COLUMBIA, August 29, 2017 – Assistant Democratic Leader James E. Clyburn will join leaders of the Electric Cooperatives of South Carolina to celebrate the recent announcement of $13 million in federal funds from the Rural Energy Savings Program (RESP) to weatherize more than a thousand homes in rural South Carolina.

Who:        Assistant Democratic Leader James E. Clyburn

                 Electric Cooperatives of South Carolina,

  Santee Electric Cooperative

What:       Press conference and tour of one of the homes included in ECSC’s “Help My House” pilot weatherization program.

Where:    873 Sumter Highway, Kingstree, SC

When:      Wednesday, August 30, 2017 – 2:00pm

Contact:   Lou Green, 803-739-3042, lou.green@ecsc.org

    Lindsey Smith, 803-331-5934, lindsey.smith@ecsc.org

About the Rural Energy Savings Program:

First introduced in Congress by Rep. James E. Clyburn in 2010, the Rural Energy Savings Program is a national initiative that provides loans to electric cooperatives and other utilities which they use to then lend to consumers for energy efficiency improvements to their homes.  Consumers repay the loan through the savings on their electric bill.

The bill passed the House of Representatives in 2010, but never passed the Senate.  The next Congress, in 2012, RESP passed the Senate as part which never passed the House.  Finally in 2014, RESP passed both chambers and was signed into law.  The program received its initial funding in 2016, and in May announced its first round of loans, which included $13 million to electric cooperatives in South Carolina.