South Carolina energy profile

Manufacturing energy costs in South Carolina

As of May 2026, industrial electricity in South Carolina runs 7.23 cents per kWh. That is 17% cheaper than the U.S. average and places the state 12 of 51 nationally.

Current prices in South Carolina

  • Industrial electricity: 7.23 cents per kWh (May 2026, EIA).
  • Commercial electricity, the rate a warehouse or distribution center in South Carolina typically pays: 11.57 cents per kWh.
  • Industrial natural gas: 6.45 per Mcf (May 2026), 51.1% above the national average.
  • Just below South Carolina on the price ladder: Georgia at 7.04, Kentucky at 7.13, Idaho at 7.21 cents. Just above: Washington at 7.24, Mississippi at 7.5, Arizona at 7.54 cents.

What the rate does to operating cost

  • A 10 kW machine running a 4,000 hour year costs about 2,892 in electricity at South Carolina rates versus 3,484 at the national average; at 50 kW the gap is 14,460 versus 17,420, and at 200 kW it is 57,840 versus 69,680.
  • 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 265,000 manufacturing workers as of Jun 2026 (BLS).

Manufacturing base in South Carolina

  • South Carolina has 4,006 manufacturing establishments employing about 257,989 workers (Census County Business Patterns, 2023).
  • Largest sectors by establishment count: fabricated metal products (753), machinery manufacturing (289), chemical manufacturing (280), printing and related support (274), machine shops (261).

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.