Top Tier — South Carolina Battery Sales Reference

Santee Cooper · Coastal & Eastern South Carolina (state-owned utility)

Sales reference for reps working Santee Cooper territory. This is the deep reference — how to sell it up top, full utility detail below. Santee Cooper is the ONE SC utility with a residential DEMAND CHARGE ($8/kW on your single worst hour) — so the battery pitch here is demand-shaving, not just energy savings. Get that right and it's a strong, distinctive sale.

What kind of market this is

Santee Cooper is a state-owned utility with a residential DEMAND CHARGE — the battery's value here is demand-shaving (capping your single worst hour), which is a fundamentally different pitch than energy arbitrage. Four defining facts:

1. The RG-25 default residential rate has an $8.00/kW demand charge (effective April 2025) — billed on your single highest 60-minute interval each month during Peak Demand Hours (3–6 p.m. April–October / 6–9 a.m. November–March). One bad hour sets a charge you pay all month. A battery that shaves that peak directly caps the demand charge — this is the lead.
2. Energy is a flat $0.0792/kWh year-round, and solar exports credit below retail (~$0.0416 summer / $0.0384 non-summer, roughly 30% of retail). So the energy-arbitrage story is modest; the demand-charge shave is the real money.
3. The SC 25% state tax credit (TC-38) is live and has no expiration — the only tax incentive left for SC buyers now that the federal ITC has expired. It covers the solar portion; the battery portion isn't confirmed (verify with a tax advisor).
4. Santee Cooper is state-owned (Board-governed, not PSC-regulated) — a softer regulatory framing (no PSC rate cases in the usual sense), and it took Hurricane Helene hard (51 transmission lines locked out, ~20% of its system).

Your lead is demand-charge shaving + resilience. The battery suppresses the single-highest-hour peak that sets the $8/kW demand charge — a concrete, monthly, mechanical saving that most competitors won't even understand. Add the 25% state credit and post-Helene backup, and Santee is a distinctive, strong battery sale if the rep gets the demand-charge story right.

Default configuration: backup-capable.

• Backup-capable: $18,500 cash / $23,942 financed / ~$228/mo
• Self-consumption-only: $17,000 cash / $22,068 financed / ~$210/mo

Confirm pricing in the tool before quoting.

PART A — The Pitch (Problem → Solution → Urgency → Close)

The spine is multiple beats per section. Each beat = customer headline + statement + rep layer (+ objection where noted). Beats marked (BACKUP ONLY) render only for backup config; beats with Self-consumption:/Backup: branches swap the customer line by config.

The Problem

Why you still have a big bill — and why one bad hour sets it. Santee Cooper's default residential rate has a demand charge: $8 per kW on your single highest hour of use during peak times each month. Run your AC, dryer, and oven together for one hour on a hot afternoon, and that one hour can set a demand charge you pay all month long — no matter how careful you are the rest of the time. Your solar doesn't fix that (the peak is often after the sun fades), and it does nothing when the grid goes down.

Rep layer: This is the Santee opener — the demand charge is the hook, and it's unique to Santee in SC. Peak Demand Hours: 3–6 p.m. Apr–Oct / 6–9 a.m. Nov–Mar. The $8/kW hits the single highest 60-min interval in those windows. Solar often can't shave it (the 3–6 p.m. peak runs as solar fades; the winter 6–9 a.m. peak is before strong sun). A battery discharging during those windows caps the peak — that's the core pitch. Objection — "I have solar, isn't my bill already low?" Not on the demand charge — solar barely touches it, because your peak hour is usually when the sun's weak.

Your system is orphaned. Whoever installed your solar is likely gone, merged, or unreachable — especially after so many installers folded when the federal tax credit expired. If something goes wrong, there's no one accountable. You own the system and the risk.

Rep layer: Ask who installed it. Sets up the takeover section. Objection — "My installer's still around." Would they answer a service call within a week — and cover it?

Your inverter is on the clock. Your inverter is several years old. When it fails out of warranty, that's about $3,500 to $5,000 out of pocket — and your system produces nothing until it's replaced, typically 4 to 8 weeks.

Rep layer: SolarEdge string inverters ~12-yr warranty, real failure window 8–15 years; Enphase 25-yr, real issues 10–20 years. 70–90% of systems see inverter failure within the panel lifespan. Objection — "Still under warranty." Good — until it isn't, and then it's $3,500–5,000.

