Would battery storage change your Coles County land agreement?

Ask whether the batteries belong to the solar project

Request a short description of how the batteries would operate. Would they be associated with solar on the property, or would the company propose a separate storage facility? Ask which application, drawing and land agreement covers them. The company should be able to explain the distinction before asking for another signature.

The county’s posted solar ordinance includes storage in its supporting-facilities definition. The June 9 board minutes record approval of a solar ordinance revision. Illinois’ separate §5-12024 storage definition excludes systems associated with commercial solar or wind facilities. These records are a reason to establish the proposal’s scope rather than treating all batteries alike.

Do not assume the solar project’s dimensions, timetable or permit answer settles a standalone battery offer. Ask the team and the reviewing authority to identify the rules for the actual design, location and application. Keep the written answer with the drawing it addresses.

If the project was approved earlier, request the decision and the latest approved plan. Ask whether the battery addition needs an amendment, another application or a different review. A developer’s interest in adding equipment is not itself an approval.

This guide helps you compare the requested land rights. It does not determine the review route for a parcel, establish available electrical capacity or show that a company is currently seeking additional sites.

Reference: Coles County: current posted commercial solar ordinance, including supporting storage · Coles County: June 9, 2026 board minutes and solar ordinance revision · Illinois General Assembly: Counties Code, storage and solar definitions

Confirm the reviewing office from the parcel location

Coles County’s zoning guidance distinguishes county and municipal jurisdiction and lists separate ordinances for certain developments. Ask which office handles the exact parcel and proposal. A rural mailing address does not necessarily resolve that question.

Give the team a property location and ask it to put the proposed area on a map. If the land is near Mattoon, Charleston, Oakland, Lerna, Humboldt or Ashmore, ask how the municipal boundary and applicable jurisdiction have been checked. Keep the source and date of that answer.

A statement that general county zoning is absent should not be read as permission to build batteries or to disturb land. Have the team identify any separate development requirements and other approvals. Ask what remains to be confirmed before site work can begin.

If roads or electrical routes extend beyond the parcel, ask which authorities and other owners are involved. A response about the equipment area may not answer a question about a new entrance, off-site cable or crossing.

You do not need to resolve these matters yourself before contacting Sunland. Start with the location and what you would consider. Tell us about any existing agreement or recent proposal so the first conversation addresses the right use.

Reference: Coles County: zoning and municipal jurisdiction guidance

Compare the new drawing with the existing agreement

Ask the company to mark everything added for storage: enclosures, transformers, roads, cables, screening, drainage and temporary work areas. Compare that drawing with the map attached to your current agreement. A battery addition may use land that was previously available to you.

For example, the company might propose cabinets beside a solar field but also need a wider turn at the farm entrance and a cable across retained cropland. The cabinets alone would not show all the new rights. Ask for the boundary, duration and permitted activities for each area.

Review whether your agreement already allows storage, changes to equipment or additional land. Have your adviser explain those provisions and any proposed amendment. Do not assume a conversation about a smaller footprint changes what the signed document permits.

Mark the access you use for planting, harvest, deliveries and maintenance. Include the route a tenant or contractor depends on. Ask how the new layout accommodates those uses while construction and battery operation take place.

Ask whether the company would reserve future expansion land as well as build the first phase. Identify when unused areas return to your control and how the release is recorded. Compare payment for additional rights with payment already due under the solar agreement.

Keep participating land and a waiver separate

The posted solar ordinance distinguishes participating land from other property and addresses recorded waivers. If you are asked to sign another document, ask what it changes and whether it will be recorded against your property.

Have your adviser examine the actual document rather than relying on its title. Does it authorize use of land, waive a protection, change the existing lease or do more than one of those things? Ask which equipment, boundary and conditions it covers.

Discuss the effect on retained land and a future sale or lease. Would a later owner or tenant be affected? What information would you need to disclose? Ask how any proposed release would be completed when the right is no longer needed.

If the document covers several parcels, ask for each to be identified separately. A signature concerning one area should be compared with every area named in the attachments. Keep a completed copy with the dated plan.

Consider payment, insurance and repair terms alongside the requested right. Ask what happens if the design changes after you sign. Your adviser can explain whether the proposed wording would also apply to later equipment or a different company.

