The Cope Generating Station currently burns a mix of coal and natural gas to produce 415 megawatts of power for the region. That could change.

Dominion Energy South Carolina has released a 15-year integrated resource plan calling for the plant to burn all natural gas beginning in 2030.

“Dominion Energy is on a trajectory to achieve our goal of net-zero carbon dioxide and methane spokesman Matt Long said. “The modified 2020 (integrated resource plan) highlights details about how DESC has already reduced our dependence on coal generation, increased our percentage of solar generation and created a cleaner generation fleet.”

“The plan also presents alternatives that could be pursued in the future to provide customers a path to clean, renewable energy while allowing technologies to mature,” Long said.

When it was originally placed in service in 1996, the Cope plant was designed for operation on coal and natural gas up to its full design capacity of 415 MW.

The Cope plant has the ability to operate up to its full original design capacity when using natural gas. The station frequently operates up to this load when natural gas supplies are available and economical, Long said.

Converting the plant from its current dual-fuel capability to gas-only will not require any physical modifications, Long said. No staffing changes have been announced based on that plan.

Currently, the Cope plant employs 65 and pays about $9 million annually in taxes to Orangeburg County.

“Since the plan proposes that Cope Station continue operating, DESC would not anticipate a major change in property tax as a result of the plan,” Long said.

The plant, formerly owned by South Carolina Electric and Gas, has a number of environmental controls designed to reduce sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and mercury emissions.

“Natural gas operations emit significantly lower amounts of carbon dioxide per megawatt of energy generated compared to coal,” Long said. “Natural gas combustion also emits less nitrous oxides, sulfur dioxide, mercury and particulate matter than coal combustion.”

As part of its plan, Dominion will shut down operations at two of its other coal-fired plants by 2028. The plants are its Wateree Station south of Columbia and the Williams Station north of Charleston.

Currently, the company’s three coal plants provide 1,709 megawatts of power. Natural gas would mostly replace the coal generation.

Dominion’s plan calls for adding more gas-fired generation capacity by 2028, including 523 MW of large-frame internal combustion turbines and 553 MW of combined cycle gas units.

Dominion Energy announced its 15-year plan earlier this year. In June, South Carolina regulators approved the energy company’s integrated resource plan, which spells out its power development and purchasing plans for the next 15 years.

The utility’s preferred option would also ramp up solar, adding 100 MW by 2028 and an additional 300 MW by 2032.

Dominion’s plan also calls for adding 100 MW of storage by 2032.

Dominion would further bolster its solar power lineup from 2030 to 2048, potentially adding as much as 2,000 MW by mid-century. That’s compared to the 973 MW of utility-scale solar power that Dominion currently has under contract.

The state’s Public Service Commission has accepted the utility’s integrated resource plan. It rejected an earlier version last December due to the company’s failure to include a demand-side management option.

Environmental watchdog group, The Sierra Club, said the updated plan represented a significant turnaround.

The Cope Station has generated electricity by burning about 160 tons of coal per hour. At full load, the plant can produce enough power in one hour to supply the average electric needs of 430 residential customers for one month.

The facility has consistently ranked in the top 20 plants for efficiency, according to Electric Light & Power magazine.

The plant was designed and built with a dry scrubber to reduce sulfur dioxide emissions. The scrubber eliminates more than 95 percent of sulfur dioxide. A co-benefit is that approximately 60-90 percent of mercury emissions are eliminated.

The Cope Station was also equipped with baghouses that remove 99 percent of fly ash from the combustion process. The boiler also had low-nitrous oxide burners installed in its initial construction.

Selective catalytic reduction equipment officially came online in 2008 to reduce nitrous oxide gases even further. The total cost was more than $69 million.

The Cope plant’s 525-foot stack can be seen from miles around. It emits condensation from the plant’s cooling system.

Plant construction began in 1992. The station was ready for operation before its May 1996 deadline, officially coming online Jan. 15, 1996.

The $411 million project came in about $34 million under budget.

At the peak of its construction, the plant employed about 750 and paid a combined $65 million in wages.

The facility, which sits on 3,200 acres, was designed so that only half an acre of the 1,700 acres of wetlands would be disturbed.

Nearly 400 acres of wetlands along the South Fork of the Edisto River were included in a conservation easement to the Congaree Land Trust as a hardwood and cypress preserve.

Turkish-based company plans to invest about $4.3 million and create more than 300 new jobs in Orangeburg County over the next five years.

BRN Sleep Products — a supplier of online mattresses, box spring beds, covers and ready-made brands — is looking to invest about $70,000 in land and building and $3.64 million in machinery and equipment.

Orangeburg is the company’s flagship manufacturing plant in the United States.

“As the industry leader in innovative bedding solutions, we are beyond excited for the opportunity to invest in both South Carolina and the United States,” BRN Sleep Products Owner Berna Gözbaşı said in a press release. “We look forward to growing with Orangeburg and the surrounding communities.” 