(BACKUP ONLY) No protection when the grid goes down — and after Helene, you know why that matters. Your solar shuts off during an outage — anti-islanding, a safety cutoff. A battery keeps your critical systems running, and with sun it recharges through a multi-day outage.

Rep layer: Renders ONLY for backup config. Coastal SC context: Hurricane Helene (Sept 2024) locked out 51 of Santee's transmission lines — about 20% of its entire system. Santee's Grand Strand and Lowcountry territory is directly hurricane-exposed, and carries the Hugo (1989) memory. Objection — "We don't get many outages." After Helene took out a fifth of Santee's system, most take it seriously.

The Solution

A battery caps your worst hour — which is where the money is at Santee. During those 3–6 p.m. (or winter 6–9 a.m.) peak windows, the battery discharges to cover your home's demand, so your single-highest-hour reading stays low — and your $8/kW demand charge stays capped, every month.

• Self-consumption: "The battery covers your peak-hour demand so the $8/kW charge stays low, and stores your solar for the evening."
• Backup: "Caps your demand charge AND keeps your home running when the grid goes down."

Monthly Cost Chart and Net Bill Breakdown render here.

Rep layer: THE core Santee cure beat — demand-charge shaving. The battery discharges during Peak Demand Hours (3–6 p.m. Apr–Oct / 6–9 a.m. Nov–Mar) so the home's single highest 60-min interval stays low, capping the $8/kW charge. sc.ts models roughly $8/kW × ~3 kW shaved ≈ $24/mo saved on the demand charge alone. This is mechanical and monthly — not arbitrage. Santee has NO battery VPP (unlike Duke SC), and the energy-arbitrage spread is modest (~30% export credit), so the demand shave is the headline.

We take it over. Top Tier becomes the single point of contact for your entire system — a new 10-year workmanship warranty, the 5-year Align Solar Protection contract ($0 deductible, non-transferable), and manufacturer warranty coordination.

Rep layer: Answers the orphaned-system problem. Be precise on transfers: workmanship with written consent; Align non-transferable; manufacturer per OEM terms.

Thousands you don't pay. The $11K+ Hidden Costs Avoided bundle — built into the takeover, not sold as extras.

Rep layer: Reframes total cost. "Your payment buys the battery plus warranty plus service plus inverter-replacement coverage — over $11K of value."

The long game. Santee Cooper raised base rates in April 2025 (its first increase since 2017), and has more proposed — roughly 4.7% and 4.6% for 2027 and 2028 (Board vote expected Oct 30, 2026) — plus its share of the Canadys gas plant (~$5B, joint with Dominion). A battery locks in your energy independence against that climb, and caps your demand charge the whole time.

Rate Justification + Own vs Rent render here.

Rep layer: 25-year case: conservative 3%, moderate 5%, aggressive 7%. Santee drivers: the April 2025 increase (first since 2017), proposed 2027/2028 increases (~4.7%/4.6%), and the $5B Canadys plant. Board-governed (not PSC), so frame as Board-approved increases. Objection — "Rates might not go up that much." Santee just had its first increase since 2017 and has two more proposed — the trend is up.

What you actually own. The savings hero — combined value: the capped demand charge (the big one) + modest energy self-consumption + the 25% state credit + resilience + the takeover bundle.

• Self-consumption: "Caps your $8/kW demand charge every month + stores your solar. Does not provide backup — ask about the upgrade."
• Backup: "Does everything self-consumption does, plus keeps your critical loads running in an outage."

Rep layer: Santee combined value = demand-charge shave (headline, ~$24/mo modeled) + modest energy savings + state credit + resilience. NOT VPP (none) and NOT big energy arbitrage (~30% export). No-backup disclosure fires ONLY for self-consumption config.

Urgency

The clocks that make acting now better than waiting.

The demand-charge clock (every month you wait). The $8/kW demand charge hits every single month — one bad peak hour and you pay it all month. Every month without a battery is another month of an uncapped demand charge you didn't have to pay.

Rep layer: The demand charge is a live, monthly cost — that's the ongoing urgency. Each month without the battery is a demand charge that could have been shaved.

The rate clock. Santee raised rates in 2025 (first since 2017) with more proposed for 2027/2028. A battery hedges the climb and caps your demand charge against it.