Reference: Coles County: current posted commercial solar ordinance, including supporting storage

Document drainage before any battery work begins

Tell the team what you know about field tiles, ditches, wet areas and outlets. Share existing maps or repair records if you have them, but label uncertain information as uncertain. An owner is not expected to locate every buried line from memory.

Ask how the team will establish baseline conditions before grading, road widening, testing or trenching. Request photographs and a drawing that identifies the drainage serving both the project area and the land you retain. Discuss who keeps those records.

An equipment pad can be small while the construction route affects a much larger drainage system. Ask how crossings, compaction and altered surface flow would be reviewed. Include adjoining land or a drainage district where the team identifies a connection.

Set out how a problem is reported, investigated and repaired. Who arranges the work and pays for it? Ask how urgent action would be handled during planting or harvest, and how the completed repair is documented.

Discuss agricultural losses separately from the repair itself. Have your adviser compare the agreement, applicable requirements and evidence needed for a claim. Avoid leaving the answer at a general promise that the company will take care of the farm.

Identify the company responsible for each obligation

Under the posted solar ordinance, owner means facility owner. That is a useful reminder to distinguish the landowner, applicant, equipment owner and day-to-day operator in your own records. Ask which entity signs each agreement and owes each payment.

Request an explanation of how the company’s obligations work in practice. Who manages vegetation, maintains the road, investigates a complaint and supplies current emergency contacts? Ask who acts if the operator uses a contractor that does not complete the work.

Compare protection for the county with protection for you. Have your adviser check who benefits from insurance, removal security and indemnity provisions, and what each covers. A document provided to a public authority should not be assumed to reimburse every cost you might incur.

If solar and battery equipment belong to different companies, ask how shared work is divided. Who repairs a common entrance or cable crossing? How are invoices handled? You should have a clear contact without needing to resolve a dispute between the companies.

Ask for an updated list when ownership or operating control changes. Have your adviser review whether the existing party remains liable and how the new party takes on unfinished duties. Keep payment records and written notices with the agreements.

Reference: Coles County: current posted commercial solar ordinance, including supporting storage

Compare public-road work with private access repairs

A project may have arrangements with a public road authority and separate rights over your driveway or farm lane. Request both explanations. Repairs promised for a public road do not tell you the condition in which your private entrance will be returned.

Ask for the delivery route and the vehicles expected to use it. Identify widening, turning space, gate changes and temporary surfaces on your land. Discuss when the route is available to you and how conflicts with farm operations would be handled.

Keep photographs of the private route before work starts. Ask how inspections and repairs will be documented and who decides whether the route is usable afterward. Include drainage, shoulders, culverts and gates rather than only the road surface.

Discuss maintenance during operation as well as construction. Who clears snow, repairs wear, keeps gates working and responds to a blocked entrance? Ask how the owner, tenant and operator share access in ordinary conditions and during an emergency.

Set payment and removal terms for each phase

Ask whether added batteries change your payment or only the company’s development costs. Request a written explanation of the amount, start event and payment date. A fee paid to the county is different from a payment owed to you.

If the addition requires more time, ask how that affects any option or reservation. Compare the proposed extension with your own plans for the land. Ask what is paid while the company investigates and what happens if the battery phase does not proceed.

Discuss closure of one component while the other continues. Would batteries be removed separately? Which roads, electrical equipment and drainage features would stay? Have the team identify the public plan and private terms for each outcome.

Ask what funding is actually available for removal and who can use it. Review the estimate, covered equipment, updating process and notice of any lapse with your adviser. A proposed decommissioning agreement is different from a completed agreement and provided security.

If a permit expires or is revoked, ask what that means for the private land rights. Have your adviser check release, payment and restoration provisions rather than assuming a public decision ends every restriction. Specify the usable condition of land returned to you.

Tell Sunland about your Coles County land

Use the form to send your contact details and then the property location. Acreage and a parcel number are optional. Include what the land is used for and whether you would consider a lease, a sale or a conversation about part of it.

If you have a solar agreement or battery offer, tell us which part you want to understand. Useful starting details include the proposed equipment area, shared access, a tenant’s use and whether a new signature has been requested.

You do not need a site plan or an electrical-capacity answer to start. We can review the information you send and may follow up. Contacting Sunland does not reserve your property, authorize entry or commit you to a transaction.