The sixth cooperative principle of cooperation among cooperatives was on full display recently in South Carolina when Edisto Electric Cooperative, faced with a surge of new subdivisions and unfamiliar underground electrical infrastructure, leaned on neighboring Berkeley Electric Cooperative for help.

In fast-growing Dorchester County, crews at Edisto Electric have had to quickly build expertise in installing and maintaining increasingly complex underground electric systems requested by subdivision developers. The Bamberg-based co-op owns about 3,700 miles of line, most of it overhead, in heavily rural areas. While some of its infrastructure is buried, underground switchgears, a key component, operate differently in subdivisions.

“We haven’t had many underground subdivisions until the last three or four years, so it’s been a learning curve for us, and we’re trying to keep all our employees well-versed in it,” said Vice President of Operations Clint Smoak.

Edisto Electric’s proximity to a Volvo plant in Ridgeville and the fast-growing city of Charleston has meant that it’s absorbing some of the population surge, which likely won’t stop anytime soon. Today’s membership stands at roughly 15,200, and plans are already in place for 10,000 additional homes in its service area.

Fortunately, help was just a phone call away. Neighboring Berkeley Electric, which has seen its own share of rapid residential subdivision growth, had years of experience with underground switchgear systems, dating back to the 1970s. Today, more than half of its system is underground.

“Since then, we’ve been increasingly adding it where it makes sense, and where developers choose to invest in it,” said Tommy Harvey, vice president of operations at the Moncks Corner-based co-op. “Almost 100% of our new residential developments are served via underground facilities.” 

Over the years, Smoak and Harvey have developed a long-standing working relationship, coordinating everything from borrowing tools to mutual aid after weather events. This time was no different.

“We have a really great relationship, and they have a lot of subdivisions and switchgears, so I reached out to Kevin [Mizzell, BEC’s Moncks Corner operations manager] and asked him to come over and do a training,” Smoak said.

Having worked with the equipment during his 30 years at the co-op, Mizzell stepped in quickly. During the two-day training in one of the new subdivisions, he covered topics such as handling blown fuses inside the switchgear box, de-energizing switchgears, proper grounding and testing, and PPE.

Mizzell was happy to pass along his knowledge. “It’s all new to them,” he said.

Through the sixth cooperative principle, co-ops regularly share knowledge, resources and experiences.

“It’s a great example of we had a need and Berkeley Electric had seen a lot of this growth and subdivisions that are coming to us now,” Smoak said. “They said, ‘Yes, absolutely. We’ll come over and show you what we know.’ It’s a great example of how co-ops work together.”