Rep layer: Santee's rate increases are Board-approved (not PSC). The 2025 increase + proposed 2027/2028 are the documented urgency.

System aging. Your inverter is aging toward its failure window. The longer you wait, the closer you get to an out-of-warranty replacement at $3,500–5,000 out of pocket — with no service relationship to handle it. Installing now means Top Tier covers the inverter coordination from day one.

Rep layer: Universal urgency beat.

The Close

1. Verify credit + confirm application date. Run the credit check. And confirm when the solar was interconnected/applied — it determines the Act 62 cohort and the pitch.
2. Customer reads and signs the service agreement. Walk through the key disclosures honestly — including the RG-25 demand-charge structure ($8/kW on the single highest peak-hour interval), the ~30% export credit, and that the 25% state credit covers the solar portion (battery portion to be verified with a tax advisor).
3. Complete the Welcome Call. Finalizes the sale and sets expectations for installation.

Standing Rules (Do NOT Violate)

• ❌ NEVER coach reps to disqualify based on home tenure. Resale story is real — not "walk away."
• ❌ NEVER claim "all warranties transfer." Workmanship: with written consent. Align: non-transferable. Manufacturer: per OEM terms.
• ❌ NEVER fabricate inspection findings.
• ❌ NEVER quote a bill-reduction factor as a guarantee.
• ❌ NEVER quote a REP buyback rate as fixed/guaranteed — plan-dependent, confirm the customer's actual plan.
• ❌ 85+ confirmation call required. Customer confirms own finances, no POA, sound mind.
• ❌ Financing ends before age 91. 75 → 15-year max. 80 → 10-year max.
• ❌ Honest cancellation window. Overselling = free customer exit + $1K–$1.5K clawback.
• ❌ Certified before selling.

Go get the sale. A battery is a strong product — clean energy, independence, backup, long-term savings, and in Texas real VPP income. A customer who wants one for any honest reason is a good sale. We never walk away over price or low savings — that's the customer's call. Do right by the customer, protect the company, be honest.

PART B — The Deep Reference

1. Orientation

• Utility: Santee Cooper — South Carolina's state-owned electric utility (Board-governed, not PSC-regulated). Note: many customers are served via co-ops that buy Santee Cooper power; this guide is for direct Santee Cooper residential customers on RG-25.
• Territory: coastal and eastern SC — the Grand Strand (Myrtle Beach/Horry County), Berkeley, and parts of the Lowcountry; direct-serve territory plus wholesale to many co-ops.
• Market type: RG-25 default residential rate with an $8/kW DEMAND CHARGE + flat energy + below-retail export credit. State-owned/Board-governed. No battery VPP.
• Default config: Backup-capable ($18,500 / $23,942 / ~$228). Self-consumption-only optional ($17,000 / $22,068 / ~$210).

2. Cohort / Rate Map — the RG-25 vs RT-25 screen (Santee is NOT an IOU — no Act 62 cohorts)

Santee Cooper is state-owned, so it's NOT on the Act 62 IOU cohort structure. The screen here is which RATE the customer is on — and whether they've got solar already.

THE SORTING QUESTION: "Are you on Santee's default rate, and do you already have solar?" — plus, "how peaky is your usage in the late afternoon?" (that's what the demand charge and the battery both target).

RG-25 (default residential — the demand-charge rate). $20/mo customer charge + $8.00/kW demand charge (single highest 60-min interval during Peak Demand Hours: 3–6 p.m. Apr–Oct / 6–9 a.m. Nov–Mar) + flat energy $0.0792/kWh year-round. Solar DG customers (≤20 kW) export below retail (~$0.0416 summer / $0.0384 non-summer). This is where the battery shines — demand-charge shaving. Most residential customers are here.

RT-25 (voluntary TOU opt-in — no demand charge). $20/mo customer charge + TOU energy (on-peak ~$0.3380 / off-peak ~$0.0792 — roughly a 4.3× spread) + NO demand charge. A customer who opts into RT-25 trades the demand charge for a big on-peak energy rate — for which a battery does classic TOU arbitrage (charge off-peak, discharge on-peak) instead of demand-shaving.

Existing solar owner (either rate). DG Rider ≤20 kW; metering/standby fees eliminated. On RG-25, the battery's job is demand-shaving; on RT-25, it's TOU arbitrage.

