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History and operations
Wastewater
As early as 1906, wastewater was collected and gravity fed to a 30,000 gallon septic tank. During the late 1940s, the Maple Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant was built. In 1966, the South Tyger Treatment Plant was put into operation. To help protect the environment and better serve our customers, the South Tyger plant was taken out of service in early 2000 and replaced with a large capacity sewer lift station which pumps the wastewater to the recently upgraded Maple Creek facility.
Water
In 1928, a water filter plant was built on Duke Street and soon thereafter a raw-water pump station was constructed on the South Tyger River. In 1957, the Lake Cunningham Reservoir was constructed at Highway 14 and River Rd. During 1971, an 8 million gallon-per-day Water Filter Plant was constructed adjacent to the lake. A backup reservoir, Lake Robinson, was completed in 1984, and in 1992, the Water Filter Plant capacity was expanded to treat up to 16 million gallons per day.
Electricity
CPW began providing electric service in 1914, when a coal powered generation plant was built on the site that is now our Vehicle Maintenance Facility. This two-wire system generated 2,300 volts of electricity. In the 1930s, the Commission began buying power from the Southern Utility Company to supplement its supply of electricity. In the 1970s, the Commission joined with other municipal utilities through the Piedmont Municipal Power Agency to purchase 25 percent of a reactor at the Catawba Nuclear Power Plant. Currently, our electric power is supplied by this jointly-owned reactor. CPW maintains two high-voltage substations, including a new state-of-the-art facility on Country Club Road. This new substation will help to better serve our customers north of Greer and facilitate future growth demands.
Natural Gas
In 1957, Greer CPW signed a contract with Patterson-Ford Construction Company to build a natural gas transmission line and distribution system. Gas distribution began shortly thereafter with seven district regulator stations and a city gate station. The present gas distribution system has grown to three main gate stations, approximately 105 distribution stations, and approximately 450 miles of gas pipeline.
Today, Greer CPW provides wastewater services to more than 7,650 customers, water service to more than 12,500 customers, electric service to more than 11,000 customers and gas service to more than 11,400 customers. The commission is one of 21 municipally-owned and -operated utilities in the State of South Carolina. It is governed by three elected Commissioners and managed by an appointed General Manager.
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