54.4

Risk Grade

Fair

Pickens earns C grade reflecting moderate compliance in an upstate lake-and-university county; the Easley industrial corridor provides some opportunity, but lakefront viewshed sensitivity, university community aesthetics, and moderate council conditions create a C-level environment; trajectory slightly worsening as lake-community political influence grows

Assessment Snapshot

Population

122023

State Rank

#24

Compliance

47%

Trajectory

Moratorium Status

✓ No Active Moratorium

No specific moratorium information available.

Ordinance & Regulations

Setback Requirements

200 ft from residential structures; 100 ft from road ROW; 75 ft from property lines; visual screening required in mountain-view corridors

Zoning Mechanism

CUP via Pickens County Planning Commission; County Council approval required; lake-proximate parcels require additional review

Acreage Caps

None established

Spacing Rules

Not specified

Size Restrictions

Large-scale (>15 MW) faces scrutiny near lake and mountain view corridors

Board Sentiment & Political Risk

Sentiment Analysis

Mixed

Basis for Assessment

Clemson University community is environmentally conscious but favors distributed/campus solar over utility-scale rural farms; lake community sensitivity echoes Oconee County patterns; Easley industrial corridor more receptive than rural areas; council moderate but conditions have tightened since 2022 Keowee-edge withdrawal

Political Risk Factors

Stable-Increasing

Board Members

County Council Chair Chris Harris | R | Term 2024–2028 Council Member Tom Wyant | R | Term 2022–2026 Council Member Carl Hawkins | R | Term 2024–2028 Council Member Ensley Feemster | R | Term 2022–2026

Grid, Utilities & State Context

Grid Operator

SERC-SE; Duke Energy Carolinas

Utilities

Duke Energy Carolinas, Blue Ridge Electric Cooperative (mountain communities)

State Permitting Process

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 Incentives

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

Development Activity

Active/Completed Projects

Easley Solar (~20 MW, 2021, Duke Energy Carolinas PPA, industrial-area brownfield); Liberty Solar (~15 MW, 2023)

Denied/Withdrawn Projects

Keowee-edge Solar (25 MW, 2022, withdrawn after planning commission concern over Lake Keowee viewshed)

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Pickens County County, SC — Solar Development Risk Assessment