Solar permitting — Tehama County, California
On file: local news, known opposition groups.
Very rural North Sacramento Valley county with flat terrain near Red Bluff offering viable utility-scale sites. Permitting: CUP via Tehama County Planning Commission; 50-ft setback. Track record: no prior utility-scale solar on recor…
Key driver: Very rural North Sacramento Valley county with flat terrain near Red Bluff offering viable utility-scale sites; conservative development-receptive Board of Supervisors; PG&E territory with adequate interconnection capacity; low land costs; limited existing solar means early-mover advantage exists; hot summers provide excellent solar resource comparable to Shasta County; solid emerging secondary market for utility-scale solar
Permitting process
Local permitting pathway
CUP via Tehama County Planning Commission; Board of Supervisors final; CEQA standard review
Setbacks & buffers
50 ft from property lines; additional setbacks from residences; case-by-case — 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
Not specified; case-by-case
Size restrictions
No formal size restrictions; rural county with extensive available land
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
Organized opposition signals on record for this county — petitions, community groups, and oppositional coverage — each linked to its primary source.
- California BESS Moratoriums: Battery Storage Restrictions ... Storage
- Opposition to the Permit Request for Battery Storage Facility Storage
- Tehama County passes finalized draft of wind, solar ordinance Wind
SitePath maintains the most complete community-opposition dataset available, refreshed continuously from primary sources.
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
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