Why this matters: Santee's default RG-25 demand charge is the single most distinctive thing about selling batteries in SC — no other SC utility has a residential demand charge. The battery's core value is mechanical (cap the $8/kW peak hour), not arbitrage. If a customer is on RT-25 instead, switch the pitch to TOU arbitrage (the 4.3× on-peak/off-peak spread). Screen for the rate first.

Note: Santee is Board-governed, not PSC-regulated, and NOT on the Act 62 IOU cohorts — do NOT apply the Act 62 5/31/2029 cliff or the Duke/Dominion Solar Choice framing to a Santee customer. Different utility type entirely.

3. Rate Reality + Why Rates Climb

The demand charge is the whole game (get this mechanism right): RG-25 bills $8.00/kW on your single highest 60-minute interval during Peak Demand Hours each month. It's not average demand — it's your one worst hour. If your AC, dryer, and oven all run together for one hour at 4:30 p.m. in July and pull, say, 6 kW, that's a $48 demand charge for the month — set by that one hour. A battery discharging during the 3–6 p.m. window covers that spike so your metered peak stays low, capping the charge. sc.ts models a representative ~3 kW shave ≈ $24/mo. (TODO: model the demand-charge shave precisely per customer load shape.)

What's driving Santee Cooper's rate increases (named forward drivers):

1. The April 2025 base increase — Santee's first base-rate increase since 2017; the $8/kW demand charge arrived with it.
2. Proposed 2027/2028 increases — roughly 4.7% and 4.6%, with a Board vote expected Oct 30, 2026.
3. The Canadys gas plant — Santee's share of the new gas plant (joint with Dominion), ~$5B total, recovered through rates.
4. Debt service + generation transition — Santee carries significant debt (legacy nuclear) and is transitioning generation.
5. Helene recovery — the Sept 2024 storm locked out 51 transmission lines (~20% of Santee's system); recovery costs recovered through rates.

Documented vs. speculation (say this right):

• ✅ "Santee added an $8/kW demand charge in April 2025" (documented)
• ✅ "Santee proposed ~4.7%/4.6% increases for 2027/2028" (documented ask)
• ✅ "Helene locked out 51 Santee transmission lines" (documented)
• ❌ "Your bill will be $X by 2030" (speculation)
• ❌ "The demand charge is going away" (no such plan — it's the current default)

4. Bill Anatomy — Reading a Santee Cooper RG-25 Bill

Why a Santee solar customer still has a big bill — the demand charge is the answer. An RG-25 bill has:

1. The $20/mo customer charge — fixed, every month.
2. The $8/kW demand charge — the big one: your single highest 60-minute interval during Peak Demand Hours (3–6 p.m. Apr–Oct / 6–9 a.m. Nov–Mar). This is set by one hour and paid all month, and solar barely touches it (the summer peak runs 3–6 p.m. as solar fades; the winter peak is 6–9 a.m. before strong sun).
3. Flat energy at $0.0792/kWh — what you actually consume.
4. A below-retail export credit — surplus credited ~$0.0416 summer / $0.0384 non-summer (~30% of retail).

The leak here is the demand charge, not an energy spread. A solar customer can have a low energy charge but still get hit with a big $8/kW demand charge, because their one peak hour lands when solar is weak. The battery fixes exactly this — discharging during the peak window so the metered peak-hour reading stays low, capping the demand charge. The energy self-consumption is a secondary, modest benefit (export credit is only ~30% of retail).

How to read the customer's bill (the page-2 skill):

• Find the demand charge line — this is the target. Look at their peak kW and multiply by $8 — that's what the battery can shave.
• Confirm they're on RG-25 (default) vs RT-25 (opt-in TOU) — it changes the pitch (demand-shave vs TOU arbitrage).
• Note the flat energy rate — no TOU on RG-25, so the energy savings is straightforward self-consumption, not arbitrage.

Seasonal shape (coastal/eastern SC): hot, humid summers drive the 3–6 p.m. AC peak (April–October Peak Demand Hours); winters shift the peak to the 6–9 a.m. morning window (Nov–March). The demand charge applies year-round but the peak window flips seasonally. The battery must be dispatched into whichever window is active. Hurricane season (June–Nov) overlaps the summer peak — so resilience and demand-shaving both concentrate in summer.

