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Updated: May 24, 2026 @ 5:02 am
Berkeley County Council is weighing whether to lift the county’s large-scale development moratorium for the Sandy Run Solar project, which would generate 198 megawatts of electricity if built. The solar farm, however, is fiercely opposed by residents in Cross, where it is proposed to be built.
Much of the land where the Sandy Run Solar project would be built is woodlands, with sprawling pine forests dominating much of the acreage.
Cross residents worry that the acreage not used for the solar farm will eventually house a data center or other industrial uses, citing the construction of this railroad line right through the property.
The proposed Sandy Run Solar project would cover 1,500 acres of woodlands and farmland, with another 6,000 acres being part of the planned development area.
Berkeley and Dorchester Metro Reporter
Komlavi Adissem is a metro reporter covering Berkeley and Dorchester counties. He is a graduate of the University of Missouri, where he covered city, county, and state government for the Columbia Missourian. Find him on Twitter (X) and Bluesky @KAdissem!
Berkeley County Council is weighing whether to lift the county’s large-scale development moratorium for the Sandy Run Solar project, which would generate 198 megawatts of electricity if built. The solar farm, however, is fiercely opposed by residents in Cross, where it is proposed to be built.
CROSS — A German energy company is looking to turn 1,500 acres of forest and farmland in northwestern Berkeley County into a large solar farm. Residents in the surrounding area, however, believe the costs of the project outweigh the benefits it could provide.
RWE Solar Development has asked Berkeley County Council to lift a large-scale development moratorium in order to proceed with the zoning process for a planned solar farm, Sandy Run Solar.
In a request submitted to County Council, the company says it will build solar arrays, or panels, across 1,500 acres as part of a 7,500-acre planned development. The panels are projected to produce 198 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 37,500 homes. The project is designed to tie into Santee Cooper’s system and ease an anticipated energy shortfall in years ahead.
If the project makes it through the design and permitting process, RWE’s lease on the land will last 35 to 45 years. The plans state that once the lease expires or the solar facility reaches the end of its operational life, the company will decommission and recycle the panels or otherwise dispose of them.
The remaining 6,000 acres of land in the planned development would remain under management of the landowner, Alabama-based Tall Corn Forestry, LLC.
RWE Solar says the project would have minimal impact on roads and public services once it’s operating and is projected to bring in more than $45 million in revenue for the county and its school district, and also would provide learning opportunities for students. Blueberries are planned to be grown beneath the solar panels.
But some Cross residents aren’t sold on the project. All three candidates running for Councilman Caldwell Pinckney Jr.’s seat — as well as the longtime councilman himself — oppose the project, saying it will have no meaningful benefit for their rural community or the county at large.
RWE cites Santee Cooper’s projected energy shortfall by 2029 as a reason why the solar farm is needed, noting that meeting the increased demand involves expanding solar capacity by 2,200 megawatts. Sandy Run Solar would account for just 9 percent of that new capacity.
Santee Cooper, which is state-owned, already has transmission lines adjacent to where the solar fields would be built. John Lamontagne, a spokesperson for RWE, said in an email to The Post and Courier that the company is in “close coordination with Santee Cooper” as RWE seeks to develop the project.
He added that the project will be submitted to Santee Cooper’s recent request for proposals for new solar projects that will come online by the end of 2030.
The proposed Sandy Run Solar project would cover 1,500 acres of woodlands and farmland, with another 6,000 acres being part of the planned development area.
If built, Sandy Run Solar would join the coal-powered Cross Generating Station in fueling Santee Cooper’s system. Taylor Allred, the state energy and climate program director for the Coastal Conservation League, said Sandy Run Solar could help lead to decommissioning of the coal plant, something he said has been held at bay due to increasing energy demands, primarily from data centers.
Allred said the Coastal Conservation League supports the project because it will “help to relieve upward pressure on electric rates while also helping to avoid harmful pollution from fossil fuel power plants.”
He added that the project would complement the battery storage facility in nearby Pinopolis, which is currently charged by the Jeffries Generating Station at Lake Moultrie.
Allred called Sandy Run Solar “the most responsibly developed solar project we’ve seen in our state so far.”
“We’re confident that the project will not result in any detrimental impacts to the environment or surrounding communities,” Allred said. “The project site is in a remote area. and only 1,500 acres in the central portion of a 7,500-acre timber tract are being utilized for solar panels. And the remaining portion of that tract will screen the project from public view and provide valuable wildlife habitat.”
He added that the facility would have “wildlife-permeable fencing” to lessen its impact on local animals.
