Solar permitting — Johnson County, Tennessee
No tracked activity yet — coverage expands weekly.
Johnson County receives a D grade because the combination of extreme terrain (eliminating virtually all viable utility-scale sites), the strongest ant. Permitting: Johnson County Planning Commission; very high complianc…
Key driver: Johnson County receives a D grade because the combination of extreme terrain (eliminating virtually all viable utility-scale sites), the strongest anti-solar conservation/preservation ethos in Tennessee, and rapidly worsening political trajectory creates a near-insurmountable development environment. The score would be F if terrain alone were scored — D reflects that the political barriers are very high but not at active-moratorium level.
Permitting process
Local permitting pathway
Johnson County Planning Commission (very limited capacity): CUP in Agricultural/Rural zoning per SB 2373 (2022). Virtually no viable Agricultural-zoned flat land for utility-scale solar within county limits.
Setbacks & buffers
No county-specific solar setbacks codified. State minimums apply. Terrain — not ordinance — is the primary constraint, with mountainous slopes and ridge-and-valley geography eliminating viable sites in most of the county.
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
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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)
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Battery storage (BESS) P1 State-Default Permitting
No confirmed county BESS ordinance.
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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