Pennington County, SD — Solar Development Risk Assessment

No

None codified. No county-specific solar ordinance confirmed.

Pennington County: CUP in applicable zoning district (sub-100 MW). 18 unzoned SD counties: no permit required.

Opposed — board voted 4-0 to place 1-year moratorium on utility-scale alternative energy (Dec 12, 2024-Dec 12, 2025); task force formed to study regulations.

R-majority rural South Dakota county (Rapid City area); response to 450+ citizen petition following Oct 2024 conditional use permits for Cheyenne River Ranch Wind and Solar Farm; moratorium allows study of zoning and regulations; Basin Electric territory.

Neutral

SD PUC Site Permit required for ≥100 MW. County zoning for smaller projects. Generally developer-friendly environment; limited organized opposition compared to some states. Transmission constraints in some western counties. Basin Electric Power Cooperative major offtaker for SD solar projects.

No South Dakota RPS. South Dakota Public Utilities Commission (SD PUC) regulates large energy facilities ≥100 MW under S.D.C.L. 49-41B Site Permit. Wild Springs Solar 128 MWac (Pennington County, National Grid Renewables/Basin Electric, operational June 25 2024) — South Dakota's largest solar project. SPP grid (Basin Electric/West River Electric serve most of SD); East River Electric and Xcel serve eastern SD. South Dakota has no state income tax; property tax exemptions may apply to renewable energy.

Wild Springs Solar LLC | 128 MW nameplate | 1,499 acres (~2 sq miles) | south of New Underwood, Pennington County | SD PUC Facility Permit granted December 4 2020 (Case EL20-018) | OPERATIONAL June 2024 (operational date per SD PUC; SD News Watch reports March 2024 start). Developed by Geronimo Power; owned by National Grid Renewables (Bloomington, MN). $190 million project. 114 MW sold to Basin Electric Power Cooperative (Bismarck, ND). SD PUC required surety bond in total amount of approved decommissioning costs (Condition No. 38). Largest solar project in South Dakota. ALSO APPROVED: Cheyenne River Ranch Wind+Solar (Yarotek, FL) | 142.8 MW | 56 MW wind + 86.8 MW solar | CUP approved by Pennington County Planning Commission Oct 2024. 7 miles south of New Underwood; 30 mi SE of Rapid City; 3.5 mi north of Hwy 44. This approval TRIGGERED the Nov 2024 moratorium. Sources: SD PUC EL20-018; SD Searchlight southdakotasearchlight.com Mar 12 2024; Rapid City Journal Nov 22 2024; SD PUC puc.sd.gov/energy/Solar/project.aspx

MORATORIUM: Pennington County Ordinance 741, Board of Commissioners adopted Nov 19 2024. One-year moratorium on new utility-scale alternative energy CUPs Dec 12 2024 – Dec 12 2025. 450+ citizen signatures triggered moratorium petition after Cheyenne River Ranch CUP approval. Yarotek chairman Lyon Roth opposed moratorium publicly (RC Journal Nov 22 2024). Moratorium does NOT retroactively cancel Cheyenne River Ranch CUP already approved. Sources: Pennington County Ordinance 741; Rapid City Journal Nov 22 2024