Solar permitting — Modoc County, California
No tracked activity yet — coverage expands weekly.
Extreme northeastern California's most remote county; very low population (~8,900); large land area (2. Permitting: Conditional Use Permit; 150-ft max / 50-ft min setbacks. Track record: no prior utility-scale solar on record — green…
Key driver: Extreme northeastern California's most remote county; very low population (~8,900); large land area (2.5M acres) but limited grid connectivity; PG&E service at end of long transmission lines with constrained capacity; Surprise Valley area has some solar irradiance but no interconnection infrastructure; no developer pipeline; declining population; county planning staff capacity extremely limited; B-grade reflects low friction but also limited viability
Permitting process
Local permitting pathway
Conditional Use Permit (CUP); CEQA review; very limited county planning staff capacity; BLM Surprise Field Office governs federal land
Setbacks & buffers
150 ft from occupied residences; 50 ft from property lines — NOTE: the distances above are a STATE-level fallback, not a figure read from this county's own ordinance. We hold siting-rule records for this county which may include a stricter local limit we have not yet extracted. Verify against the county's own ordinance before relying on these.
Spacing requirements
None specified
Size restrictions
Projects >500 kW likely require CUP; no formal threshold tested
Penalties & bonding
No penalties or adjustments. Standard CUP/SUP process.
State-level permits & approvals
County zoning + CEQA review required; CEC siting jurisdiction for projects >50 MW on state/federal land; Coastal Commission review for coastal zone; DRECP DFAs streamline desert county permitting
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State policy & grid context
State RPS & clean energy policy
60% by 2030, 100% zero-carbon by 2045 | SB 100 (2018) + SB 1020 (2022) | Pub. Util. Code §399.11 et seq.
State incentive programs
Federal ITC eligible; California Self-Generation Incentive Program (SGIP) for storage; CA Renewables Portfolio Standard procurement; CPUC approved procurement programs
Grid & interconnection
CAISO — PG&E Balancing Authority
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Battery storage (BESS) P1 State-Default Permitting
No confirmed standalone county BESS ordinance — except: San Diego County (100 ft setback from residential/institutional/educational); Los Angeles County (10 ft setback from property lines and building
Local BESS ordinances & bylaws
County-level battery-storage status, safety requirements, and projects — each linked to a primary source.
Community opposition P1
No organized opposition on record for this county yet — no petition, group, or oppositional coverage tracked. Read that as nothing found, not as nothing there: absence of records is not evidence of local support.
Subscriber intel Subscribers
Researched for this county and available with a subscription:
- 🔒Project track record
- 🔒Developer intelligence
- 🔒Governing board
Energy-related meetings & dockets P1
No tracked activity yet — coverage expands weekly.
State PSC dockets P1
No tracked activity yet — coverage expands weekly.
Local news P3
No tracked activity yet — coverage expands weekly.
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