5. The Savings Story — Worked 25-Year Analysis

Santee's savings story is fundamentally different from the other SC utilities: it's demand-charge shaving. The battery's biggest, most reliable saving is capping the $8/kW demand charge each month. Energy self-consumption is a modest secondary benefit (flat $0.0792 energy, ~30% export credit).

The demand-charge shave — the core Santee math:

sc.ts models a representative ~3 kW shave ≈ $24/mo / ~$288/yr on the demand charge alone. The actual shave depends on the customer's peak-hour load shape and battery discharge capacity — a peaky household (AC + appliances stacking at 4–5 p.m.) has more to shave. (TODO: model the shave precisely per customer.)

The energy component (secondary): flat energy at $0.0792/kWh means self-consumption saves ~7.9¢/kWh on avoided grid purchases; exports earn only ~$0.0416/$0.0384 (~30% of retail), so storing-and-using beats exporting. This is a modest add to the demand-charge shave, not the headline.

Representative RG-25 solar customer — annual bill components, with vs without battery:

Roughly ~$488/yr saved in year 1 (the demand-charge shave is ~$288 of it), before rate increases and before the 25% state credit on the solar portion. As Santee's rates climb (2025 increase + proposed 2027/2028), the demand-charge saving grows with the $/kW rate. Figures illustrative — the tool computes the customer's actual peak and shave.

Break-even calendar (approximate; the demand-charge shave + state credit accelerate it):

The Year-1 honesty script (Santee version):

"Here's the honest math, and it's different from other utilities. Santee charges you $8 per kW on your single worst hour each month — one afternoon where your AC, dryer, and oven all run together can set a charge you pay all month. Your solar barely touches that, because your peak hour is usually when the sun's already fading. What a battery does is cover that peak hour so your worst reading stays low — that alone saves most folks around $20 to $30 a month, every month. You also save some on energy, and South Carolina's 25% tax credit offsets your solar. It's not about selling power back — Santee only pays about 30% for that — it's about capping that demand charge and having backup after what Helene did here."

6. Pitch Framework — Archetypes

Archetype A — RG-25 demand-charge customer (the core Santee pitch).

• On the default rate, getting hit with the $8/kW demand charge, peaky afternoon usage.
• Often doesn't understand why the bill is high despite being careful.
• Fit: strongest — demand-charge shaving.
• Opening: "Santee charges you $8 per kW on your single worst hour each month — and I bet no one's explained that. A battery covers that peak hour so the charge stays capped. That's usually $20 to $30 a month, every month, that most people don't know they're overpaying."

Archetype B — Solar owner frustrated the bill's still high.

• Has solar, expected a low bill, still getting a big demand charge.
• Fit: strong — solar doesn't shave demand, the battery does.
• Opening: "Your solar's doing its job on energy, but it can't touch Santee's demand charge — your peak hour is when the sun's already fading. That's exactly the gap a battery fills."

Archetype C — Reliability-motivated (post-Helene, coastal).

• Coastal/Grand Strand; lived through Helene + hurricane risk.
• Fit: strong.
• Opening: "Helene locked out about a fifth of Santee's whole system. A battery keeps your essentials running through the next storm — and caps your demand charge the rest of the year."

7. Market-Specific Plays — the Santee edge

PLAY 1 — The demand-charge shave (the whole Santee pitch, and a competitive weapon). Santee's RG-25 has an $8/kW demand charge set by your single worst peak hour — and most reps (and most homeowners) don't even understand it. A battery discharging during Peak Demand Hours caps that charge, saving ~$20–30/mo mechanically, every month. This is a genuine competitive edge: a rep who can explain the demand charge and show the shave will out-sell competitors who are still pitching generic "solar savings" that don't touch it. "Your worst hour sets your charge — the battery flattens your worst hour." Master this mechanism; it IS the Santee sale.

PLAY 2 — Screen RG-25 vs RT-25 (the rate determines the pitch). RG-25 (default) = demand-charge shave. RT-25 (opt-in TOU, no demand charge) = TOU arbitrage on the ~4.3× on-peak/off-peak spread. Most customers are on RG-25 (demand-shave pitch); confirm the rate before pitching. Do NOT apply the Act 62 IOU cohort framing here — Santee is state-owned and not on Act 62.

