Jackson, MS Solar Energy: Panel Permits (2026)

Section 1007-A of the City of Jackson Zoning Ordinance (amended through December 19, 2024) governs solar energy production facilities citywide. The minimum lot size is twenty-five vacant acres, capped at one hundred vacant acres, with a perimeter buffer area of one percent or as set by the Site Plan Review Committee. Solar arrays and related buildings are limited to a maximum height of fifteen feet. Ground-mounted equipment must sit inside a security fence at least six feet high, built to the location and height standards of Section 1102-A, and the fence or site perimeter must carry clearly visible high-voltage warning signs.

Before preliminary site plan approval, the applicant must give the utility operating the local power grid written notice of intent to develop an interconnected facility; before construction plan approval, the applicant must submit proof of an executed interconnection agreement or other written proof the utility will allow construction to proceed. A decommissioning plan is a mandatory part of the Use Permit application itself, not a separate filing. The Use Permit is not permanent: it must be renewed annually, and if the property changes hands, the new owner has to apply for and receive its own Use Permit rather than inherit the seller's.

A facility is deemed abandoned after a full year without energy production, and once abandoned the operator and property owner are jointly responsible for removing all production and transmission equipment and appurtenances within 120 days.