Green Energy Property Tax Assessment
Administered by Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury
If you install qualifying solar, wind, geothermal, or hydrogen equipment, Tennessee limits how much your property can be assessed for it, which keeps property taxes lower: no more than 12.5% of installed cost for solar and one-third of installed cost for wind. To get it, your facility must be certified by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC), and you must give a copy of the certification to the comptroller's office by March 1 of the year you want the valuation applied. Valuation takes effect January 1 of that year, so contact TDEC or the comptroller's office to confirm details for your system.
This program lowers the ongoing property tax burden on customers' certified clean energy facilities, which can strengthen the case for solar, wind, geothermal, hydrogen, and paired storage projects in residential, commercial, industrial, and utility settings. Assessed value is capped at 12.5% of installed cost for solar and one-third for wind, with other sources limited by a capacity factor set by the State Board of Equalization. The facility must be certified by TDEC, and the owner must submit the certificate to the comptroller's office by March 1 of the tax year, so build that step into your project timeline.
Tennessee Code Annotated § 67-5-601(e)-(f) and SB 1000 set a special ad valorem assessment for certified green energy production facilities (as defined in Tenn. Code § 67-4-2007), capping initial assessed value at one-third of installed cost for wind and 12.5% for solar, and by a capacity factor determined by the State Board of Equalization with TDEC for other sources. TDEC certifies facilities that produce electricity from geothermal, hydrogen, solar, or wind technology for on- or off-premise use, including paired storage; valuation is effective January 1, and owners must submit the certificate to the comptroller by March 1. The comptroller notifies assessors of certified property locations and whether to assess locally or centrally; the incentive is a tax valuation rule rather than a funded program, and it covers residential, commercial, industrial, and utility owners.
Program details
- Program ID
- 5216
- Effective
- 6/30/2010
- Last updated
- 1/2/2026
Eligibility
- Sectors
- commercial industrial investor-owned utility municipal utilities residential cooperative utilities
- Technologies
- geothermal electric solar photovoltaics wind (all) hydrogen wind (small)
Program summary
Tennessee offers a special ad valorem property tax assessment for certified green energy production facilities. Tennessee Code Annotated § 67-5-601 (e)-(f) defines the sound, intrinsic and immediate value of alternative green source properties when they are initially appraised. SB 1000 stipulated that the assessed property value of all certified green energy production facilities (as defined in Tenn. Code § 67-4-2007) may not exceed 1/3 of total installed costs for wind, 12.5% of installed costs for solar, and for other green sources of energy, property should not initially exceed its appropriate capacity factor as determined by the States Board of Equilization in consultation with the department of environment and conservation.
TDEC defines and certifies facilities based upon production of electricity using clean energy technology for use and consumption on and off the premise, in addition to storage paired with clean energy technology. Clean energy technology is defined as technology used to generate energy from geothermal, hydrogen, solar, and wind sources. The effective date of the property valuation provided is January 1st of the year for which the valuation is claimed. A copy of the facility certification must be provided by the property owner to the comptroller's office by March 1st of the same year. The comptroller must advise the assessor of the locations of any certified green energy property and must advise the assessor as to whether the property should be assessed locally or centrally.
Contact & resources
- Contact email
- Gary.Harris@cot.tn.gov
Please verify current program details with the administering agency before making any financial decisions.
