CEO and President of Mid-Carolina Electric Cooperative
Bob Paulling, CEO and President of Mid-Carolina Electric Cooperative (MCEC), grew up in St. Matthews, South Carolina. The youngest of five athletic siblings, he experienced strong family competition, with Clemson University playing a central role in their education and sports.
Paulling was inducted into the Clemson Athletic Hall of Fame for baseball and football between 1979 and 1983. His childhood dream came true when the St. Louis Cardinals drafted him as a kicker in 1984. He also played later with the Atlanta Falcons.
Paulling’s interest in electrical engineering began with a part-time job at Guess Hardware within a Radio Shack in St. Matthews, sparking a talent for electronics that led him to Clemson University where he earned his degree in electrical engineering.
In 1984, Paulling worked for a consulting company serving electric cooperatives, then moved to power system design at another cooperative. These roles set him on the path to becoming president and CEO of Mid-Carolina in 2013.
The focus of Paulling’s 2023 congressional testimony was on reliability and the need for new power generation. He notes reliability is crucial for daily life and cost directly affects livelihoods: “We try to maintain costs in-house. Inflation drives everything, especially now.”
In September 2024, Hurricane Helene impacted our state hard. Paulling said that 98% of their system was without power. But by the third day, they had 85% back. Mid-Carolina ended up with 900 broken poles out of about 75,000 poles in their system, which can take anywhere from two to six hours to replace each pole.
To those of us unfamiliar with what electric cooperatives do, Paulling uses his comprehensive knowledge and experience to help people understand how they work. He is the consummate teacher, providing user-friendly descriptions and interesting history. He explains there are three types of electricity providers serving South Carolina, keeping our homes cool and warm in South Carolina.
Electric cooperatives, like Mid-Carolina, are owned by members who live in the service area and operate on a not-for-profit, cost-of-service basis. The board of directors, who make the decisions, are local.
Investor-owned utilities, such as Dominion or Duke Energy, are for-profit and owned by stockholders who may not be local customers. A third type is government-owned utilities—city, state, or federal. Twenty-one SC cities own their power systems, and the state owns Santee Cooper.
In the early 1900s, only homes near main roads could afford electricity from investor-owned utilities, as extending infrastructure was costly. The Rural Electrification Act of 1935 created the cooperative system. Aiken Electric Cooperative was the first in South Carolina (1938); Mid-Carolina formed in 1940 and began service in 1941.
To avoid disputes from the rapid growth of cooperatives, South Carolina assigned utility territories in 1969-70. Every property is mapped to a specific supplier, a system that’s been in place for over 50 years.
Utilities design power systems for long-term growth, using population data to plan efficiently. They coordinate with companies like Dominion to ensure each property is served safely and effectively.
Paulling and his wife Dale have one daughter, Brittany, son-in-law Jason and two grandsons, Jake and Brody. He enjoys outdoor sports and coaching his grandsons in baseball.