Battery storage land with Batavia Municipal Electric

Start with the account, not the equipment brochure

A battery can serve a business on the property, work alongside existing renewable generation or operate as a separate facility. Ask the company to describe its proposal in those terms. A drawing of battery cabinets will not tell you whose electric account would be used.

Write down the landowner, account holder, equipment owner and operator. If a tenant runs the business, include the tenant in that list. Ask which party would buy charging electricity and receive any electric credits. These roles should be clear before anyone asks for your signature.

For land without service, explain that there is no existing account. Ask the project team to identify the proposed connection and the party applying for it. Nearby power lines are a reason to investigate; they do not establish available service for the battery.

The City’s electric page directs commercial and industrial new or modified connection applications through Community Development. Opening an ordinary service account and obtaining approval for a battery connection are different tasks. Have the developer explain the work still needed for its proposal.

Reference: City of Batavia: electric utility services

Check which Batavia policy the proposal actually uses

The linked documents have different dates. The posted self-generation interconnection policy is effective March 7, 2022; the net-billing policy is effective June 1, 2026. Read them together and ask for the current documents applicable to this project.

The net-billing policy includes renewable battery storage but requires qualifying facilities to be customer-owned, on the customer’s premises and on the customer’s side of the meter. It describes systems primarily serving the customer’s own usage. Commercial and industrial proposals receive individual consideration.

That is a specific customer arrangement. A developer leasing vacant land for a separate export project should explain its applicable connection process. Do not assume that the customer policy either approves every standalone battery or rules out every other arrangement.

Ask for a written operating description: where charging energy comes from, which building or business the battery serves, and whether power leaves the property. The project team should use that description to obtain the utility’s response. A landowner should not have to guess the right engineering classification.

Reference: Batavia: posted self-generation interconnection policy, effective March 7, 2022 · Batavia: customer self-generation and net billing policy, effective June 1, 2026

Keep solar estimates out of the battery offer

Batavia’s renewable-energy page discusses several technologies and includes solar-specific questions. Its solar installation estimates, incentives and examples should not be treated as a schedule or financial offer for a separate battery facility.

If the proposal adds storage to existing solar, ask who owns the solar equipment and which agreement covers it. The net-billing policy calls for permit and interconnection changes when an existing renewable system is modified by adding generation or storage.

Ask whether the company has reviewed your actual system or is still making assumptions. It should explain who seeks the required changes, who pays and whether the work would affect the business or tenant using the property.

Keep a copy of the utility response with the proposal. If the equipment, charging arrangement or ownership changes later, ask the company to confirm that the response still addresses what it intends to build.

Reference: City of Batavia: solar and renewable energy documents · Batavia: customer self-generation and net billing policy, effective June 1, 2026

Know what signing as the customer could mean

The posted interconnection agreement is a customer-owned renewable generation form. It names a customer and utility, addresses approval and operating obligations, and includes attachments. A blank form on the City website is not an approved agreement for your land.

Ask why your name is needed if another company would own and operate the battery. Is the request for permission to investigate, a land agreement, an electric application or an interconnection contract? Get the complete document rather than a detached signature page.

The agreement addresses customer and contractor insurance, liability and responsibility for certain claims. Have your lawyer and insurance adviser review the provisions that would apply to you. A developer’s insurance certificate alone does not explain your own obligations.

Compare the names across the utility documents and private agreement. If you would sign as customer while another company promises to pay the bills, ask how the documents protect you if it stops paying or leaves. Resolve that question before placing an obligation in your name.

Reference: Batavia: posted customer-owned renewable generation interconnection agreement

Ask for connection costs before agreeing to a deadline

Batavia’s posted agreement provides for review of system impacts and estimates for necessary upgrades. It assigns connection facilities and distribution upgrade costs to the interconnection customer. The net-billing policy also places specified connection and service costs on the customer.

For your proposal, request a cost list showing studies, service changes, equipment and any work beyond the battery area. Identify who would receive each invoice, who would pay it and which amounts remain estimates. Do not confuse a processing payment with a complete construction budget.

Ask what happens if review requires a different connection location or more expensive work. Would the developer reduce the project, request more land, extend the option or stop? Your land agreement should address the effect on payments and the length of the reservation.

If the company wants to reserve the property while it studies those costs, request useful progress records and a definite end to each investigation period. Discuss payment for extensions and how your land is released if the company elects not to proceed.

Reference: Batavia: posted customer-owned renewable generation interconnection agreement · Batavia: customer self-generation and net billing policy, effective June 1, 2026

Separate your land payment from electric account benefits

An estimate of reduced electric expenses is not the same as a promise to pay rent. Ask whether the offer is for an owner-funded system, a lease to a project company or another arrangement. Request the payment terms that belong to that arrangement.

For a lease, identify what you receive during investigation, construction and operation. Ask what event starts each payment and whether the amount depends on electricity sales. A projected project return does not show what the company owes you.

For a system serving an occupied building, ask whose bill would receive the benefit and who pays for the equipment. If a tenant holds the account, explain how savings would reach the landowner, if at all, and what changes when that tenant leaves.

Compare offers using the payments, expenses and obligations in your own documents. Record assumptions separately. Ask the company to explain what happens if the battery earns less than expected or the operating arrangement cannot be approved.

Keep access to utility equipment workable

The posted interconnection agreement requires utility access to the disconnect and metering equipment at all times without notice. It also addresses inspection, testing and written authorization before operating alongside the utility system.

Ask the developer to place the meter, disconnect, gate and service route on the same drawing as the battery. Show loading areas, tenant entrances, retained parking or other spaces you still need to use. Discuss how crews would reach the equipment when the operator is absent.

Keep utility equipment access distinct from the developer’s construction and operating rights. Ask which routes each party needs, who maintains them and how they would work with existing easements. A broad permission to enter the entire property may extend beyond the access the project actually needs.

Review the completed drawings and access documents together before signing. If the entrance moves, ask whether recorded rights, gates or retained uses also need to change. Keep the agreed layout with your signed land documents.

Reference: Batavia: posted customer-owned renewable generation interconnection agreement

Plan for equipment changes, transfers and shutdown

The City’s posted agreement addresses changes affecting operation, testing and written authorization, as well as conditions for disconnection. Discuss who handles those obligations during the project’s life and how you receive notice of changes affecting your property.

If the project company sells the battery, ask what transfers separately: the equipment, land lease, electric account and utility agreement. Have your advisers check the required notices and written commitments. A new operating company should not leave you unsure who pays rent or answers an urgent call.

Discuss shutdown in the land agreement as well as in the electric documents. If utility operation ends, does rent continue while equipment remains? Who secures the site, removes the battery and restores the land? Identify the responsible party and the applicable timing.

Keep the complete agreement package, current drawings, approvals and operating contacts in one place. The posted utility form includes supporting documents as part of the agreement. Ask for the completed package applicable to your project, and keep later revisions with it.

Reference: Batavia: posted customer-owned renewable generation interconnection agreement

Tell us about your property and the proposed arrangement

Use the form on this page to send Sunland your contact information and property location. Mention Batavia municipal electric service if you have confirmed it. If you are unsure who provides power, say so; exact acreage and a parcel number are optional.

Tell us whether the land is vacant, used by your business or occupied by a tenant. Mention existing solar or a battery proposal if either is relevant. Describe the area you might make available and any entrance, parking or building use that needs to remain.

You do not need to settle the electric account arrangement before contacting us. A short explanation of what you know and what remains undecided helps start the review. The inquiry does not reserve your land, transfer an account or sign utility paperwork.