State to weigh large solar farm after Sumter zoning board's rejection
A renewable energy developer is appealing to state regulators after Sumter County denied its plans to establish a large solar farm earlier this year.
TOCE SC Solar 1, a subsidiary of Texas-based Treaty Oak Clean Energy, applied to the South Carolina Public Service Commission for a certificate of public convenience and necessity that would allow its project to move forward despite the county’s rejection.
The Columbia-based state agency, which regulates public utilities, has scheduled a December hearing on the project.
The developer plans to build the facility on a site spanning 1,700 acres in Rembert and Dalzell near Borden and Black River roads. The project, called White Palmetto Solar, would use solar panels to generate electricity from sunlight and use about 1,100 acres.
According to a spokesman for the state Office of Regulatory Staff, which represents the public interest of South Carolina in utility regulation, the developer wants the public service commission to “preempt local zoning and land use laws that affect in any way the development, construction and operation of the project” in accordance with state code.
In its 12-page application filed Aug. 29, TOCE SC Solar asserts a Sumter City-County Board of Zoning Appeals ruling on May 14 to reject the project’s development was based on a local law that is “unreasonably restrictive.”
The commission has the ultimate authority to place major utility facilities in South Carolina.
In the application, the company added the proposed solar farm will provide clean, renewable power with minimal impacts on the environment while diversifying the state’s energy supply.
Under the proposal, TOCE SC Solar would sell power from the solar farm to Santee Cooper, the state-owned utility, and Central Electric Power Cooperative, which represents the 19 electric cooperatives across the state.
The developer said in the application the project would support the two utilities’ plans to replace older carbon-dependent plants with cleaner options like solar power, according to The (Charleston) Post and Courier.
The company added that the project would help meet surging demand from economic growth and data centers and directly serves the public interest.
If state regulators reject the company’s request, the project would cease and the utilities would have to pursue more costly alternatives, according to the application.
The state Office of Regulatory Staff told The Sumter Item on Friday that if the commission approves the solar company, an interested party could petition the commission to reconsider its order.
Up until May, the project was well on its way to being allowed to begin, with Sumter County Council giving third-reading approval on Feb. 11 for an ordinance that would see a fee-in-lieu of taxes and special source revenue agreement between Sumter County and Treaty Oak Clean Energy.
After public opposition to the farm during a meeting May 14, the Sumter City-County Board of Zoning Appeals voted against the project. According to previous Item reporting, the land itself also has a historical side to it, with Thomas Sumter having lived for a brief period on one of the parcels before his death.
As background, solar farm investments do not necessarily generate jobs in counties, but they do create more of a tax base in the form of commercial property taxes collected from the solar companies.
A solar farm, once built, is basically sustainable and operational by itself and work is only required by a few maintenance technicians who might come in at times to fix panels.
The biggest benefit for communities is tax revenue generated from switching land from agricultural use to commercial/industrial use, according to The Item’s archives. Ag-use land property taxes are generally very small compared to many thousands of dollars per acre that companies pay through a typical fee-in-lieu agreement.