PLAY 3 — The 25% SC state tax credit (the only tax incentive left). Now that the federal ITC has expired, SC's TC-38 25% state credit is the only tax incentive for SC buyers — and it has no expiration. It covers the solar portion (confirmed). Frame it as a real, current cost offset. (Battery-portion eligibility isn't confirmed — see Incentives.)

PLAY 4 — Helene resilience. Helene (Sept 2024) locked out 51 of Santee's transmission lines — about 20% of its entire system — a massive hit. For Santee's coastal/Grand Strand customers (directly hurricane-exposed), that plus the Hugo (1989) legacy makes backup a genuine, recently-proven need.

8. Incentives & Programs

• Battery VPP — none (Category 3): Santee Cooper has no residential battery VPP (unlike Duke SC's EnergyWise). The battery's value is the demand-charge shave + modest energy savings + resilience, not VPP income. Frame honestly.
• The demand-charge shave is the "incentive" here — it's not a rebate, it's a mechanical monthly saving (~$8/kW capped), and it's the biggest number in the Santee sale.
• SC 25% state tax credit (TC-38) — LIVE, no expiration: 25% of cost, $3,500/yr cap, $35,000 lifetime, limited to 50% of annual tax liability, non-refundable (carries forward). Covers the solar portion (confirmed). ⚠️ Battery/storage eligibility is NOT confirmed — TC-38 describes a "solar energy system"; whether a standalone battery qualifies isn't pinned. Do NOT tell a customer the battery gets 25% back. Frame: "the solar qualifies for SC's 25% credit; whether the battery portion qualifies isn't confirmed — verify with SC DOR or your tax advisor." (TODO: pin TC-38 battery eligibility.)
• Federal ITC: expired 12/31/2025. Do not quote 30%.
• Utility battery rebate: none at Santee Cooper (Duke's PowerPair is NC-only). Santee's DG Rider (≤20 kW) did eliminate metering/standby fees, which helps solar+battery economics.

9. System Rescue Value — The System Takeover

This applies to any customer with existing solar — and it's identical across every Top Tier market. These are takeover facts, not TX-specific.

The Orphaned Solar Customer Problem. Many Texas solar customers installed during the 2019–2024 growth years and now face:

• An original installer that's gone out of business, been acquired, or stopped servicing residential (especially common after the federal tax credit expired Dec 2025)
• A 10-year workmanship warranty that's unenforceable (installer is gone)
• An inverter approaching or past typical failure windows
• No service relationship, and most companies refuse to service systems they didn't install

The Inverter Failure Reality. Inverters are the weakest link. Panels last 25–30 years; the inverter fails much sooner.

• SolarEdge string inverters: 8–15 years (12-yr standard warranty)
• Enphase microinverters: 10–20 years (25-yr warranty)
• Industry-wide: 70–90% of systems experience inverter failure within the panel lifespan
• When it fails on an orphaned system: production stops, bills jump to full retail, most providers won't quote it, out-of-pocket replacement is $3,500–5,000, and the customer is down 4–8 weeks.

What Top Tier's takeover provides (formalized through a Service Warranty Agreement with a brand-new 10-year Limited Workmanship and Roof Penetration Warranty):

• A new 10-year Top Tier workmanship warranty (regardless of system age)
• Manufacturer warranty claim handling (Top Tier chases the claim + labor, not the customer)
• Inverter replacement coverage when it fails within manufacturer warranty (customer pays nothing for the work)
• Single point of contact; monitoring setup help; performance verification at inspection

The $11K System Takeover Bundle (the exact 5-tile bundle on the proposal):

How to use it: "On top of the bill math, you're picking up over $11K of bundled services that aren't sold separately. If your inverter fails in year 12, the warranty handling alone is worth a few hundred; the replacement coordination saves $3–5K; the Align contract is $1,500 you'd otherwise pay. It adds up."

Align Solar Protection — the terms (get these right):

• 5-year term, $0 deductible, insurance-backed by American Bankers Insurance Company of Florida, non-transferable to subsequent owners.
• Covers: mechanical breakdown of existing PV (panels, inverters/optimizers, racking) — parts, labor, service calls.
• Does NOT cover: the new battery (own warranty), wear-and-tear, weather/hail, pre-existing conditions, roof issues.
• Age limits: panels/microinverters under 15 years; string/central inverters under 7 years. Not every system fully qualifies — disclose at inspection.
• It's ONE of three layers: (1) equipment manufacturer warranties, (2) Top Tier's 10-yr workmanship, (3) the 5-yr Align contract. Never call it "full coverage."
• NEVER say: "Everything's covered" / "never worry again" / "Align is your full coverage" / "you can extend beyond 5 years" / "Align transfers when you sell."

