Data center restrictions tracker · Tennessee

City of Rocky Top, Tennessee: data center zoning exclusion (2026)

Data snapshot 2026-08-15 · part of Pricing the Fear of Data Centers

City of Rocky Top, in Anderson County, Tennessee, adopted a data-center zoning exclusion on April 1, 2026. Its status in this snapshot is pending.

The record reads: "Rocky Top, TN: Ordinance 620 (data center zoning restrictions) second reading was NOT held on April 16, 2026 as previously scheduled. Mayor Templin confirmed the vote has been moved to May 2026. The ordinance remains pending. The delay… (datacentertracker.org)."

Details

ActionClassStatusDateMW thresholdScopeSource
Zoning exclusionrestrictionpendingApril 1, 2026not county-widedatacentertracker.org

Jurisdiction type: municipality. County: Anderson County. Dataset: datacentertracker. Snapshot August 15, 2026; documented actions, not a census.

Elsewhere in Anderson County

Tennessee context

Tennessee has 41 documented local actions across 36 jurisdictions in this snapshot. At the state level, the state has a ratepayer-protection law (enacted).

A town that says no to a data center gives up local tax revenue, not jobs: one large campus pays $2M to $90M a year depending on the tax regime, against roughly 50 permanent jobs. The parent piece prices it and lists the conditions that beat a ban.

Sources

Back to Pricing the Fear of Data Centers