Solar permitting — St. James Parish, Louisiana
6 known opposition groups.
Southeast Louisiana Mississippi River corridor parish; Convent seat; Entergy Louisiana MISO grid; petrochemica. Permitting: Conditional Use Permit; 300-ft max / 150-ft min setbacks. Track record: denial on record — St. James Solar —
Key driver: Southeast Louisiana Mississippi River corridor parish; Convent seat; Entergy Louisiana MISO grid; petrochemical industrial corridor (Nucor Steel, CF Industries, Mosaic) alongside agricultural parcels; flat alluvial terrain well-suited to solar between industrial sites; stable political environment with Police Jury support for energy diversification; B-grade reflects permissive energy culture, viable flat land, moderate compliance, and low saturation risk
Permitting process
Local permitting pathway
Conditional Use Permit (CUP) — St. James Parish Police Jury
Setbacks & buffers
Act 279 (2025) siting requirements, applying to a solar facility of 75 ACRES OR MORE not wholly within an industrial-zoned area or an LED certified site, constructed after 1 January 2026: 300 ft from a RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY LINE to the nearest solar equipment, with a 35 ft barrier of new landscaping or a 50 ft barrier of natural plants; 100 ft from the low water mark of natural and navigable waterways; 50 ft from the pavement edge of a public road, with a 35 ft vegetative barrier. Noise may not exceed 10 dB above pre-construction ambient at the property line. A parish may adopt its own siting requirements and opt out of the state requirements by resolution, and a landowner may opt out by written agreement with the operator
Spacing requirements
None established
Size restrictions
None codified; managed via CUP/SUP conditions
Penalties & bonding
Total penalty: +28 | Active moratorium: +28
State-level permits & approvals
Parish zoning authority; no state solar preemption; conditional use permit typically required for utility-scale (>1 MW); no mandatory decommissioning bond statewide (some parishes require it)
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State policy & grid context
State RPS & clean energy policy
No binding RPS | None | Louisiana has no state RPS; voluntary pilot 350 MW distributed
State incentive programs
Federal ITC eligible; Louisiana sales tax exemption for solar equipment; Louisiana property tax exemption for solar; no state income tax credit for commercial solar
Grid & interconnection
MISO / Entergy Louisiana
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Battery storage (BESS) P1 State-Default Permitting
No confirmed parish BESS ordinance.
BESS ordinances & bylaws
County-level battery-storage status, safety requirements, and projects — each linked to a primary source.
Community opposition P1 6 tracked
Organized opposition signals on record for this county — petitions, community groups, and oppositional coverage — each linked to its primary source.
- Denied: No Solar Panel Farm For Vacherie Solar
- St. James Parish temporary blocks solar farms, despite pleas from Entergy CEO, advocates Solar
- St James solar project may be on hold – Greater New Orleans Interfaith Climate Coalition Solar
- NOLA Business Insider: St. James Parish not ready to embrace solar farms Solar
- One of Louisiana's biggest solar farms was rejected. A judge says the decision followed the law. Solar
- r/Louisiana on Reddit: Solar farm rejected in St. Parish Parish Solar
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
No tracked activity yet — coverage expands weekly.
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