Battery Storage in Illinois (2025): What’s Proposed in Springfield and What Landowners Should Expect (Copy)

Sep 21

Illinois is moving toward establishing formal regulations for grid-scale battery energy storage systems (BESS). Recent legislative proposals and regulatory developments indicate that energy storage will become increasingly important for grid stability, renewable energy integration, and supporting growing power demands from facilities like data centers.

The 2025 proposals at a glance

1) Storage credits & statewide procurement architecture (SB 2497, 104th GA). SB 2497 would authorize the Illinois Power Agency (IPA) to run competitive procurements for energy storage credits. It directs the IPA to prepare a storage procurement plan and empowers the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) to oversee program design and cost recovery. [1]

2) Clean-energy omnibus efforts (including “Storage for All”). Lawmakers worked on an omnibus clean-energy package that contemplated a dedicated storage program and DER/VPP enablers. The package did not pass in spring 2025 but leaders signaled interest in revisiting elements in subsequent sessions. [2]

3) Economic-development incentives for storage manufacturing and facilities. Several bills proposed extending Enterprise Zone and other incentives to new battery storage facilities, reflecting a strategy to attract supply-chain investments. [3]

What regulators are already doing

The IPA’s 2025 Electricity Procurement Plan acknowledges the emerging role of storage. In May 2025, ICC staff outlined recommendations toward Illinois’ first storage procurement, signaling a near-term auction structure once enabling authority is settled. Separately, an ICC-convened process produced an Energy Storage Procurement Report to inform program design. [4]

Why storage matters in Illinois right now

Reliability & capacity costs: PJM’s 2025–26 capacity auction cleared higher prices; stakeholders pointed to storage as a tool to temper volatility.
Renewables integration: CEJA’s goals lean on firming variable wind/solar. Batteries can shift energy to evening peaks and relieve transmission constraints.
New demand: Policymakers flagged data-center growth; storage can help manage new peaks without backsliding on decarbonization.

Local rules: county ordinances and safety codes

Expect continued county-level siting rules that reference building/electrical codes, decommissioning plans, financial assurance, landscaping, setbacks, and emergency response coordination. Several Illinois counties updated their ordinances in 2025 and cite the NFPA 855 fire-safety standard for stationary energy storage. Uniform adoption of NFPA 855 (and related UL standards) is being promoted industry-wide and increasingly required by Authorities Having Jurisdiction. [5]

The market on the ground

Pilots and utility activity: ComEd and partners commissioned and tested a DOE-funded solar-plus-storage pilot in Rockford through January 2025, underscoring utility interest in storage for resilience and DER management. [6]
Pipeline outlook: With legislative and regulatory scaffolding forming, developers are lining up sites near substations and three-phase lines, especially where capacity prices or local reliability needs are strongest (PJM-side counties, certain ComEd load pockets). Stakeholder analyses this year pointed to distributed resources (including storage) as cost-effective grid relief. [7]

What Illinois landowners can expect if storage development accelerates

1) Site characteristics & footprint: Standalone BESS typically targets 5–20 acres near substations or strong feeders; larger projects can run 30–40+ acres depending on MWh size and layout. Expect fenced enclosures with containerized battery units, inverters/transformers, fire-access lanes, and a maintained buffer/landscaping per county ordinance.
2) Lease economics: Storage projects use fewer acres than utility-scale solar but prize location (grid proximity/interconnection). National market commentary and land-leasing advisories in 2024–2025 suggest storage ground leases often benchmark off solar but can vary widely with substation adjacency and queue position; public write-ups frequently cite starting points around four figures per acre (context-dependent). Treat any “average” as marketing shorthand—Illinois deals still price case-by-case.
3) Term, options & access: Expect multi-year option periods (for studies, interconnection, and permits) followed by an operations term of 20–30 years with extension rights. Land rights usually include all-weather access roads, underground/overhead collection lines, and broad construction/laydown easements during build-out (later reduced). (Confirm details against county ordinance conditions.)
4) Safety planning: Modern projects must align with NFPA 855, local fire code amendments, and manufacturer emergency response guides. Look for: dedicated fire-access clearances, ventilation and suppression features, thermal-runaway detection, remote monitoring and shut-down protocols, and pre-incident planning with local fire districts. Ask to review the Emergency Response Plan (ERP) and require annual drills/briefings where feasible.
5) Decommissioning & financial assurance: Counties increasingly require a decommissioning plan, scrap/recycling provisions, soil restoration, and a bond/letter of credit sized to 100% of removal costs with periodic re-true-ups (e.g., at the 10-year mark). Verify that security runs to the county and remains in force through full site restoration.
6) Agricultural and title considerations: If the parcel is in active ag use, coordinate crop cycles for construction windows and negotiate comp for compaction, tile repair, and field entrances. Clear ALTA surveys, title endorsements, and subordination/non-disturbance agreements (SNDA) with lenders remain standard best practice (and may be required by county or the offtaker).

Practical checklist for landowner negotiations

Term sheet clarity: Distinguish option rent vs. operating rent; indexation (CPI or fixed step-ups); curtailment/availability remedies.
Interconnection realism: Tie outside dates to actual queue milestones and allow you to terminate (or increase option payments) if timelines slip.
Safety & transparency: Require delivery of the ERP, nameplate chemistries, fire-safety features, and annual safety briefings with first responders.
Decommissioning: Lock in removal standards, bond sizing, and post-remediation soil testing; cross-reference the county ordinance.
Tax & classification: Confirm local assessment treatment and whether any Enterprise Zone or other incentives apply to facilities on or near your land (which can affect community benefits).

Bottom line

Illinois did not pass a full storage program in spring 2025, but SB 2497 provides a concrete framework for storage procurement. The ICC and IPA are preparing ground for a first procurement, and developers are actively advancing sites. Landowners should prepare for future site-procurement efforts for new projects and negotiate leases with rigor.