55 ILCS 5/5-12024

(55 ILCS 5/5-12024)

(This Section may contain text from a Public Act with a delayed effective date)

Sec. 5-12024. Energy storage systems.

(a) As used in this Section:

"Energy storage system" means a facility with an aggregate energy capacity that is greater than 1,000 kilowatts and that is capable of absorbing energy and storing it for use at a later time, including, but not limited to, electrochemical and electromechanical technologies. "Energy storage system" does not include technologies that require combustion. "Energy storage system" also does not include energy storage systems associated with commercial solar energy facilities or commercial wind energy facilities as defined in Section 5-12020.

"Excused service interruption" means any period during which an energy storage system does not store or discharge electricity and that is planned or reasonably foreseeable for standard commercial operation, including any unavailability caused by a buyer; storage capacity tests; system emergencies; curtailments, including curtailment orders; transmission system outages; compliance with any operating restriction; serial defects; and planned outages.

"Facility owner" means (i) a person with a direct ownership interest in an energy storage system, regardless of whether the person is involved in acquiring the necessary rights, permits, and approvals or otherwise planning for the construction and operation of the facility and (ii) a person who, at the time the facility is being developed, is acting as a developer of the facility by acquiring the necessary rights, permits, and approvals or by planning for the construction and operation of the facility, regardless of whether the person will own or operate the facility.

"Force majeure" means any event or circumstance that delays or prevents an energy storage system from timely performing all or a portion of its commercial operations if the act or event, despite the exercise of commercially reasonable efforts, cannot be avoided by and is beyond the reasonable control, whether direct or indirect, of, and without the fault or negligence of, a facility owner or operator or any of its assignees. "Force majeure" includes, but is not limited to:

(1) fire, flood, tornado, or other natural disasters or acts of God;

(2) war, civil strife, terrorist attack, or other similar acts of violence;

(3) unavailability of materials, equipment, services, or labor, including unavailability due to global supply chain shortages;

(4) utility or energy shortages or acts or omissions of public utility providers;

(5) any delay resulting from a pandemic, epidemic, or other public health emergency or related restrictions; and

(6) litigation or a regulatory proceeding regarding a facility.

"NFPA" means the National Fire Protection Association.

"Nonparticipating property" means real property that is not a participating property.

"Nonparticipating residence" means a residence that is located on nonparticipating property and that exists and is occupied on the date that the application for a permit to develop an energy storage system is filed with the county.

"Occupied community building" means a school, place of worship, day care facility, public library, or community center that is occupied on the date that the application for a permit to develop an energy storage system is filed with the county in which the building is located.

"Participating property" means real property that is the subject of a written agreement between a facility owner and the owner of the real property and that provides the facility owner an easement, option, lease, or license to use the real property for the purpose of constructing an energy storage system or supporting facilities.

"Protected lands" means real property that is: (i) subject to a permanent conservation right consistent with the Real Property Conservation Rights Act; or (ii) registered or designated as a nature preserve, buffer, or land and water reserve under the Illinois Natural Areas Preservation Act.

"Supporting facilities" means the transmission lines, substations, switchyard, access roads, meteorological towers, storage containers, and equipment associated with the generation, storage, and dispatch of electricity by an energy storage system.

(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, if a county has formed a zoning commission and adopted formal zoning under Section 5-12007, then a county may establish standards for energy storage systems in areas of the county that are not within the zoning jurisdiction of a municipality. The standards may include all of the requirements specified in this Section but may not include requirements for energy storage systems that are more restrictive than specified in this Section or requirements that are not specified in this Section.

(c) A county may require the energy storage facility to comply with the version of NFPA 855 "Standard for the Installation of Stationary Energy Storage Systems" in effect on the effective date of this amendatory Act or any successor standard issued by the NFPA in effect on the date of siting or special use permit approval. A county may not include requirements for energy storage systems that are more restrictive than NFPA 855 "Standard for the Installation of Stationary Energy Storage Systems" unless required by this Section.

