How long would a battery developer hold your land?

Start with the hold being requested

How much land would be tied up, and for how long? Ask the company to mark the offered area and any access or cable rights on a map. List uses you want to continue while it investigates. Do not leave the meaning of “site” to a later drawing.

Write down the initial payment, the end date and every extension the company could exercise. Ask whether you must agree to an extension or whether the company can activate it on its own. What notice and payment are required?

Discuss what happens if only part of the property is selected. When is the unused portion released, and can access or other rights survive that release? Bring those questions to your adviser with the actual draft.

Ask what starts the review clock

For the CEC opt-in route, the published 270-day review period starts when an application is deemed complete. It does not start when you sign a land option. The program also describes circumstances that can extend review.

Ask which milestone the developer has actually reached. Request the completeness notice or other dated record supporting its schedule. Keep preparation of an application, submission, completeness and a decision as separate entries in your notes.

A suggested approval month is useful planning information. It should not replace the option’s end date or explain away an unclear payment trigger.

Reference: California Energy Commission: opt-in certification program and FAQ

See what a real schedule change looks like

On October 6, 2026, CEC staff issued a schedule-change letter for Corby, a Solano County battery project still shown under review. The letter says significant new information requires recirculation of updated staff-assessment sections for a 60-day period. At the date of that letter, the revised recirculation and decision milestones were still to be determined.

That record is a change in review timing. It is not a rejection, cancellation or promise of a new approval date. Nor does it establish that another project will experience the same delay.

For your own offer, ask what a comparable delay would mean. Would the hold end, would a paid extension be available, or could the company keep reserving the land without a new decision from you? Have the actual agreement answer that question.

Reference: California Energy Commission: Corby battery project · CEC: Corby project update and schedule change, October 6, 2026

Separate approval from permission to start earning rent

Potentia-Viridi provides a different example: its CEC page records approval and a pre-construction compliance stage. A favorable public decision does not itself tell a landowner that construction has begun or operating rent is due.

Ask your developer which conditions, connection work and other permissions would remain after the anticipated decision. Which of those steps affects its right to build, and which affects your payment? Use the agreement’s exact triggers.

If the company wants additional roads, cable rights or work space after approval, ask how those requests are handled and paid for. A changed project drawing deserves a fresh look at the land rights.

Reference: California Energy Commission: Potentia-Viridi battery project

Keep a short milestone sheet

Use one sheet for the dated project records and another part for your agreement deadlines. Update it when a document changes. This makes it easier to see whether the company’s next step fits within the time you have agreed to reserve the land.

Ask who will provide updates and how you will receive them. A link to a large docket is less useful than a dated explanation of what changed, what remains and whether the company is asking you to extend the hold.

If you are still exploring, send Sunland the location and a short description of the property. If you already have an offer, say which deadline or land-rights question concerns you. You do not need to decide on a lease or sale before beginning a conversation.