LOCKHART — The first year of Lockhart Power’s second century of service to its customers will continue with the company breaking ground on its new corporate office in the Town of Lockhart Thursday afternoon.
In 2012, Lockhart Power celebrated its centennial anniversary by planting a total of 100 trees in the Union County area. The trees not only celebrated the company’s anniversary, but also its commitment to continue serving its customers and the communities in its service area. The company’s service area spans portions of Cherokee, Chester, Spartanburg, Union, and York counties.
That commitment will again be symbolized Thursday afternoon when the company breaks ground on its new corporate office which will be located at 420 River Street, Lockhart, next to its current office facility. The ceremony, which will take place at 2 p.m., will be attended Lockhart Mayor Ailene Ashe, Union Mayor Harold Thompson, Jonesville Mayor Ernest Moore, and Pacolet Mayor Elaine Harris. Also attending the ceremony will be Lockhart Power Chief Operating Officer Bryan Stone, Pacolet Milliken President Richard Webel, and Pacolet Milliken Senior Vice President of Energy Ralph Walker.
The trees planted by Lockhart Power in 2012 also symbolized the company’s commitment to providing its customers with cost-effective, environmentally-friendly electricity from renewable sources. The company’s commitment to renewable energy dates back to 1920 when it first began generating hydroelectric power. Today, the company generates 99 percent of its power from environmentally-friendly sources including hydroelectric facilities such as Lockhart Dam which has maximum power generating capacity of 16.5 megawatts.
The company continued its commitment to green energy in 2012, announcing plans to build new hydroelectric facilities in Lockhart and Pacolet. The Lockhart facility, which will be located on the site of the old Lockhart Mill, will run water from the Lockart Canal through a new turbine generator rated for 800 kilowatts, roughly enough to provide power for approximately 800 households. The Pacolet facility, which is to be located on the Pacolet River just upstream from the State Road 150 bridge, will be rated for 1,100 kilowatts.
In addition to its hydroelectric systems, Lockhart Power also gets electricity from a landfill gas-to-power facility in Wellford that converts methane gas created by decaying garbage into electricity. The company has also set up an electric vehicle charging station and at its Lockhart office. The station is used to charge the company’s modified Toyota Prius, a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle. The station is also available for use by the public.
Lockhart Power’s commitment to the community also includes support for economic development projects. The 100 trees the company planted in the Union County areas included 25 planted at the gateway to the City of Union on U.S. 176. During the dedication ceremony at the gateway, Stone presented Tommy Sinclair, Union County supervisor, Joe Nichols, City of Union utility director and Union County Development Board chairman, and Andrena Powel-Baker, Union County Development Board executive director, with a check for $100,000. The funds were to be used for infrastructure improvements for the Gonvauto South Carolina steel service center currently under construction in the Bonham community.
In addition to planting the trees, Lockhart Power also celebrated its centennial and its commitment to green energy by unveiling a new logo in 2012. The blue and green logo symbolizes the company’s to hydroelectric and other renewable energy sources.
The logo is featured prominently on the company’s redesigned website (www.lockhartpower.com) which the company unveiled earlier this year. In announcing the redesign, Stone said the company decided to ring in its second century of service with a website with a more functional and professional design to better reflect its legacy of customer service. The background of the redesigned website features water to represent the rivers that originally powered all of the power company’s operations.
Editor Charles Warner can be reached at 864-427-1234, ext. 14, or by email at cwarner@civitasmedia.com.
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