South Carolina energy profile

Manufacturing energy costs in South Carolina

As of Apr 2026, industrial electricity in South Carolina runs 7.45 cents per kWh. That is 14% cheaper than the U.S. average and places the state 14 of 51 nationally.

Current prices in South Carolina

  • Industrial electricity: 7.45 cents per kWh (Apr 2026, EIA).
  • Commercial electricity, the rate a warehouse or distribution center in South Carolina typically pays: 11.61 cents per kWh.
  • Industrial natural gas: 6.86 per Mcf (Apr 2026), 40% above the national average.
  • Just below South Carolina on the price ladder: Arizona at 7.23, Idaho at 7.27, Kentucky at 7.3 cents. Just above: Mississippi at 7.46, Nevada at 7.58, North Carolina at 7.73 cents.

What the rate does to operating cost

  • A 10 kW machine running a 4,000 hour year costs about 2,980 in electricity at South Carolina rates versus 3,464 at the national average; at 50 kW the gap is 14,900 versus 17,320, and at 200 kW it is 59,600 versus 69,280.
  • Energy is a genuine competitive advantage here: energy-intensive steps like heat treating, melting, and drying carry meaningfully lower unit cost in South Carolina than in most of the country, which strengthens make-versus-buy cases for keeping those operations in-house.

What factory labor pays in South Carolina

  • Industrial production managers: $61.00/hr median in South Carolina versus $60.61 nationally (OEWS 2025).
  • Industrial engineers: $48.59/hr median in South Carolina versus $49.25 nationally (OEWS 2025).
  • Production supervisors: $37.26/hr median in South Carolina versus $35.79 nationally (OEWS 2025).
  • Tool and die makers: $31.37/hr median in South Carolina versus $30.79 nationally (OEWS 2025).
  • Industrial machinery mechanics: $29.96/hr median in South Carolina versus $31.02 nationally (OEWS 2025).
  • Machinists: $27.87/hr median in South Carolina versus $28.24 nationally (OEWS 2025).
  • South Carolina employs about 263,000 manufacturing workers as of May 2026 (BLS).

Sources and update cadence

  • Prices come from the U.S. Energy Information Administration and refresh automatically when the agency publishes; this page also archives each month's South Carolina observation so the local price history deepens over time.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.