Solar permitting — Cocke County, Tennessee
1 indexed meetings (1 energy-related), 0 PSC dockets, 0 news items, 6 known opposition groups.
🟠 HIGH-FRICTION JURISDICTION (Score 66/100, Grade D, deteriorating trajectory) — Cocke County receives a D grade due to extreme terrain barriers (Smoky/Bald Mountains limiting viable land to narrow river valleys), rapidly worsening. Permitting: Cocke County Planning Commission: CUP in Agricultural/R
Key driver: Cocke County receives a D grade due to extreme terrain barriers (Smoky/Bald Mountains limiting viable land to narrow river valleys), rapidly worsening anti-solar political trajectory driven by tourism/recreation identity, and strong community resistance that would face any developer with a hostile political environment even for valley-sited projects.
Permitting process
Local permitting pathway
Cocke County Planning Commission: CUP in Agricultural/Rural zoning per SB 2373 (2022). Limited planning staff. County Commission approval required for large projects.
Setbacks & buffers
No county-specific solar setbacks codified. State minimums apply. Terrain provides natural barriers; anti-solar organizing provides political barriers.
Spacing requirements
None codified.
Size restrictions
None codified; managed via CUP/SUP conditions
Penalties & bonding
No penalties or adjustments. Standard CUP/SUP process.
State-level permits & approvals
County zoning authority under SB 2373 (2022); no state solar preemption; conditional use permit or special exception typically required; decommissioning bond often required; setback standards increasingly codified
State policy & grid context
State RPS & clean energy policy
No binding RPS | None | Tennessee has no state RPS; TVA integrated resource planning only
State incentive programs
Federal ITC eligible; no Tennessee state solar tax credit; TVA Green Power Switch program available
Grid & interconnection
TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority)
Subscriber intel Subscribers
Researched for this county and available with a subscription:
- 🔒Project track record
- 🔒Developer intelligence
- 🔒Community & board sentiment
- 🔒Governing board
- 🔒Sentiment & opposition
Energy-related meetings & dockets P1
Halo color = sentiment of the relevant agenda excerpt: green positive, yellow neutral, red negative.
- Planning CommissionBESS
The Planning Commission approved a special-use permit application for a 150 MW solar farm in Cocke County.
State PSC dockets P1
No PSC dockets matched to this county yet.
Local news P3
News ingestion not yet active for this county (GDELT/RSS pipeline pending).
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