(d) If a county has elected to establish standards under subsection (b), then the zoning board of appeals for the county shall hold at least one public hearing before the county grants (i) siting approval or a special use permit for an energy storage system or (ii) modification of an approved siting or special use permit. The public hearing shall be conducted in accordance with the Open Meetings Act and shall conclude not more than 60 days after the filing of the application for the facility. The county shall allow interested parties to a special use permit an opportunity to present evidence and to cross-examine witnesses at the hearing, but the county may impose reasonable restrictions on the public hearing, including reasonable time limitations on the presentation of evidence and the cross-examination of witnesses. The county shall also allow public comment at the public hearing in accordance with the Open Meetings Act. The county shall make its siting and permitting decisions not more than 30 days after the conclusion of the public hearing. Notice of the hearing shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the county.

(e) A county with an existing zoning ordinance in conflict with this Section shall amend that zoning ordinance to comply with this Section within 120 days after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 104th General Assembly.

(f) A county shall require an energy storage system to be sited as follows, with setback distances measured from the nearest edge of the nearest battery or other electrochemical or electromechanical enclosure:

Setback Description Setback Distance

Occupied Community 150 feet from the nearest

Buildings and point of the outside wall of

Nonparticipating Residences the occupied community building

or nonparticipating residence

Boundary Lines of 50 feet to the nearest point

Occupied Community on the property line of

Buildings and the occupied community building

Nonparticipating Residences or nonparticipating property

Public Road Rights-of-Way 50 feet from the nearest edge

of the right-of-way

(2) A county shall also require an energy storage system to be sited so that the facility's perimeter is enclosed by fencing having a height of at least 7 feet and no more than 25 feet.

This Section does not exempt or excuse compliance with electric facility clearances approved or required by the National Electrical Code, the National Electrical Safety Code, the Illinois Commerce Commission, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and their designees or successors.

(g) A county may not set a sound limitation for energy storage systems that is more restrictive than the sound limitations established by the Illinois Pollution Control Board under 35 Ill. Adm. Code Parts 900, 901, and 910. After commercial operation, a county may require the facility owner to provide, not more than once, octave band sound pressure level measurements from a reasonable number of sampled locations at the perimeter of the energy storage system to demonstrate compliance with this Section.

(h) The provisions set forth in subsection (f) may be waived subject to the written consent of the owner of each affected nonparticipating property or nonparticipating residence.

(i) A county may not place any restriction on the installation or use of an energy storage system unless it has formed a zoning commission and adopted formal zoning under Section 5-12007 and adopts an ordinance that complies with this Section. A county may not establish siting standards for supporting facilities that preclude development of an energy storage system.

(j) A request for siting approval or a special use permit for an energy storage system, or modification of an approved siting approval or special use permit, shall be approved if the request complies with the standards and conditions imposed in this Code, the zoning ordinance adopted consistent with this Section, and other State and federal statutes and regulations. The siting approval or special use permit approved by the county shall grant the facility owner a period of at least 3 years after county approval to obtain a building permit or commence construction of the energy storage system, before the siting approval or special use permit may become subject to revocation by the county. Facility owners may be granted an extension on obtaining building permits or commencing constructing upon a showing of good cause. A facility owner's request for an extension may not be unreasonably withheld, conditioned, or denied.

(k) A county may not adopt zoning regulations that disallow, permanently or temporarily, an energy storage system from being developed or operated in any district zones to allow agricultural or industrial uses.

(l) A facility owner shall file a farmland drainage plan with the county and impacted drainage districts that outlines how surface and subsurface drainage of farmland will be restored during and following the construction or deconstruction of the energy storage system. The plan shall be created independently by the facility owner and shall include the location of any potentially impacted drainage district facilities to the extent the information is publicly available from the county or the drainage district and plans to repair any subsurface drainage affected during construction or deconstruction using procedures outlined in the decommissioning plan. All surface and subsurface damage shall be repaired as soon as reasonably practicable.

