Solar permitting — Horry County, South Carolina

⛔ ACTIVE MORATORIUM — Active Moratorium; moratorium expires —confirm expiration with county planning. Permitting: CUP via Horry County Planning Commission; 200-ft max / 75-ft min setbacks. Track record: denial on record — Grand Strand Solar (80 MW, 2022, denied coastal overlay — planning commission

Key driver: Horry's C grade reflects a bifurcated risk profile: coastal tourism zone is effectively closed to utility-scale solar while inland agricultural areas around Conway and Aynor remain viable; moderate-high compliance (52) driven by CUP process, council polarization, and coastal overlay complexity; rapid population growth worsening trajectory score; four approved inland projects demonstrate viable pathway exists if sited correctly

Permitting process

Local permitting pathway

CUP via Horry County Planning Commission; County Council final approval; additional SCDHEC OCRM coordination for coastal-proximate parcels

Setbacks & buffers

200 ft from residential structures in coastal overlay; 150 ft standard; 100 ft from road ROW; 75 ft from property lines

Spacing requirements

Not specified

Size restrictions

Large-scale development (>50 MW) faces heightened scrutiny in coastal overlay zones

Penalties & bonding

Total penalty: +5 (Denial +5)

State-level permits & approvals

County zoning authority; no state solar preemption; special exception or conditional use permit typically required for utility-scale (>1 MW); decommissioning bond increasingly required

State policy & grid context

State RPS & clean energy policy

No binding RPS | None | Energy Freedom Act (2019) addresses solar but no state RPS

State incentive programs

Federal ITC eligible; SC state income tax credit for solar (25% up to $35,000 for commercial); SC Energy Freedom Act net metering provisions

Grid & interconnection

SERC-SE; Dominion Energy South Carolina

Subscriber intel Subscribers

Researched for this county and available with a subscription:

• 🔒Project track record
• 🔒Developer intelligence
• 🔒Community & board sentiment
• 🔒Governing board
• 🔒Sentiment & opposition

Energy-related meetings & dockets P1

Halo color = sentiment of the relevant agenda excerpt: green positive, yellow neutral, red negative.

• Other

  Data Center

  The Planning Commission approved a special-use permit application for a 150 MW solar farm in Horry County.

  agenda

State PSC dockets P1

No PSC dockets matched to this county yet.

Local news P3

News ingestion not yet active for this county (GDELT/RSS pipeline pending).