Quantifying the rescue value:

This is independent of bill savings — the rescue alone can be worth $4,000–7,500.

10. Outage Reality — Resilience in Santee Cooper's Coastal Territory

Why outages happen here. Santee's coastal and eastern SC territory (the Grand Strand, Berkeley, the Lowcountry) faces:

• Hurricane Helene (September 2024) — locked out 51 of Santee Cooper's transmission lines, roughly 20% of its entire system — a massive, recent, system-wide hit. The concrete resilience anchor.
• Direct coastal hurricane exposure — the Grand Strand (Myrtle Beach/Horry County) and the Lowcountry are in the Atlantic hurricane path; tropical systems and flooding recur nearly every season.
• Hurricane Hugo (1989) — the generational SC coastal catastrophe; the "you remember Hugo" anchor for longtime coastal residents.
• Severe thunderstorms + tropical flooding — summer convective storms and tropical rain bring down lines and flood low-lying areas.

What a battery does — and the honest mechanism. When the grid goes down, grid-tied solar shuts off automatically (anti-islanding — a safety requirement). So a solar-only customer has no power in an outage even in daylight. A battery with backup keeps essential loads — AC or heat, refrigerator, well pump, medical devices, connectivity — running, and with solar recharges through a multi-day event.

How to pitch it honestly: don't promise whole-home indefinite backup unless sized for it. The honest pitch: "A battery keeps your essentials running through an outage, and with your solar it can carry you through a multi-day event. After Helene took out a fifth of Santee's system, you know that's not hypothetical." Helene makes this concrete: ~20% of Santee's transmission was locked out, and the coast is directly hurricane-exposed.

11. Hidden Costs Avoided / What You Own vs What You Rent

• What you rent: grid power on Santee's climbing rates (2025 increase + proposed 2027/2028), with an $8/kW demand charge set by your worst hour, exports at ~30% of retail, and no protection when the grid fails.
• What you own (with the battery): a capped demand charge every month + your stored solar used at today's cost + backup — all owned.
• Hidden costs avoided: the $11K takeover bundle + the uncapped demand charge you'd otherwise keep paying + exposure to the rate climb.

12. Battery Products

• Backup config (Santee default — demand-shave + resilience): Tesla Powerwall 3 (11.5 kW), FranklinWH aPower 2 (10 kW). Higher continuous-output batteries shave a bigger peak — relevant when the demand charge is the target.
• Self-consumption config: Enphase IQ 5P (10 kWh), SolarEdge Home Battery (9.7 kWh usable), SolarEdge Nexis (self-consumption only pending crew backup training).
• Demand-shave note: the battery's continuous power output determines how much peak it can shave — a battery that can discharge ~5 kW during the peak window shaves more demand charge than a smaller one. Match the config to the customer's peak load. Confirm in the tool.

13. Objection Handling

Universal objections (swap in Santee figures) + Santee-specific objections.

"I have solar — why is my bill still high?" (Santee-specific — the demand-charge reveal)

"That's the demand charge, and almost nobody explains it. Santee charges you $8 per kW on your single highest hour during peak times — and your solar can't touch it, because your peak hour is usually 3 to 6 p.m. when the sun's already fading. So you can have great solar and still get hit. A battery covers that peak hour and caps the charge — that's the piece your solar's missing."

"What's a demand charge?" (Santee-specific — the core education)

"It's a charge based on your single worst hour, not your total usage. If everything in your house runs at once for one hour on a hot afternoon — AC, dryer, oven — that one hour sets a charge of $8 per kW that you pay the whole month, even if you're careful the other 700 hours. It's like being billed for your worst moment. A battery smooths that worst hour out, so the charge stays low."

"Why is the loan more than the system price?"

"The cash price is $17,000–18,500 depending on config. Service Finance adds dealer fees bringing the financed amount to about $22,068–23,942. Cash or a HELOC is cheaper if that's an option — and South Carolina's 25% state tax credit offsets the solar portion, plus the demand-charge shave saves every month."