The company will locate at 3771 Cameron Road (U.S. Highway 33) near Exit 149. It is housed in the former Utica Tool building.

“We have chosen this area for all it has to offer and believe that together we will do great things in helping the surrounding communities grow and prosper,” BRN USA Sleep Products General Manager Fikret Kamer said. “Added value will come by way of the many new employment opportunities we will be offering.

“While we strive to always provide the highest quality standard of environmentally sustainable products for all of our customers, we also strive to create a hygienic, safe and respectful quality work environment for all of our employees.”

The company will initially utilize about 100,000 square feet of the 200,000-square-foot building, according to project manager Jason “Jay” Crayne.

The plant will manufacture a new product line, which will help to increase the company’s capacity to meet growing demand.

Crayne said BRN is leasing the property and is currently readying the building for mattress production, including the installation of a new sprinkler system.

A facelift has also been done both inside and outside to prepare it for mattress production, said Crayne.

“We are planning to invest a lot of resources and assets into this location,” Crayne said.

Preproduction at the plant will start in August and the company will ramp up production as time passes.

Currently, BRN has 10 employees.

“All is moving quickly,” Crayne said.

“It’s another win for Orangeburg County with the announcement of BRN Sleep Products selecting Orangeburg County as their newest manufacturing location,” Orangeburg County Council Chairman Johnnie Wright said. “With capital investment to exceed $4.3 million and more than 300 new jobs for our citizens, we are grateful of the impact BRN will have on our community. Welcome, BRN. We look forward to watching you succeed in your new home.”

Orangeburg County Administrator Harold Young expressed his pleasure that BRN chose Orangeburg County to be its first U.S. operation.

“Our county team is ready to build a long-lasting relationship with BRN and improve the quality of living through the creation of hundreds of job opportunities for our citizens,” Young said.

Founded in Turkey in 2006, BRN Sleep Products specializes in the manufacturing and assembly of mattresses and bases, as well as marketing, distribution and sale of bed products.

The company’s brands include BRN, BRN Kids, Seven, Royal Coil, Sleep Plus, Bern Sleep Products and Kiez Mattress.

Crayne said Orangeburg’s proximity to the Port of Charleston as well as Charlotte, N.C., and Columbia made it an attractive site.

Crayne said the company looked at a number of locations, but Orangeburg had all it wanted.

“This facility had really good bones,” he said.

Crayne also praised the leaders and people of Orangeburg for making the company feel welcome.

“It is almost as if the Orangeburg community has gotten together and said we will make this place a special place,” Crayne said. “The support of the town has been excellent. They have helped us with literally everything we requested and asked for. The people there have been very pleasant and helpful.”

“It is as if you guys had a meeting with the town and everybody got on board to make this place a good manufacturing location,” Crayne continued.

In describing the manufacturing process, Crayne said “think of a mattress as a recipe.”

“Our process is roll packaging and putting it in a box,” he said. “We are the world leader in that.”

“The recipe for building a mattress depends on our customer and their requirements,” Crayne said. “We just perfected that so we can offer a custom mattress build for our customers.”

BRN has received a number of incentives to locate to Orangeburg.

The Coordinating Council for Economic Development approved job-development credits related to the project.

The company will be placed in a multicounty industrial park between Orangeburg and Dorchester counties. The park is not an actual physical park, but a method of providing the company with additional incentives.

Until now, the recruitment of BRN was known by the code name Project Lullaby.

The arrival of BRN means Orangeburg County is now home to 29 international companies from 17 foreign countries.

The company is headquartered in Kayseri, Turkey, and has a manufacturing office in Bulgaria.

Central SC Alliance Chairman W. Keller Kissam praised the announcement.

“BRN Sleep Products is joining an expansive international business community in the county and bringing fresh opportunities for local workers,” Kissam said. “We know you will feel right at home as you set up your new operations.”

The announcement received statewide praise as well.

“Our approach to creating a business-friendly environment for companies of every kind continues to pay off, and BRN Sleep Products’ investment in Orangeburg County is a testament to that,” South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster said. “This investment will have a tremendous impact on the continued growth of Orangeburg County and the state of South Carolina.”

South Carolina Secretary of Commerce Harry M. Lightsey III noted the importance of foreign investment.

“Foreign direct investment is a crucial element of South Carolina’s business environment, and we are excited that BRN Sleep Products has joined the roster of international firms that have decided to call South Carolina home,” Lightsey said. “I look forward to watching this company and its leadership thrive here for many years to come.”

Individuals interested in joining the BRN Sleep Products team should email hr@brnbed.com.

Orangeburg County Council has approved economic development incentives for two companies that could bring a total investment of more than $11 million and hundreds of jobs.

Council on Monday approved third and final reading of an ordinance that will place a Turkish mattress manufacturer in the joint Orangeburg-Dorchester multi-county industrial park. The park is not an actual physical park, but a method of providing the company with additional incentives.

