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SUMTER, S.C. — A proposed solar farm project in Sumter County has been withdrawn, bringing an end to a contentious debate that drew a strong community response.
In a new filing with the Public Service Commission of South Carolina, TOCE SC Solar One requested to withdraw its application to build and operate a 170-megawatt solar facility in the county.
The decision follows a recent public hearing at which residents voiced concerns about the project, particularly its potential impact on farmable land and the local decision-making process.
“I don’t want to share my planet with a solar farm,” Tanya Eddins said.
Eddins was among those who spoke out against the proposal during the March 18 meeting.
“It was the right thing to do. I’m not, I’m gonna kind of twist it a little bit to look at it from their perspective because they don’t, the company, which is a multinational global corporation headquartered in Australia, they don’t have any ties to this area,” she said. “They kept trying to say that, you know, we want to be good neighbors. But all of their actions showed that they really didn’t.”
State lawmakers say the issue could lead to broader discussions about how solar projects are regulated across South Carolina.
“If we want to build a society that all economic levels can participate in, that, you know, all folks of whether you’re rural or urban can breathe clean air and drink clean water, but also have dignified work that is suitable to raise a family, I don’t think we, I don’t think those two things are, are in competition to one another,” South Carolina State Senator Jeff Zell said. “And so, I think the more we talk about this, the more advocacy that the media, you know, brings to it and light they shine on it, the more the public is involved and demands these things, the more you’ll see legislators focus in on it.”
The withdrawal effectively ends the current proposal, though discussions about solar development and regulation in the state are expected to continue.
