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Solar permitting — Sullivan County, Tennessee

FIPS 47163

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C
Sullivan County, TN
Risk score 42/100 · Full scorecard →
Compliance: ModerateSolar ordinance on fileTrajectory: StableSaturation: Low

No active county solar moratorium (adjudicated 2026-09-08). Permitting: CUP per SB 2373. Track record: Sullivan County Solar I (~20 MW, 2022). Political environment: Republican majority; community: cautious. Grid: TVA (Tennessee Valley Authorit; utility: Bri

Key driver: Kingsport/Bristol East TN; mountainous terrain limits utility-scale sites; Eastman Chemical industrial complex shapes energy politics; dual-utility territory (BTES + Kingsport Power/AEP) adds coordination complexity; moderate SB 2373 framework

Permitting process

Local permitting pathway

CUP per SB 2373; decommissioning bond; dual-utility interconnect coordination (BTES and Kingsport Power/AEP); decommissioning bond required

Setbacks & buffers

Not codified; Kingsport Power (AEP) territory adds separate interconnect review

Spacing requirements

No spacing requirements codified

Size restrictions

No size restrictions codified

State-level permits & approvals

County zoning authority under SB 2373 (2022); conditional use permit or special exception required; decommissioning bond often required; setback standards increasingly codified at county level

Full permitting requirements

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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

Grid & interconnection

TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority) — covers all 95 TN counties

Full state policy & grid detail

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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.

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Energy-related meetings & dockets P1

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State PSC dockets P1

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Local news P3

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Data sources: public agendas/minutes from local government sites; PSC dockets from state regulators; news from GDELT and curated RSS. Last refreshed 2026-09-29. See the county risk scorecard or the full Tennessee permitting index.