Considering battery storage on your Sacramento County land?

Establish the property’s jurisdiction and the proposed use

A Sacramento County address does not mean the county controls every development decision. Have the company identify whether the proposed site is in unincorporated county territory or within a city, then show the actual zoning and any special planning area or other restrictions.

The county’s current code defines a BESS facility as a primary-use array of electrochemical devices that collects energy from the grid or a power plant and discharges it later. It excludes behind-the-meter devices supporting residential, institutional, commercial or industrial development from this particular classification and its accompanying standards.

That distinction matters. A battery serving an existing business and a separate battery project offered a land lease should not automatically be treated as the same use. Ask the company to explain its classification and the reviewing authority. Exclusion from one use category does not mean that all building, fire or electrical review disappears.

For the county route, section 3.6.6.E and the actual BESS row in Table 3.1 identify conditional-use review by the Board of Supervisors in the AG, IR, M-1 and M-2 zones. The row shows the use as not permitted in the other displayed zones. A conditional designation is an opportunity for review, not an issued approval for your tract.

Reference: Sacramento County: Planning & Environmental Review · Sacramento County: battery energy storage facility definition, added September 10, 2026 · Sacramento County: section 3.6.6.E battery energy storage use standards, added September 10, 2026 · Sacramento County: Table 3.1 allowed primary uses and permit legend

Identify land restrictions before settling on a lease area

The county BESS standards discuss prime farmland, sensitive habitat, scenic-highway and historic-place views, and delineated floodplains. Some provisions refer to mitigation consistent with county policy. Ask the company to identify the actual issues on the tract and what evidence or mitigation would be needed.

If the property is under a Williamson Act agricultural-preserve contract, read that contract with your adviser. The BESS section says facilities are not allowed on those preserves except when specifically allowed under the contract. Do not assume an agricultural zone or an existing farm use settles this separate restriction.

The section also requires compliance with an applicable Airport Land Use Compatibility Plan. Have the company check the location instead of treating distance from a substation as the only siting question.

Ask for a map that distinguishes the proposed equipment area, access, drainage, landscaping and land you would retain. A broad acreage figure is not enough to show what could actually be used. Identify parts that may need to be avoided and whether the proposal depends on using land outside the original outline.

Reference: Sacramento County: section 3.6.6.E battery energy storage use standards, added September 10, 2026

Review the whole layout, including the land outside the equipment

The BESS section refers to M-1 development standards in Table 5.14 for facilities in all zones. The table has several parts and footnotes. Yard requirements vary with neighboring uses, street frontage, public utility or facility easements and other conditions. Ask the engineer to show the applicable distances on the actual site plan.

Minimum lot size in the industrial table is not a recommended acreage for a battery project. The chapter itself distinguishes lot-creation requirements from optimum project design. Equipment, access, drainage, safety separation and other applicable requirements still need to fit.

The BESS application materials include site maps and elevations, landscape and fencing plans, a visual analysis when needed, applicable UL safety information, danger signage and a security plan. Ask to see the layout and what a neighbor or someone using the road would see.

The BESS rule calls for NFPA 855 barrier and buffering specifications, with safety considerations taking priority where appropriate over the fencing and landscaping standards. Have the qualified project team explain the design. A general landscaping sketch is not proof of a completed safety review.

The section allows the hearing body to require masonry walls to reduce sound toward nearby residential, recreational or commercial zones. Its rural-landscape discussion also considers water availability and protection of watering systems. Ask who supplies water, maintains the planting and repairs the fencing, and whether those activities affect your retained land.

Reference: Sacramento County: section 3.6.6.E battery energy storage use standards, added September 10, 2026 · Sacramento County: section 5.6 and Table 5.14 industrial development standards

Read the removal and restoration plan before relying on a promise

The county BESS section calls for draft reclamation and decommissioning plans with the application. Its decommissioning provision requires a detailed plan for taking the facility apart and restoring the site, approved to the Planning Director’s satisfaction.