The company has promised to bring over 300 jobs to the area over five years. The development will be located off of Interstate 26.

The project involves a minimum capital investment of $4.34 million.

Council also approved third reading of an ordinance authorizing the execution of a fee-in-lieu of tax agreement between the county and Project Shamrock.

The project will establish a convenience store and includes a minimum capital investment of $6.7 million and the creation of 29 new, full-time jobs.

The project will also be placed in a multi-county industrial park.

In other business:

• Council approved third reading of zoning request from Colonial Holdings Group, LLC to rezone property located on Five Chop Road from the forest agricultural district to the commercial general district.

According to a zoning amendment application filed May 17, the purpose of the rezoning is for residential development and commercial businesses.

According to Orangeburg County property records, the nearly 70-acre property is owned by Lenaire F. Wolfe II Trust.

The property is currently a vacant field and is located in the 1800 block of Five Chop Road near Burnham Lane and Nivens Road.

• Council gave first reading approval to a request from James L. Sharperson to rezone property located at 3099 Rowesville Road from the forest agricultural district to the commercial general district.

Sharperson is seeking to re-establish an event venue.

• Council gave first reading approval to a request from WTC of Bowman, LLC to rezone property located at Bowman Avenue and Charleston Highway from the forest agricultural district to the commercial general district. The company is seeking to develop a general retail store.

• Council gave first reading approval to a request from Pierre Mercure and Tonia Stone to rezone property located at 5979 North Road from the forest agricultural district to the business industrial district. They are seeking to establish an auto salvage business.

• Orangeburg County Administrator Harold Young said the county is still encouraging citizens to get vaccinated.

new residential housing community is planned for Bunch Ford Road in the Holly Hill area.

Plans include building between 50 and 100 detached single-family, single-story and two-story homes.

“We really like Orangeburg County and feel like it is in the path of growth along the (Interstate) 26 corridor. In particular, we like the town of Holly Hill,” said Colin Stiles, owner of Virginia-based Terra Dominion Group Inc.

“We think it has a lot to offer young families and working families. It is a nice town with good schools, both public and private,” he said.

Also, “there is a lot of job growth along that corridor,” Stiles said. “There is not a lot of affordable new homes.”

Groundbreaking for the development is expected by the spring of 2022, with home construction to begin the fall of 2022, he said.

Stiles said he hopes to have a contractor in place within the next 60 to 90 days.

Stiles said the number of homes is still uncertain and will be contingent upon whether the property will have city or private sewer.

The price range of the homes will be in the low- to middle-$200,000 range.

The first step toward the realization of the project was taken recently when Orangeburg County Council gave third and final reading to Bunch Ford Road LLC’s request to rezone the property from forest agricultural district to residential single-family district.

According to county property records, the property is a little over 77 acres and is owned by Farmers and Merchant Bank of South Carolina.

The property is located behind the Regional Medical Center’s Holly Hill primary care practice and across the street from Holly Hill Academy.

The property borders Bunch Ford Road, Eutaw Road and Lindstedt Lane.

It is currently a corn field.

Stiles expressed his pleasure at the zoning process and thanked the Orangeburg County staff for their help in working through the process.

“We are looking forward to submitting the engineering plans and the initial approval,” Stiles said.

Terra Dominion acquires properties and conducts the due diligence for residential subdivisions in preparation for home construction.

Stiles said the company is actively looking for more potential properties.

BRANCHVILLE — Softball is in the air in Branchville this weekend as the town hosts the Dixie Youth State Softball Tournament July 10-12 at the Branchville Sports Complex located at 2645 Classic Road.

The town is proud to host the state tournament just weeks after hosting two district tournaments at the complex, Mayor Pro Temp Michael Blankenship said. The upcoming tournament will put Branchville on the map, with the town anxious to host more tournaments in the future.

The $2.3 million Branchville Sports Complex was built in 2016 and has been the site of many tournaments in the area, but this weekend it will be hosting 15 teams from all over South Carolina that are coming to compete. The complex features four fields for baseball and softball and in the center is the concessions stand topped by the announcers’ box that overlooks the four fields.

Tripp Mitchum, a board member of Branchville Youth Sports, said eight of the teams will be in the 12-youth Ponytail Division, while the other seven teams are members of the 10-youth Angels Division. The tournament format is double-elimination.

Admission will be $11 for Saturday and $6 for Sunday and Monday. Mitchum said a portion of the fees will go to the Dixie Softball Scholarship Fund to which any girl having played for a Dixie team can apply when she graduates high school and is applying to college.

Saturday’s first game will start at 10 a.m., with the first game on Sunday beginning at 1 p.m. Monday’s games will start at 5:30 p.m Mitchum said times are subject to change due to weather.

The opening ceremony will be held Friday at Branchville High School at 1349 Dorange Road. Introductions of teams and players begins at 7 p.m.

Ruthie Osteen, the state director for Dixie Youth in South Carolina, will be present at the tournament to oversee the games.