(m) A facility owner shall compensate landowners for crop losses or other agricultural damages resulting from damage to a drainage system caused by the construction of an energy storage system. The facility owner shall repair or pay for the repair of all damage to the subsurface drainage system caused by the construction of the energy storage system. The facility owner shall repair or pay for the repair and restoration of surface drainage caused by the construction or deconstruction of the energy storage facility as soon as reasonably practicable.

(n) County siting approval or special use permit application fees for an energy storage system shall not exceed the lesser of (i) $5,000 per each megawatt of nameplate capacity of the energy storage system or (ii) $50,000.

(o) The county may require a facility owner to provide a decommissioning plan to the county. The decommissioning plan may include all requirements for decommissioning plans in NFPA 855 and may also require the facility owner to:

(1) state how the energy storage system will be decommissioned, including removal to a depth of 3 feet of all structures that have no ongoing purpose and all debris and restoration of the soil and any vegetation to a condition as close as reasonably practicable to the soil's and vegetation's preconstruction condition within 18 months of the end of project life or facility abandonment;

(2) include provisions related to commercially reasonable efforts to reuse or recycle of equipment and components associated with the commercial offsite energy storage system;

(3) include financial assurance in the form of a reclamation or surety bond or other commercially available financial assurance that is acceptable to the county, with the county or participating property owner as beneficiary. The amount of the financial assurance shall not be more than the estimated cost of decommissioning the energy facility, after deducting salvage value, as calculated by a professional engineer licensed to practice engineering in this State with expertise in preparing decommissioning estimates, retained by the applicant. The financial assurance shall be provided to the county incrementally as follows:

(A) 25% before the start of full commercial operation;

(B) 50% before the start of the 5th year of commercial operation; and

(C) 100% by the start of the tenth year of commercial operation;

(4) update the amount of the financial assurance not more than every 5 years for the duration of commercial operations. The amount shall be calculated by a professional engineer licensed to practice engineering in this State with expertise in decommissioning, hired by the facility owner; and

(5) decommission the energy storage system, in accordance with an approved decommissioning plan, within 18 months after abandonment. An energy storage system that has not stored electrical energy for 12 consecutive months or that fails, for a period of 6 consecutive months, to pay a property owner who is party to a written agreement, including, but not limited to, an easement, option, lease, or license under the terms of which an energy storage system is constructed on the property, amounts owed in accordance with the written agreement shall be considered abandoned, except when the inability to store energy is the result of an event of force majeure or excused service interruption.

(p) A county may not condition approval of an energy storage system on a property value guarantee and may not require a facility owner to pay into a neighboring property devaluation escrow account.

(q) A county may require that a facility owner provide the results and recommendations from consultation with the Department of Natural Resources that are obtained through the Ecological Compliance Assessment Tool (EcoCAT) or a comparable successor tool.

(r) A county may require an energy storage system to adhere to the recommendations provided by the Department of Natural Resources in an Agency Action Report under 17 Ill. Adm. Code 1075.

(s) A county may require a facility owner to:

(1) demonstrate avoidance of protected lands as identified by the Department of Natural Resources and the Illinois Nature Preserves Commission; or

(2) consider the recommendations of the Department of Natural Resources for setbacks from protected lands, including areas identified by the Illinois Nature Preserves Commission.

(t) A county may require that a facility owner provide evidence of consultation with the Illinois Historic Preservation Division to assess potential impacts on State-registered historic sites under the Illinois State Agency Historic Resources Preservation Act.

(u) A county may require that an application for siting approval or special use permit include the following information on a site plan:

(1) a description of the property lines and physical features, including roads, for the facility site;

(2) a description of the proposed changes to the landscape of the facility site, including vegetation clearing and planting, exterior lighting, and screening or structures; and

(3) a description of the zoning district designation for the parcel of land comprising the facility site.

(v) A county may not prohibit an energy storage system from undertaking periodic augmentation to maintain the approximate original capacity of the energy storage system. A county may not require renewed or additional siting approval or special use permit approval of periodic augmentation to maintain the approximate original capacity of the energy storage system.