"Is there a tax credit?" (SC-specific)

"South Carolina has a 25% state tax credit — that's the one still around now that the federal credit expired. It covers your solar, up to $3,500 a year with a lifetime cap. Whether it covers the battery portion isn't something I can promise — check with your tax advisor — but the solar part qualifies."

"What if I sell the house?"

"Resale asset — your closing equity pays off the loan, and the new owner inherits a fully-owned system with backup. Top Tier's 10-year workmanship warranty transfers with written consent; the Align contract is non-transferable."

"What if my inverter fails after you install the battery?"

"If it fails within its manufacturer warranty, we handle the claim and the labor — you pay nothing for the work. If it's out of warranty, you'd pay for equipment, but we still handle the labor under our 10-year workmanship coverage. Either way you're not scrambling."

14. DO SAY / NEVER SAY

15. Reading the Bill — rate/situation → pitch

16. Required Disclosures

1. ☐ Savings are estimates; Santee Cooper RG-25 rates + the demand-charge shave should be verified against the customer's actual peak load.
2. ☐ 25-year projections are scenarios, not guarantees; depend on Santee Cooper Board rate decisions.
3. ☐ Santee Cooper is state-owned (Board-governed, not PSC-regulated) and NOT on the Act 62 IOU cohort structure; do not apply Act 62 cohort dates.
4. ☐ The RG-25 default rate has an $8/kW demand charge on the single highest 60-minute interval during Peak Demand Hours (3–6pm Apr–Oct / 6–9am Nov–Mar); demand-charge savings depend on the customer's peak load shape.
5. ☐ Solar exports credit below retail (~30% of retail); the primary battery value is demand-charge shaving, not export income. Santee has no battery VPP.
6. ☐ The SC 25% state tax credit (TC-38) covers the solar portion; battery/storage eligibility is not confirmed — verify with SC DOR or a tax advisor. No federal ITC after 12/31/2025.
7. ☐ Align Solar Protection is non-transferable; workmanship warranty transfer requires written consent; manufacturer warranties transfer per OEM terms; the system transfers on sale.
8. ☐ Align coverage is contingent on inspection + age limits (panels <15 yr, inverters <7 yr); one of three coverage layers, not full coverage.
9. ☐ Backup duration depends on system sizing and load; whole-home indefinite backup is not implied.
10. ☐ Pricing confirmed in the tool before commitment.

17. Quick-Reference Numbers (dated — confirm before quoting)

• Default rate: RG-25 ($8/kW demand charge + $20/mo + flat $0.0792 energy)
• Demand charge: $8.00/kW on single highest 60-min interval (peak hrs 3–6pm Apr–Oct / 6–9am Nov–Mar)
• Demand shave: ~$8/kW capped (~$24/mo modeled at ~3 kW)
• Export credit: ~30% of retail ($0.0416 summer / $0.0384 non-summer)
• RT-25 opt-in: TOU, no demand charge (~4.3× on/off-peak)
• Battery VPP: none (Cat 3)
• SC state credit: 25%, $3,500/yr, $35K lifetime (solar confirmed; battery unconfirmed)
• Federal ITC: expired 12/31/2025
• Recent increase: Apr 2025 (first since 2017); proposed ~4.7%/4.6% for 2027/2028
• Inverter replacement out-of-pocket: $3,500–5,000
• System takeover bundle: ~$11,800
• Rescue value: $4,000–7,500+
• Default config: backup $18,500 / self-consumption $17,000

18. Sell Hard, Sell Honest — the standing rules

• Never coach tenure disqualification. The battery is a resale value-add; on sale the loan pays off, the buyer inherits a fully-owned system.
• Never claim all warranties transfer. Align is non-transferable; workmanship needs written consent; manufacturer per OEM terms.
• Never apply the Act 62 IOU cohort dates to Santee — it's state-owned, not an Act 62 IOU; use the RG-25/RT-25 rate screen instead.
• Never describe the demand charge as average demand — it's the single highest 60-min interval; get the mechanism right or the pitch falls apart.
• Never imply Santee has a battery VPP — it doesn't; the value is the demand shave + resilience.
• Never tell a customer the 25% state credit covers the battery — only the solar portion is confirmed; battery eligibility must be verified.
• Never quote the federal ITC (expired).
• Always confirm the customer's rate (RG-25 vs RT-25) — it sets whether the pitch is demand-shaving or TOU arbitrage.