Tennessee Senate Bill SB0962

Tennessee 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 2/5/25

Caption

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 5; Title 6; Title 7; Title 13; Title 54; Title 65 and Title 68, relative to high energy use facilities.

Summary

SB0962 creates a new part of Tennessee law governing the siting of “high energy use facilities” (HEUFs), defined as projects requiring 100 megawatts or more of electric power, including large data centers. Before a locality may approve rezoning, a special exception, or a special use permit for a new HEUF, the applicant must submit a site assessment addressing the project’s sound impacts on nearby residential areas and schools within 500 feet. Localities may also require the assessment to examine effects on water, agricultural resources, parks, registered historic sites, and forestland on or adjacent to the site. The bill also requires the serving electric utility to provide a site assessment describing the new generating units, substations, and transmission voltage needed to serve the project. Local governments must use these assessments to evaluate consistency with the locality’s comprehensive plan and compliance with noise ordinances, zoning ordinances, and other applicable laws. The bill expressly preserves existing regulatory authority and does not repeal or modify any federal, state, or local law or a locality’s zoning and permitting powers.

Impact

The bill would add a new statutory framework in Title 13 for local review of large electricity-intensive developments, especially data centers and other major industrial users. It would not create a statewide permitting program, but it would impose new pre-approval information requirements on applicants and utilities and give local governments additional factual material to use in zoning and land-use decisions. Existing approvals and smaller expansions under the 100 MW threshold are excluded, and the bill states that it does not alter the authority of administrative agencies or local governments under other laws.

Sentiment

No committee transcripts or recorded votes were provided, so there is no direct evidence of debate or formal support/opposition in the available record. Based on the text alone, the bill appears aimed at giving localities more information and control when evaluating very large energy-demanding projects, which may appeal to communities concerned about land use, noise, infrastructure, and environmental impacts. At the same time, the explicit preservation of existing regulatory authority suggests an effort to frame the measure as additive rather than restrictive.

Contention

The main likely points of contention are the scope of local control over large projects, the burden placed on applicants and utilities to produce site assessments, and the potential effect on data center and industrial development. Supporters would likely emphasize neighborhood impacts, infrastructure planning, and environmental review, while opponents may argue the bill adds another layer of review that could slow investment or duplicate existing permitting processes. The bill’s carve-out for existing approved sites and its statement preserving current authority appear designed to reduce concerns about overreach.