58.1

Risk Grade

Poor

Fast-growing retirement enclave with Watts Bar Lake; shrinking farmland; rising community opposition to large solar; commission increasingly receptive to anti-solar constituents

Assessment Snapshot

Population

54068

State Rank

#42

Compliance

50%

Trajectory

Moratorium Status

✓ No Active Moratorium

No specific moratorium information available.

Ordinance & Regulations

Setback Requirements

Under discussion; no codified standard yet

Zoning Mechanism

CUP per SB 2373; decommissioning bond required; setback standards being drafted

Acreage Caps

None formal

Board Sentiment & Political Risk

Sentiment Analysis

Mixed

Basis for Assessment

Growing retirement/residential community raising NIMBY concerns at commission meetings

Political Risk Factors

Worsening

Board Members

County Executive: Estil Bowen | R | 2026; Commission: majority Republican

Grid, Utilities & State Context

Grid Operator

TVA

Utilities

Lenoir City Utilities Board, Tennessee Valley Authority (wholesale)

State Permitting Process

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

State Incentives

Federal ITC eligible; no Tennessee state solar tax credit; TVA Green Power Switch program

Development Activity

Active/Completed Projects

Loudon County Solar (~18 MW, 2021)

Denied/Withdrawn Projects

One application denied by commission 2024 (site sensitivity near Watts Bar Lake)

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Loudon County, TN — Solar Development Risk Assessment