# Marion County, South Carolina: Power, Data Centers and the Local Economy Home to Marion and Mullins Marion County is one of the places pushing back on the data center build-out. Marion County is home to Marion and Mullins. 1 project is on the Delay Watchlist, including Stream Data Centers Marion County (abandoned) (400 MW). 10 MW of new generation is planned here across 1 unit, led by SolRiver Capital LLC (solar). Unemployment was 6.5% in August 2026, against 4.6% in 2019. 25 MW of that came online in 2019 or later, mostly solar. 10 MW of new generation planned here, solar leading 25 MW of operating power plants, mostly solar -1.7% total jobs since 2019, now 6,847 ## Cities and towns in Marion County Marion County is home to Marion and Mullins. Marion6,028 residents Mullins3,838 residents Nichols222 residents Sellers146 residents Unincorporated communities (governed by the county): Centenary, Daviston, Rains, Zion. Residents are 2025 Census estimates for the part of each city, town or township inside this county. Census publishes no annual estimate for unincorporated communities. ## What changed in Marion County | Measure | Then | Now | Change | Rank in South Carolina | |---|---|---|---|---| | Population (2020 → 2025) | 29,088 | 28,242 | ▼ 2.9% | 33rd of 46 by size | | Total jobs (2019 → 2025) | 6,968 | 6,847 | ▼ 1.7% | 28th of 46 by growth | | Average annual pay (2019 → 2025) | $33,634 | $47,857 | ▲ 42.3% | — | | Unemployment rate (2019 → August 2026) | 4.6% | 6.5% | ▲ 1.9pts | — | | Generating capacity added since 2019 | — | 25 MW | | — | | Generating capacity retired since 2019 | — | 0 MW | | — | | Planned generation (Aug 2026) | — | 10 MW | 39% of today's fleet | 15th of 16 by size | Its power plants have 25 MW of capacity, 100% of it solar. Employers here counted 6,847 jobs in 2025, down 1.7% from 2019. Duke Energy Progress - (NC) is the largest utility serving Marion County, one of 2 with territory here. Its residential customers paid an average 14.88¢/kWh in 2024. 28,242 people live here, down 2.9% since 2020. ## Who powers Marion County ### Utilities with service territory in Marion County | Utility | Ownership | Service | Residential customers (systemwide) | Residential price, 2024 | Commercial share of sales | |---|---|---|---|---|---| | Duke Energy Progress - (NC) | Investor Owned | Bundled | 143,713 | 14.88¢ | 28% | | MPD Electric Cooperative | Cooperative | Bundled | 31,874 | 10.94¢ | 27% | Customer counts, prices and sales shares cover each utility's whole system in the state, not only this county. Commercial sales include data centers. ### Operating power plants | Technology | Capacity | Share | |---|---|---| | Solar | 25 MW | 100% | | Largest plants | Owner | Technology | MW | Since | |---|---|---|---|---| | Ebbie Solar, LLC | Headwater Energy, LLC | Solar | 10 MW | 2025 | | Cardinal Solar LLC | Cardinal Solar LLC | Solar | 7 MW | 2020 | | Pruger Solar II | Headwater Energy, LLC | Solar | 2 MW | 2026 | | Washington Solar (SC) | Headwater Energy, LLC | Solar | 2 MW | 2023 | | Washington Solar II (SC) | Washington Solar II (SC) | Solar | 2 MW | 2025 | | Jessamine Solar | Altus Power America Management, LLC | Solar | 2 MW | 2019 | ### Planned generation | Plant | Technology | MW | Status | Year | Owner | |---|---|---|---|---|---| | Rhubarb One SC | Solar Photovoltaic | 10 MW | Approvals pending | 2027 | SolRiver Capital LLC | ## The Marion County labor market | Industry (2025) | Jobs | Average pay | Concentration vs U.S. | |---|---|---|---| | All industries | 6,847 | $47,857 | 1.00 | Concentration is the BLS location quotient: 1.0 means the industry holds the same share of local jobs as it does nationally. Industry rows count private employers; cells BLS suppresses are left out. ## Data centers and local rules in Marion County ### Delay Watchlist | Project | Status | Cause | MW | |---|---|---|---| | Stream Data Centers Marion County (abandoned) | abandoned | utility interconnection timingwithdrawal | 400 MW | ## Marion County and its neighbors Of the 5 counties that border Marion County, Georgetown County carries the most build-out activity: data centers, planned generation and operating plants combined. [[[[[ | County | Population | Jobs since 2019 | Operating MW | Planned MW | Data centers | Local measures | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | Marion County | 28,242 | ▼ 1.7% | 25 MW | 10 MW | — | — | | Dillon County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/south-carolina/dillon-county) | 27,458 | ▲ 2.8% | 15 MW | 81 MW | — | — | | Florence County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/south-carolina/florence-county) | 138,504 | ▲ 5.5% | 116 MW | — | — | — | | Georgetown County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/south-carolina/georgetown-county) | 65,912 | ▲ 2.5% | 1,573 MW | 413 MW | — | — | | Horry County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/south-carolina/horry-county) | 427,551 | ▲ 9.2% | 174 MW | 74 MW | 3 | — | | Williamsburg County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/south-carolina/williamsburg-county) | 29,662 | ▼ 28.5% | 20 MW | 75 MW | — | — | ## More of South Carolina [All South Carolina countiesThe state power page and county mapOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/south-carolina)[Horry County427,551 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/south-carolina/horry-county)[Florence County138,504 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/south-carolina/florence-county)[Georgetown County65,912 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/south-carolina/georgetown-county)[Williamsburg County29,662 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/south-carolina/williamsburg-county)[Dillon County27,458 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/south-carolina/dillon-county) ## Marion County, answered from the record ### Who provides electricity in Marion County, South Carolina? 2 utilities have service territory in Marion County in the EIA-861 2024 report: Duke Energy Progress - (NC), MPD Electric Cooperative. The largest, Duke Energy Progress - (NC), charged residential customers 14.88¢/kWh on average in 2024. ### What power plants are in Marion County? 6 operating plants with 25 MW of capacity. The largest is Ebbie Solar, LLC (10 MW, solar). ### How much new power is planned in Marion County? 10 MW across 1 units in the August 2026 EIA-860M inventory, 0 MW of it under construction or built. The largest owner is SolRiver Capital LLC. ### Are there data centers in Marion County? The SAVRN Data Center Map has no data center in Marion County. The nearest activity on record is next door in Georgetown County. ### Is Marion County adding jobs? Employers counted 6,847 jobs in 2025 against 6,968 in 2019 (-1.7%, BLS QCEW). ### Does Marion County have a data center moratorium? No county-level measure is on record for Marion County. South Carolina has 22 local measures statewide, listed on the state page. --- Canonical: https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/south-carolina/marion-county Updated: 2026-10-08. Refreshed weekly by SAVRN from EIA, BLS, BEA, Census and the SAVRN trackers. License: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).