HEMINGWAY, S.C. - Sixth graders at Carver's Bay Middle School got a treat with green energy earlier this month as Santee Electric Cooperative, Inc. and the Georgetown County School District, along with other schools and co-ops across the state, helped Santee Cooper celebrate '10 Years of Green.'

Carver's Bay Middle School in Hemingway, was the sixth school to receive a 2-kilowatt solar panel demonstration system as part of Santee Cooper's Green Power Solar Schools program after the program began in 2001. The Green Power Solar Schools initiative encourages interest in the environment and demonstrates the feasibility and limitations of photovoltaic solar generation. The solar power system provides a teaching, research and hands-on demonstration opportunity for the students. A major component of the project is the use of a renewable energy teaching curriculum that meets the South Carolina state science standards.

The anniversary, marked across the state with tree plantings, is a celebration of the learning opportunities this program has brought to sixth grade science classes that have used the curriculum as well as highlighting the importance of the sustainable energy program to customers and the state.

Green Power is renewable energy produced in South Carolina using local resources. Santee Cooper produces 28 megawatts of Green Power from landfill methane gas, which occurs from naturally decomposing garbage, as well as from solar and wind energy. This energy is distributed throughout the state by the electric cooperatives of South Carolina.

Santee Electric Cooperative serves electric power in rural Williamsburg, Georgetown, Clarendon and Florence Counties.