Solar permitting — York County, South Carolina

⛔ ACTIVE MORATORIUM — Active Moratorium; moratorium expires —confirm expiration with county planning. Permitting: CUP via York County Planning Commission; 400-ft max / 100-ft min setbacks. Track record: denial on record — Fort Mill Solar (45 MW, 2023, denied after council vote 3-4; intense community

Key driver: York earns high-C grade (54.3) reflecting the Charlotte suburb squeeze: viable agricultural land in western county confirms some development opportunity, but high compliance (58), rapidly worsening trajectory (56), and the 2023 Fort Mill denial signal escalating difficulty; this county is on a clear trajectory toward D-grade as suburban conversion accelerates — the viable window in western York County may be 3–5 years

Permitting process

Local permitting pathway

CUP via York County Planning Commission; County Council final approval required; heightened review for parcels adjacent to residential growth zones; decommissioning bond standard

Setbacks & buffers

250 ft from residential structures; 150 ft from road ROW; 100 ft from property lines; 400 ft from residential subdivisions (>10 lots); decommissioning bond required; visual screening and landscaping mandatory

Spacing requirements

Not specified

Size restrictions

Utility-scale (>10 MW) near Charlotte metro corridors faces significant opposition; viable only in western rural county

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; Duke Energy Carolinas

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.

• 2025-05-20 County Board

  Solar

  The Planning Commission approved a special-use permit for a proposed 150 MW solar farm.

  agenda
• Other

  Solar

  York County Planning Commission approved a special-use permit application for a 150 MW solar farm and voted to deny it

  agenda
• Other

  Solar

  York County Planning Commission approved a special-use permit application for a 150 MW solar farm and voted to deny it

  agenda
• Other

  Solar

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

  agenda
• Other

  Data Center

  The York County Planning Commission voted to approve a special-use permit application for a 150 MW solar farm

  agenda
• Other

  Solar

  The Board of Supervisors approved a Special Use Permit for a 20-megawatt solar farm development.

  agenda
• Other

  Solar

  York County Planning Commission approved a special-use permit application for a 150 MW solar farm and voted to deny it

  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).