Santee Cooper Issues Request for Proposal for
Level 2 Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE)

Santee Cooper

South Carolina Public Service Authority (hereinafter called “Santee Cooper”) is releasing this RFP to procure level 2 electric vehicle supply equipment (“EVSE”). This charging equipment will be placed at Santee Cooper properties and each will be designated for either corporate fleet and/or employee vehicle usage.

In 2019, Santee Cooper developed an electric vehicle (“EV”) roadmap which laid out steps that Santee Cooper will take to encourage EV adoption throughout its service territory. As part of this roadmap, Santee Cooper committed to purchasing 60 electric fleet vehicles by 2030. In addition, Santee Cooper agreed to install up to 25 level 2 charging stations for employee use by 2030. Santee Cooper currently does not have level 2 EVSE capabilities but intends to install enough level 2 EVSE to satisfy the charging needs for all of its EV fleet purchases as well as meet employee needs (up to 25 chargers).

In this RFP Santee Cooper is pursuing a one (1) year blanket order contract for procurement of electric vehicle supply equipment with the immediate procurement of eight (8) AC Level 2 EVSE chargers within 60 days of contract execution. This blanket order may be extended for up to two (2) additional years at the sole discretion of Santee Cooper. These level 2 charging stations must have technology that can capture interval charging data and can bill for usage. Upon award and signing of a contract, this RFP will allow Santee Cooper to work with the vendor for up to a 3-year period to purchase additional charging stations as needed.

Current Background

Santee Cooper has a total of approximately 150 sedans, sub-compact SUVs, and compact SUVs in its fleet. As the life of each of these vehicles runs out, Santee Cooper is analyzing driving patterns in order to choose 60 fleets to replace with either plug-hybrid or battery electric vehicles. Santee Cooper employs over 1,600 employees. Any employee who purchases an electric vehicle will be given a year of free charging at Santee Cooper properties, as well as the assurance that an additional level 2 charging station will be installed within 6 months of their purchase (up to 25 chargers).

The purposes of installing charging stations at Santee Cooper include:

  • Capturing EV interval charging data
  • Analyzing data to understand charging habits in a workplace setting
  • Fleet electrification
  • Understanding of benefits and risks of installing charging infrastructure
  • Advocating for the purchase of electric vehicles by employees and customers
  • Employee satisfaction

The first step in this process is for Santee Cooper to install level 2 EVSE. Once the charging infrastructure has been installed, Santee Cooper will pursue an online platform (in a separate RFP) that will capture and analyze the data from these charging stations. Please keep in mind that any charging station that is proposed will need to have the capability to capture and send data to an online platform at some point in the future. More about this will be covered in later sections.

Download the Request for Proposal Package:

or Download the entire package as a single zip file: CLICK HERE

About Santee Cooper:

Santee Cooper is South Carolina’s state-owned electric and water utility, and the state’s largest power producer, supplying electricity to more than 189,000 retail customers directly in Berkeley, Georgetown and Horry counties. They also serve 27 large industrial customers, the cities of Bamberg and Georgetown, Joint Base Charleston, the Alabama Municipal Electric Authority, and the nine-member cities from the Piedmont Municipal Power Agency. Santee Cooper generates the power distributed by the state’s 20 electric cooperatives in all 46 counties. Approximately two million South Carolinians receive their power directly or indirectly from Santee Cooper. The utility also provides water to consumers in Berkeley, Calhoun, Dorchester, Orangeburg counties and the town of Santee. Santee Cooper peaks in both the summer and winter; however, the largest peak is in the winter.

Santee Cooper currently has approximately 158,000 residential and 29,700 commercial customers. Approximately 80,000 energy-efficiency projects have been completed through Santee Cooper programs since 2009. The Myrtle Beach area is unique as it includes many second homes, vacation homes and short-term rentals. Currently, Santee Cooper does not have a DR program in place and no switches are installed in the retail service territory.  https://www.santeecooper.com/About/Index.aspx

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Contact: Megan Davis, [email protected]