WILMINGTON, DE — At least 150 local governments across 17 states have enacted moratoriums, bans, or other restrictions on battery energy storage systems, according to a nationwide database compiled by Carina Energy.
The Delaware-based battery storage development firm said it created the publicly available BESS Moratorium Monitor to track local permitting restrictions affecting utility-scale battery projects.
The database and interactive map are available at https://carina.energy/bess-moratoriums/.
Carina Energy said New York accounts for the majority of restrictions, with 98 moratoriums representing about 65% of the national total.
Those restrictions are concentrated in regions including the Hudson Valley, Capital Region, and Long Island.
The company said other states experiencing a growing number of restrictions include Indiana, Michigan, Iowa, and Maine as battery storage projects expand beyond traditional renewable energy markets.
Carina Energy said its research team compiles the database through weekly reviews of municipal agendas, meeting minutes, and local ordinances across 17 states, supplemented by proprietary monitoring tools.
The firm said local permitting barriers have become a significant challenge for battery storage development because projects often move forward with early planning and financial commitments before local restrictions are identified.
The database also tracks states that have established legal mechanisms allowing developers to bypass local restrictions under certain circumstances.
Those include New York’s Office of Renewable Energy Siting process for projects exceeding 25 megawatts.
Malaquias Encarnacion, managing director of Carina Energy, said the number of local restrictions suggests growing opposition to battery storage projects.
“When we started tracking these about a year ago, we expected a handful,” Encarnacion said. “Finding 150 tells you that local opposition to battery storage is becoming systemic.”
Carina Energy provides development and advisory services for utility-scale battery storage projects.
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