Ask what the plan would remove and what condition the land would be left in. Discuss equipment, foundations, wiring, access roads, drainage features and improvements you may want to keep. The company should explain any proposed exclusions and how they relate to the approved plan and your agreement.

Under the posted county standard, reclamation must start within six months and finish within eighteen months after operations cease or the use permit expires, whichever happens first. Have the company explain how it will track that trigger and organize the work. Do not treat those periods as a promise that restoration is already funded or complete.

Your private agreement should address who performs the work, who pays, how completion is documented and what happens if the company stops operating or changes owners. Review the approved public plan alongside those promises. A general sentence about leaving the land clean may leave important details unanswered.

Reference: Sacramento County: section 3.6.6.E battery energy storage use standards, added September 10, 2026

Ask what backs the restoration obligation financially

The county section requires performance and financial assurance guarantees before building permits are issued. The amount must be sufficient for the approved decommissioning plan, and the guarantees must be approved to the Planning Director’s satisfaction.

The rule gives examples such as an irrevocable letter of credit or a trust or escrow maintained under the approved financial assurance arrangements. Those examples do not establish which instrument a particular company has supplied, its amount or its terms. Ask for the approved arrangement and its status.

Read it with your adviser. Who can draw on it? What events allow it to be used? What happens if it expires, the company fails or the project is sold? How will the arrangement remain adequate over the life of the project? These are questions about the actual document, not assumptions based on its name.

Keep public financial assurance and your private protections distinct. The county requirement does not tell you whether you are a beneficiary, how your remedies work or whether every promise in the lease is covered. Compare the amount and scope with the approved work, retained improvements and obligations in your own agreement.

Ask for evidence at the right milestone. A draft plan is not an approved plan, and an intention to provide a guarantee is not the issued instrument. Keep copies of the approval, plan and applicable assurance documents rather than relying only on a progress update.

Reference: Sacramento County: section 3.6.6.E battery energy storage use standards, added September 10, 2026

Ask whether the company intends to use the county or state route

California’s Energy Commission offers an optional certification route for eligible facilities, including energy storage capable of storing at least 200 megawatt-hours. That measures stored energy; it is not a 200-megawatt power threshold. Ask the developer which process it intends to use and the basis for that choice.

The CEC program page says its certificate can replace local land-use permits and most state permits, with specified exceptions. It also says the CEC analyzes applicable laws and standards and seeks to resolve non-compliance where possible. The county BESS table should therefore not be presented as the sole possible path for every eligible project.

Have the company identify the actual reviewing agencies, remaining permissions and the removal and financial-assurance conditions proposed for its chosen route. County application requirements do not establish the conditions of a future CEC license.

Grid connection is separate from this land-use discussion. Ask about charging and export levels, studies, utility agreements, equipment and off-site land rights. The county’s requested utility or purchaser letter about a power-purchase agreement is not itself proof of final charging or export capacity.

Compare the expected public-review milestones with your option term, extension rights and payments. Neither a county table’s advisory processing estimate nor a state review period guarantees the date a project will be approved, built or begin paying operating rent.

Reference: California Energy Commission: optional certification route, eligibility and permit limits · Sacramento County: section 3.6.6.E battery energy storage use standards, added September 10, 2026 · Sacramento County: Table 3.1 allowed primary uses and permit legend

Tell Sunland about the property and your priorities

Start with contact details and the location. The form selects Sacramento County and California; change them if necessary. Acreage and parcel number are optional. Describe the road, current use and any part of the tract you want to retain.

Mention a farm contract, existing home or business, nearby airport, shared entrance or other restriction you already know about. You do not need to settle the zoning or arrange engineering before starting a conversation.

Tell us whether you would consider a lease, sale or use of only part of the property. If you have another offer, explain the questions you want addressed, including project boundaries, payments or restoration.

Sunland may follow up to learn more. An inquiry does not reserve the land, submit a permit application, authorize a site visit or construction, establish project approval or commit you to a transaction.