Solar in Tennessee

Solar Landscape in Tennessee

Tennessee is entirely within the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) territory — the only state in the contiguous US where this is the case. TVA is a federal corporation that generates and transmits electricity, but it does not serve end customers directly. Instead, approximately 150 local power companies (LPCs) — including municipal utilities and electric cooperatives — distribute TVA power to Tennessee customers.

The largest LPC is Nashville Electric Service (NES), serving approximately 400,000 customers in the Nashville metro area. Memphis Light, Gas & Water (MLGW) serves approximately 430,000 electric customers in Memphis. Knoxville Utilities Board (KUB) serves the Knoxville metro area.

All Tennessee LPCs follow TVA's Dispersed Power Production (DPP) program for residential solar, which is a buy-all/sell-all arrangement at approximately $0.02-0.03/kWh. TVA's Green Power Providers program (which offered premium rates) ended in 2019. Tennessee's average residential electricity rate is approximately $0.11-0.12/kWh.

Permitting

Tennessee has no statewide solar permitting standards. All solar permitting is handled at the local level by city and county building departments. Requirements, fees, and timelines vary across the state.

Notably, Clinton, Tennessee is the only jurisdiction in the six-state Southeast region (AL, AR, KY, LA, MS, TN) that currently participates in the DOE's SolarAPP+ automated permitting program, enabling instant or same-day permit approvals for qualifying residential solar systems.

For the rest of the state, typical residential solar permit timelines range from 1 to 3 weeks. Nashville, Memphis, Knoxville, and other larger cities have more established permitting processes. Since the entire state is TVA territory, the interconnection process goes through the local TVA distributor rather than a state-regulated IOU.

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