Wildlife impacts are among several concerns raised by residents. Robert Barrett, who owns land near the 7,500-acre tract, said woodlands in the area are invaluable for a wide range of animals, including buzzards, deer, turtles, foxes, ducks and turkeys.
The tract that would encompass the solar farm is surrounded by homes, wetlands, peach orchards and other farmland. Barrett said he worries the solar project could displace wildlife into the surrounding community and negatively impact homes and farms.
He suggested that if county officials were “patient,” a better use could come along for the land.
“Somebody could come along and divide this up into 10-acre ranches, 10-acre mini farms,” he said. “They could plant 500 acres of peach trees in here, or maybe a pecan orchard. There’s any number of things that this land is good for other than solar panels.”
Barrett is just one of many locals who oppose the project. About 50 residents attended a meet-the-candidates event at the Cross General Store on May 21, and not one expressed support for the solar farm.
Shantae Jenkins, who grew up in Cross and regularly visits family and friends in the community, said the site of the solar farm sits a few hundred feet from the land where she grew up. She questioned why it needed to be built in Cross when the community is vehemently opposed to it.
“Those who are for it do not live here,” she said. “If that’s the case, put it in Mount Pleasant, put it in Seabrook Island, put it in Kiawah. Why come disturb this community?”
She added that any adverse effects to the land or noise from the project’s inverters and transformers would be Cross’s burden to bear.
Many residents also expressed concerns about a data center or other industrial uses being put on the land around the solar farm within the 7,500-acre development tract, with some pointing to recent construction of a railroad line that cuts straight through the property.
Cross residents worry that the acreage not used for the solar farm will eventually house a data center or other industrial uses, citing the construction of this railroad line right through the property.
The candidates running for Pinckney’s District 7 seat — which includes Cross — cited a variety of reasons they oppose the project.
Republican Matt Hoover said he came to his conclusion after listening to community input and doing research. His opponent in the primary, Michael Parker, has led community efforts to oppose the project, creating an online petition that had more than 700 signatures as of May 22.
Democrat Ralph Prioleau Jr., who will be on the ballot in November, suggested that Cross residents should use their connections and relationships with people in other council districts to put pressure on the council members who vote to approve the request to lift the moratorium.
Councilman Pinckney told The Post and Courier that the project “has no benefit for the county.”
“The only benefit is, of course, for the investors,” he said.
Lamontagne, RWE’s spokesperson, noted that the project would create up to 100 construction jobs during the roughly year-long building period, although the facility will employ only four to eight people long-term once it is operating.
Pinckney pointed out the county’s recent push to bolster its greenbelt program, funded by a voter-approved one-cent sales tax, saying the solar farm is the antithesis of the county’s work to preserve more land. County Supervisor Johnny Cribb had similar thoughts when the request went before Council’s Land Use Committee on May 11, noting that other counties would benefit more than Berkeley County from the tax revenue generated by the solar farm.
“The other thing … is these projects also almost always come back and ask for tax breaks and tax incentives,” he said. “So, tonight I’m listening to votes going the way of lifting the moratorium for a solar project, and that project probably undoubtedly is going to come right back to us and ask for a tax break. Let me tell you, that stretches me to the point of breaking.”
County Council is set to vote on whether to lift the moratorium at a May 26 meeting. Cribb noted previously that if the vote came out as a tie, he would use his tie-breaking vote to block RWE’s request.
Pinckney said he thinks a “light bulb’s gonna come on” and his fellow council members will vote to block the project from moving forward. He said he’s not worried at this point about more industrial being put onto the 7,500 acres, though he said he is concerned about a data center coming into the area.
Much of the land where the Sandy Run Solar project would be built is woodlands, with sprawling pine forests dominating much of the acreage.
“We’re not protecting the citizens by allowing such a dump to come into our county, and we’re not providing quality of life for them,” he said.
If the moratorium is lifted, however, the fight is far from over. The solar farm’s planned development would still have to go through a zoning process, which includes a vote from the county’s Planning Commission as well as a couple more votes from County Council. The state’s Public Service Commission would also have to sign off on the project, said Allred of the Coastal Conservation League.
Additionally, the county’s rules on lifting the large-scale development moratorium prevent substantial changes to planned developments — including increased density — between the moratorium being lifted and the rezoning process, meaning Cross is safe from industrial uses around the solar farm, at least for now.
Berkeley and Dorchester Metro Reporter
Komlavi Adissem is a metro reporter covering Berkeley and Dorchester counties. He is a graduate of the University of Missouri, where he covered city, county, and state government for the Columbia Missourian. Find him on Twitter (X) and Bluesky @KAdissem!
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