MONCKS CORNER, S.C. (WCSC) - A family-owned business with close to a century of service under its belt will serve a new purpose for incoming restaurants and businesses.

Williams Farm Supply closed its doors in 2019 after more than 100 years of business. The building, with some wear and tear, is often described as a memorable site to those who pass over the railroad tracks into town.

“This building is not just going to rot away in the weather until nothing can be done about it. Something that has been a landmark here in Moncks Corner is still going to be here in a way,’ Mayor Thomas Hamilton Jr. says. “People will be able to come here and remember. This is history.”

The store, built in the 1920s, was a one-stop shop for farmer needs. Inside, remnants of seed labels line the wood paneled walls, and order slips pour across the floor.

“There was a lot of farming around here, and farm supplies would make quite a business on the back area here,” Businessowner Manuel Cohen says.

Cohen is the second to own Barron’s Department Store, one of many other local-centric businesses on East Main Street. His shop is celebrating 101 years of service.

Many like Cohen remember the Williams family, not only for their supply, but also their hospitality.

“The Williams family has been here years and years. He (Buster Williams) had land all over. I’d see him at the county building, he’d look up and knew where all the land was. I enjoyed him very much, I like characters.”

The feedstore will be developed through Carolina Contracting Solutions LLC. It would rebuild the store in the exact same way as its former glory but with updated materials. The inside would have enough room to house five tenants.

Contractors hope to pay homage to the Williams’ three generations of service by including old machinery, like cash registers, safes and other items left behind, in the new rendering.

Some community members recommended using the new spaces to honor the late feedstore owner, Rusty Williams, who passed away four months before the shop closed.

“This area fits into our downtown redevelopment. When you look around and drive by, you may say ‘that is a rundown site.’ Once it’s revitalized it’s going to fit into what we have downtown,” Hamilton says. “It would probably be easier for the developer to take it down to nothing and start over. But you get an instant connection with the community.”

Project leaders expect the construction to cost around $1 million. They aim to complete the space by April 2025.

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Electric bills in Moncks Corner, SC

Monthly electric bills are a product of how much electricity you use per month and your electric rate. In Moncks Corner, SC, the average monthly electric bill for residential customers is $220/month, which is calculated by multiplying the average monthly consumption by the average electric rate: 1,478.00 kWh * 15 ¢/kWh.

Electric bills are designed to cover all of the costs of producing the electricity that you use, of running and maintaining the electrical grid to help prevent outages, and of any public benefit funds that promote things like renewable energy and energy efficiency. These costs are rolled into both fixed charges (i.e., monthly customer charges) and variable charges (i.e., ¢/kWh that you use). While fixed charges will remain the same from month to month, the portion of variable charges on your bill each month will change based on how much electricity you use. As a result, there are two ways to reduce your bills: by either using less electricity or by reducing the cost of electricity, by installing solar for instance.

The easiest way to compare the cost of electricity from one region to another is to look at the electricity rate. Residential rates in the U.S. range from 6 ¢/kWh to 71 ¢/kWh depending upon where you live, what types of power plants provide your electricity, and when during the day or year you’re consuming electricity.

The average residential electricity rate in Moncks Corner, SC is 15 ¢/kWh, which is 6% higher than the average electricity rate in South Carolina of 14.10 ¢/kWh. The average residential electricity rate in Moncks Corner, SC is 20% lower than the national average rate of 19 ¢/kWh.

How solar helps you save on electric bills

Solar panel systems help you save money by reducing your monthly electric bills. Although a $50 or $100 electric bill might not seem like much when you pay it each month, those bills add up quickly over ten, twenty or even thirty years: if you pay $100 per month in electricity now, you’ll pay over $46,000 on electricity over the next thirty years!

Assuming a 1.6% annual increase based on inflation and average annual electric rate increases.

Installing solar allows you to reduce or even eliminate your electric bill: when you pay upfront for solar panels, you are effectively paying today for the electricity you’ll use over the next 25 or even 30 years. Calculating your savings from investing in solar is as simple as subtracting the amount you pay for solar from what you would have paid for electricity otherwise.

EnergySage can help you go solar and save!

We know electric bills add up over time, and going solar is a great way to save money while helping the environment. When you sign up on the EnergySage Marketplace, you'll be able to receive and compare solar quotes side-by-side from qualified solar installers in your area. We're here to help along the way - talk with one of our Energy Advisors to learn more about your unique quotes, any local solar incentives you may be eligible for, or any other questions about saving on electric bills with solar.

Frequently asked questions about electric rates and solar

In 2022, the average solar payback period in Moncks Corner is about 7.91 years – this is the point in time at which your solar investment will start to earn you money.

In most cases, you will still have an electric bill with solar. Even if your solar system offsets 100 percent of your electricity use, as long as your property remains grid-connected, your utility will still send you a bill. However, it’s possible that your bill will be $0 or even negative if your electricity supply to the grid is more than you pull (depending on the incentives available in your location).

In most cases, your monthly payment towards your solar loan will be less than your electric bill – this means that if you install a solar system with a $0-down loan, you can start saving immediately! However, you’ll still pay more over the lifetime of your system with a solar loan compared to an upfront cash payment due to the interest that accrues.

If you live in an area with retail energy providers (REPs), you may choose to switch from your standard electricity utility to a REP. There are two main options for REP contracts: fixed and variable rates. If you choose a fixed-rate plan, you’ll pay a fixed price per kWh that will remain throughout the duration of your contract. On the other hand, if you choose a variable rate plan, the rate you pay for energy will fluctuate based on the wholesale price of electricity from your energy company, which represents how much power plants charge electric companies to buy the electricity they produce.

If you’re on a demand charge electric rate, your electric bill will be based on the maximum amount of power you use over a single time period (like an hour or fifteen minute period) in a given month. You’ll still be billed for your monthly consumption, but the rate you owe for consumption will be low compared to a typical electric bill; thus, the best way to reduce the amount you owe each month is to decrease the amount of electricity you use all at once – like by installing a solar or solar-plus-storage system.

Time-of-use electric rates are an electricity plan designed to incentivize you to use less electricity when the cost of generation is high. Time-of-use rates follow a set schedule, resulting in your electricity provider charging you more for your electricity consumption when the cost of generation and demand for electricity are high (i.e., the afternoon of a hot summer day) and less when both of these are low (i.e., in the middle of the night). You can save money in two ways: by being thoughtful about when you’re running certain appliances and waiting for off-peak times when cheap electricity is available, and by installing a solar battery to reduce the amount of electricity you pull from the grid when rates are high.

When your solar panels are producing more electricity than you’re consuming, you can use that excess energy to charge your solar battery. Now let’s say your electricity usage is more than your panels are able to produce when electric rates are surging – with a solar battery, you can choose to use the energy you’ve stored rather than pull from the grid, protecting you from surge rates and high energy costs, and getting you the best electric rate possible.