Battery storage land in Charles City County, Virginia

What the Roxbury proposal tells a landowner

AES describes Roxbury as a proposed 295 MW / 1,180 MWh battery project on agricultural land south of Union Road near the Skipjack Solar substation. Its published layout describes about 30 leased acres, with about 18 acres inside the battery fence. The County separately advertised an August 2026 open house about the proposal.

Those figures describe one proposed project. They do not establish a minimum acreage, an offer for your property or spare connection capacity nearby. Sunland America is not presenting Roxbury as its own project or inviting submissions on behalf of AES.

The useful question for another owner is simple: what does the company want outside the fence? Request a drawing and a written explanation of the rights over each area. You should be able to understand the arrangement without guessing from a rendering.

Ask which version of the drawing the offer covers. If studies change the entrance, equipment area or cable route, discuss when the company needs your agreement and how the payment or reserved area would change.

Reference: AES: proposed Roxbury Energy Storage project and expected layout · Charles City County: archived August 2026 Roxbury open-house notice

Get the current county answer for the actual parcel

The County’s Community Development office handles local planning and zoning inquiries. The code library linked by the County displays an August 2011 content update, with some later ordinances listed separately. That is a reason to confirm current requirements directly, rather than assume the displayed base code answers a new battery proposal.

Give the office the parcel location and a description of the proposed use. Ask who makes the land-use decision, how the battery installation would be classified and which current rules or project conditions apply. Request the dated response and the relevant ordinance or case number.

If a company says an existing solar approval covers the batteries, ask it to identify the approval and explain the basis for that statement. Have the reviewing authority confirm the route for the actual design. A nearby solar facility is not approval for batteries on your own land.

An open-house announcement is an invitation to learn about a proposal. Ask for the actual decision and conditions when a company says it has approval. Check that the parcel, equipment and access on the approved drawing match what you are being asked to sign.

County review, electrical connection and your private agreement each answer different questions. Keep the documents together so a change to one can be checked against the others.

Reference: Charles City County: Community Development and zoning contact · County-linked code library: check currency with the County

Ask which acres are occupied, reserved or still usable

Start with the whole property on one drawing. Add the battery area, fence, entrance, cable route, construction staging and any area the company wants kept clear. Mark the farm roads, buildings, ditches and uses you intend to retain.

Then compare the drawing with the description in the offer. Does the payment cover a fixed number of acres, all leased land or a different boundary? Is the company reserving a larger area while it studies a smaller installation? Ask when land it does not need would be released.

For land outside the fence, ask exactly what you can do. Can you continue cropping, grazing, maintaining a ditch or moving machinery? Would new buildings or trees need consent? Discuss the activities that matter to your own property.

Temporary work areas need their own terms. Agree on access, crop damage, soil handling and repairs before entry. Ask when temporary rights end and who checks that the surface and drainage have been restored.

A smaller fenced footprint can be useful, but it does not by itself mean the rest of the leased land remains available to you. Get the retained uses and restrictions into the documents your adviser reviews.

Protect farm access and drainage through construction

Show the project team how the property works through the year. A route that looks unused during a visit may be needed for planting, harvest, livestock or access to a tenant. Point out wet ground, field drains and crossings before the layout is settled.

Ask whether trucks would share your entrance and where they would wait, turn or unload. Discuss gates, notice, delivery periods and who keeps a usable route open. Identify a contact who can resolve a blocked entrance while work is happening.

Request a baseline record of surfaces and drainage before investigation or construction. Agree on how damage is documented, who repairs it and what happens if the repair is disputed. Include tenant or farm-operator arrangements where someone else uses the land.

Check whether the cable route crosses land outside the proposed lease. Ask which additional owner consents or rights the project needs. Keep each obligation attached to the company responsible for it, rather than relying on a general promise that access will be handled.

Before accepting a revised drawing, compare it with the retained uses you discussed. Moving a road or work area can affect the property even when the number of battery acres stays the same.

Bring existing solar and other agreements into the review

If your property already has solar, an option, a tenant or recorded access rights, tell the project team early. Bring the actual documents to your adviser. A new battery proposal may involve land or routes already committed to someone else.

Ask whether the existing permitted use and private agreement include batteries. If new rights are needed, identify which document changes, who must agree and whether compensation changes. Do not assume a public approval settles those private terms.

For a shared entrance, ask who maintains it, who can restrict access and how conflicts are resolved. If different companies operate the solar and batteries, identify the company responsible for each payment, repair and removal obligation.

Have the team explain the proposed electrical connection for your installation. Proximity to Skipjack or another substation can prompt a useful question, but it does not tell you whether the equipment can connect or whether the necessary rights have been secured.

Match reservation time and restoration to your plans

AES publishes an expected Roxbury schedule with development and permitting through 2028, construction in 2028–2029 and operations in 2029. It also describes a decommissioning plan intended to allow agricultural or other policy-consistent future use. These are developer expectations for that proposal.

For an offer on your own land, ask when reservation payments begin, how long the first term lasts and what extensions cost. Identify the milestones the company must report. Discuss what happens if approvals or connection studies take longer than expected.

Ask when the operating payment starts and what happens during construction. A planned opening year is not a substitute for the payment trigger in your agreement. Have your adviser check delays, assignment to another company and release of unused rights.

For removal, describe the condition you want back: usable soil, functioning drainage, accessible fields and the surfaces you want removed or retained. Ask who funds the work, how costs are updated and what happens if the operator cannot perform.

Include the earlier exit too. If investigation stops or the option expires, who repairs disturbance, withdraws filings and releases recorded rights? You should not have to wait for an end-of-life provision to understand an unsuccessful proposal.

Reference: AES: proposed Roxbury Energy Storage project and expected layout

Tell us where the property is and what you want to keep

Start with your name, email and phone, then the location. Charles City County and Virginia are selected here and can be corrected. Acreage and a parcel number are optional.

Mention current farm or tenant use, existing solar or other agreements, access or drainage concerns and any offer already received. Tell us if a deadline affects your decision or if you want to discuss only part of the property.

Sending the form starts a conversation with Sunland America. It does not reserve land, authorize entry or authorize a public application. A possible arrangement still needs review of the property, current requirements, electrical connection and commercial terms.