South Carolina Statehouse Blog

Hydrogen: Proving to be a Great Investment for SC
Industry is creating jobs & leveraging outside investments at a 10 to 1 ratio

(Columbia, SC) – Over the past few years, South Carolina has made significant advancements in growing our state’s knowledge-based economy. Particularly in the area of growing a hydrogen industry, South Carolina has become a national and international leader and that reputation is attracting companies looking to relocate or expand their services here.

“When we created the Centers of Economic Excellence (CoEE) to help grow our state’s knowledge-based economy, we did not know for certain what direction this public/private partnership would lead us,” said House Speaker Bobby Harrell. “Driven by industry investments and world-class scientists, hydrogen research took off and presented itself as a viable industry that could lead to a booming knowledge-based economy for South Carolina. And in just a short period of time, we have seen significant returns on this investment.”

The public/private investment in hydrogen has created 229 jobs in South Carolina. With 65% of those jobs being created in the last 5 years, this is proving to be a growing industry.

At the state level, we are doing a great job of managing our investment in hydrogen technologies and making sure the private sector drives this effort. Through direct state appropriations and support of the CoEE program, South Carolina has invested $12,292,911 in hydrogen over the past 5 years. And by conservative estimates, this has spurred well over $115 million in non-state investments. That means our state is leveraging its hydrogen investment dollars at a rate of more than 10 to 1.

Pursuing a knowledge-based economy and growing industries like hydrogen is crucial for our state’s economic future. Unemployment has recently spiked to 12%. Since 2003, the number of unemployed people in our state has increased by more than 100%. This has taken our state from once having the 3rd best unemployment rate in the nation to now having the 3rd worst.

“Our current economic development strategy of inaction needs to end, watching other states successfully attract new jobs and investments while our economic development leaders stand idly by is hurting jobless South Carolinians,” Speaker Harrell said. “If we are going to combat this 100% increase in unemployment, we must actively pursue new economic opportunities. Hydrogen has the potential to create the high-paying jobs of tomorrow by becoming the next economic engine driving our state’s knowledge-based economy.”

In 2005, ICF Consulting conducted a thorough statewide analysis of South Carolina’s hydrogen and fuel cell potential. The study determined that “this industry represented a significant knowledge-based market opportunity for the state.”

Most industry experts believe that the technology for affordable hydrogen powered vehicles is still far off. This is one of the main reasons that the Obama Administration proposed cutting the Federal funding for hydrogen vehicle research. However, many other uses for this technology are viable and are ready for real world application.

Bridgestone Firestone Manufacturing in Aiken is switching over its entire forklift fleet to run on more efficient and cost effective hydrogen fuel cells, the City of Columbia is backing up its emergency broadcast towers with longer lasting fuel cells, and ETV is using cameras that run on hydrogen power. These are just a few examples of the real world applications of hydrogen that are taking place in South Carolina today.

Speaker Harrell said. “Over the next few years, what you will see is a shift to hydrogen fuel cells replacing batteries, generators and being used to power more stationary machinery.”

To serve our expanding hydrogen needs, South Carolina recently opened its first two hydrogen fueling stations. The Aiken and Columbia stations were built with the aid of a $1,450,800 investment by the state. This state investment also leveraged $1,485,000 in outside investments, giving us a greater than 1:1 match for our money.

“The results we are seeing from our state’s investment in hydrogen are significant,” Speaker Harrell said. “In just the Midlands alone, we have seen a 60% return on investment. Most importantly, our partnership with over 40 companies means that the pursuit of this knowledge-based industry is being driven by the private sector.”

Harrell added, “The stage is set for South Carolina to use its foothold in the hydrogen industry to propel our state’s economy forward. The numbers prove that our investments have been positive and that this industry has been driven by the private sector. This is just further proof that South Carolina is headed in the right direction and should continue its efforts to grow a knowledge-based economy.”

Columbia, S.C. - June 16, 2009 - Governor Mark Sanford issued the following statement on the ports bill veto that was overridden today in the General Assembly:

“A lot of lip service is paid by many in the legislature to the idea of restructuring, and what we saw today is despite their talk about accountability our state is saddled with a legislative body that is content to further set our state back as has been done with this bill,” Gov. Sanford said. “The ideas of more in the way of qualifications and long-term planning contained in this bill were nothing more than a smokescreen for taking away governors’ ability to hire and fire board members. Taking that authority away will make our State Ports Authority less accountable and less transparent, and will make our state less competitive as a result. That said, I would give real credit to Senators like Chip Campsen, Tom Davis and Mike Rose who stood tall for the idea of accountability, and I thank them for their work in trying to sustain this veto.”

Columbia, S.C. - June 11, 2009 - Governor Mark Sanford issued the following statement on the state Board of Economic Advisors’ decision to cut this year’s estimate for state revenue by $92 million, and next year’s by $120 million:

“Just as we’ve said for the past six and a half years, trees don’t grow to the sky, gravity always works, and what goes up will come down with regard to state revenue - and these new estimates again highlight the need to pass spending caps legislation so that we don’t continue to find ourselves in this situation every few years,” Gov. Sanford said. “We realize time is short to make adjustments under the current budget, but we continue to believe that cuts as a result of these new estimates need to be done in a targeted, rather than an across the board, fashion.

“More importantly, everyone involved needs to realize that this isn’t over. South Carolina continues to go deeper into debt when it comes to our unemployment trust fund, and nothing was done to address this in terms of paying down debt in this year’s budget. The legislature did nothing on our proposals to make our state more competitive for jobs and investment, like our corporate income tax elimination plan or our flat tax plan. That said, all signs point to continued revenue reductions as the year goes on, and the necessary cuts that will come with those reductions mean we need to plan for dealing with them now. I’d urge leadership in the General Assembly to look back at our Executive Budget and at the ideas from the Ryberg-Davis budget, and look toward targeted cuts rather than making round after round of across the board cuts as was done last year.”

Here is Governor Sanford’s stimulus application with cover letter:

Stimulus Application and Cover Letter

Columbia, S.C. - June 4, 2009 - Governor Mark Sanford today issued the following statement on the Supreme Court’s verdict that he must apply for a disputed $700 million in stimulus funds, allowing the General Assembly to spend those dollars rather than use them for state debt relief:

“Some very clear handwriting was on the wall with respect to how the Supreme Court would come down on this issue, and while we’re not surprised by the verdict we’re certainly disappointed,” Gov. Sanford said. “This decision is terrible news for every taxpayer in South Carolina, and even more so for future taxpayers who will ultimately bear the responsibility of paying for this so-called ’stimulus’ without seeing any benefit from it. The legislature squandered the best chance in a generation to make some much-needed reforms to the antiquated horse-and-buggy form of government that has plagued our state from a cost standpoint and an accountability standpoint for over a century.

“If there’s to be any positive from this, it’s our hope that people across South Carolina will see just how ill-served they are under our current system of government. What the Supreme Court said today is that a governor elected to represent the interest of four million South Carolinians doesn’t matter - the only thing that matters is the will of legislative leadership elected by a few thousand, and the will of the Supreme Court justices elected by and funded by those very same legislators. That’s just one of many tragic oddities in our state government, but it’s emblematic of the legislative dominance keeping our state from competing in the 21st Century. In our final 18 months in office, we’re going to use every tool available to us to highlight some much-needed reforms to our governmental structure, but it’s going to take energy and commitment on the part of every South Carolinian who wants to see those changes to help us push them over the finish line.”

As Gov. Sanford previously noted, he plans to abide by the Court’s decision and will sign needed paperwork to draw down stimulus dollars.