Biography

Phillip Obie II serves on the Berkeley County Council representing District 3 and on the board of the Boy Scouts of America – Coastal Carolina Council. Obie is the current Boy Scouts Swamp Fox District chairman. He also serves on the Surface Transportation Board’s Rail Energy Transportation Advisory Committee (RETAC), representing the electric utility industry where he was appointed in September of 2018 for a 3 year term. He previously served two terms (8 years) on the Berkeley County Board of Education.
Obie is the Manager of Coal Combustion Products and Ash Pond Closure in the Environmental group for Santee Cooper, South Carolina’s state-owned electric and water utility. In this capacity, he manages the sales of byproducts from the burning of coal, including gypsum for wallboard and farming use, fly ash and pond ash for use in the concrete and cement industry, and other related byproducts. He is also the project manager over the closure of the ash ponds to comply with the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Coal Combustion Residual (CCR) rule at 2 operating coal-fired stations, and at 2 retired facilities. He is also responsible for the forecast and budgets for these areas.
He joined Santee Cooper in 2004 as an employee in the company’s Career Foundations Program. Since that time, he has held various positions including Information Systems associate, Employee Relations representative, financial analysis- lead fuel planner, and Group Leader of Fuel Procurement. As the Group Leader he was responsible for the procurement of solid and liquid fuels for the generating stations, railroad contract, railcar logistics, fuel strategies, and production of corporate fuel budgets and forecasts.
He also holds a South Carolina Pyrotechnic Operators License and shoots local shows for Zambelli Fireworks.
Obie received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Computer Science in 2004 from The Citadel. He went on to earn a Master of Business Administration in 2007 and a Master’s in Project Management in 2014, both from The Citadel. He is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) (#1847847) through the Project Management Institute.
He and his wife Kayla live in Goose Creek, South Carolina.