The Daily Gamecock

Alumnus works with state to bring electric rates down

Cattle graze near the cooling towers for Georgia Power's Vogtle nuclear power plant in Waynesboro, Ga. The plant uses the Westinghouse AP1000 advanced pressurized water reactor technology. (Erik Lesser/Zuma Press/TNS)
Cattle graze near the cooling towers for Georgia Power's Vogtle nuclear power plant in Waynesboro, Ga. The plant uses the Westinghouse AP1000 advanced pressurized water reactor technology. (Erik Lesser/Zuma Press/TNS)

Mike Couick earned two degrees from USC in English and law and now teaches public policy to doctoral students. But in addition to his personal ties to the university, Couick now holds influence over something near and dear to college students: money. More specifically, the hundreds of dollars students spend every year on electric bills. 

Couick is the president and CEO of the Electric Cooperatives of South Carolina Inc., which brings power to more than a million South Carolinians in rural areas. That means he's the biggest customer of Santee Cooper, the state-owned utility company embroiled in controversy over billions of dollars spent at a halted nuclear project in Fairfield County. With Santee Cooper looking for a buyer, a deal that would require approval from the co-ops, Couick is in position to negotiate lower rates for many residents of South Carolina.

It's a long way from growing up on a family farm in Clover, South Carolina, to representing the interests of over a million people in a high-profile controversy. And when he came to USC in 1977 after playing high school football, he originally wanted to become an accountant. But then he started to study literature and international relations.

 “I always enjoyed, from a young age, the thought that the world was large but it wasn’t beyond any person’s attempt to grasp what was going on,” Couick said.

He'd been involved in a few political campaigns, including for Gerald Ford in '76, and wrote some "really bad" poetry about the Vietnam War in middle school. But when studying the works of South Carolina writers like William Gilmore Simms, Couick was drawn to serving his state.

“This notion that South Carolina was a special place just goes through all of his writings and I truly still believe that,” he said. 

The concept of being part of a movement, which he described as core concepts that guide all waking thoughts. The co-ops were originally founded as a movement in the '30s and '40s on the idea that living in a rural area shouldn't limit access to electricity, he said.

He wouldn't be involved with the co-ops for many years, though, instead choosing to go to law school with the goal of joining another movement — the technology craze spreading across the country. Being a cable TV lawyer was his dream. But while clerking in the South Carolina senate to pay for school, he said, he realized he could accomplish his goal of working with people while making a difference in issues like education and equal representation. From there, he went on to work with the state legislature for 21 years as the Senate Judiciary Committee director of research and chief counsel to several other committees.

In 2005, Couick moved to head the electric cooperatives. He's been involved in increasing energy efficiency in the Palmetto State and other sustainability efforts. He works with many charities and brings in interns from USC. He's also served as the chairman of the state Teach for America board.

 “He got an excellent education and he wants to impart that, I think, onto other people, other young people,” said Robert Cathcart III, one of three current interns. A first-year business student, Cathcart grew up in Lancaster with many neighbors participating in electric co-ops. People in the community were passionate about the unique venture, he said, including several members of his church that worked for the Lancaster co-op.

But since construction on the V.C. Summer nuclear expansion halted in July, the ongoing debate has been occupying much of Couick's time. He's been working with the House, Senate and governor's offices, as well as communicating directly with SCE&G and Santee Cooper.

"What I’m looking for ... to try to keep as many options on the table as possible and make sure those are informed options,” Couick said. 

He's focused primarily on keeping rates down for his constituents, as opposed to many other of the involved parties who have to stay aware of the bottom line and profitability.

In addition to consuming his time at work, the rate hikes — nine from SCE&G and five from Santee Cooper — have affected him personally: "As a dad, [the rate hikes] didn’t help because I've got a daughter who’s 15, who still believes in long showers."


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