(w) A county that issues a building permit for energy storage systems shall review and process building permit applications within 60 days after receipt of the building permit application. If a county does not grant or deny the building permit application within 60 days, the building permit shall be deemed granted. If a county denies a building permit application, it shall specify the reason for the denial in writing as part of its denial.

(x) A county may require a single building permit and a reasonable permit fee for the facility which includes all supporting facilities. A county building permit fee for an energy storage system that does not exceed the lesser of (i) $5,000 per each megawatt of nameplate capacity of the energy storage system or (ii) $50,000 shall be considered presumptively reasonable. A county may require that the application for building permit contain:

(1) an electrical diagram detailing the battery energy storage system layout, associated components, and electrical interconnection methods, with all National Electrical Code compliant disconnects and overcurrent devices; and

(2) an equipment specification sheet.

(y) A county may require the facility owner to submit to the county prior to the facility's commercial operation a commissioning report meeting the requirements of NFPA 855 Sections 4.2.4, 6.1.3, and 6.1.5.5, as published in 2023, or the applicable Sections in the most recent version of NFPA 855.

(z) A county may require the facility owner to submit to the county prior to the facility's commercial operation a hazard mitigation analysis meeting the requirements of NFPA 855 Section 4.4 or the applicable Sections in the most recent version of NFPA 855.

(aa) A county may require the facility owner to submit to the county an emergency operations plan meeting the requirements of NFPA 855 Section 4.3.2.1.4, published in 2023, or applicable Sections in the most recent version of NFPA 855, prior to commercial operation.

(bb) A county may require a warning that complies with requirements in NFPA 855 Section 4.7.4, published in 2023, or applicable sections in the most recent version of NFPA 855.

(cc) A county may require the energy storage system to adhere to the principles for responsible outdoor lighting provided by the International Dark-Sky Association and shall limit outdoor lighting to that which is minimally required for safety and operational purposes. Any outdoor lighting shall be reasonably shielded and downcast from all residences and adjacent properties.

(dd) This Section does not exempt compliance with fire and safety standards and guidance established for the installation of lithium-ion battery energy storage systems set by the NFPA.

(ee) Prior to commencement of commercial operation, the facility owner shall offer to provide training for local fire departments and emergency responders in accordance with the facility emergency operations plan. A copy of the emergency operations plan shall be given to the facility owner, the local fire department, and emergency responders. All batteries integrated within an energy storage system shall be listed under the UL 1973 Standard. All batteries integrated within an energy storage system shall be listed in accordance with UL 9540 Standard, either from the manufacturer or by a field evaluation.

(ff) If a facility owner enters into a road use agreement with the Department of Transportation, a road district, or other unit of local government relating to an energy storage system, then the road use agreement shall require the facility owner to be responsible for (i) the reasonable cost of improving, if necessary, roads used by the facility owner to construct the energy storage system and (ii) the reasonable cost of repairing roads used by the facility owner during construction of the energy storage system so that those roads are in a condition that is safe for the driving public after the completion of the facility's construction. A roadway improved in preparation for and during the construction of the energy storage system shall be repaired and restored to the improved condition at the reasonable cost of the developer if the roadways have degraded or were damaged as a result of construction-related activities.

The road use agreement shall not require the facility owner to pay costs, fees, or charges for road work that is not specifically and uniquely attributable to the construction of the energy storage system. No road district or other unit of local government may request or require a fine, permit fee, or other payment obligation as a requirement for a road use agreement with a facility owner unless the amount of the fine, permit fee, or other payment obligation is equivalent to the amount of actual expenses incurred by the road district or other unit of local government for negotiating, executing, constructing, or implementing the road use agreement. The road use agreement shall not require the facility owner to perform or pay for any road work that is unrelated to the road improvements required for the construction of the commercial wind energy facility or the commercial solar energy facility or the restoration of the roads used by the facility owner during construction-related activities.

(gg) The provisions of this amendatory Act of the 104th General Assembly do not apply to an application for siting approval or special use permit for an energy storage system if the application was submitted to a county before the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 104th General Assembly.

(Source: P.A. 104-458, eff. 6-1-26.)