can see. Stay far away from downed lines and treat every one as live; call 911 if anyone is at risk. If you smell natural gas, leave the building immediately, avoid switches and phones inside, and call 911 and the gas provider from outside. Before storm season, keep a list of numbers for each of your providers. After hurricanes, restoration can take days, so plan ahead for medical needs.

Start by asking your provider for a payment plan or budget billing, which many offices can arrange. Community action agencies across the state help eligible households with energy assistance, but funding and eligibility rules change from year to year, so ask the local agency what is open now. Dialing 211 connects you to referrals for local charities and faith-based groups that sometimes help with shutoff notices. Contact your provider before the disconnection date, because service is harder to restore once cut. Have your account number, a recent bill and proof of income ready.

Companies in South Carolina have merged and rebranded. South Carolina Electric & Gas became Dominion Energy South Carolina in 2019, and Progress Energy is now part of Duke Energy, with Duke Energy Progress serving customers in the Pee Dee region. Listings sometimes keep the name that appeared in public records at the time. When you call, confirm the current company name and ask for the correct billing address, because payments sent to an outdated address can be delayed.