Wilmington, DE , March 10, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- At least 150 local governments across 17 US states have enacted moratoriums, bans, or restrictive ordinances targeting battery energy storage systems (BESS), according to the first publicly available nationwide database of such restrictions. New York leads the country with 98 moratoriums—65% of the national total—concentrated in the Hudson Valley, Capital Region, and Long Island. States including Indiana, Michigan, Iowa, and Maine are seeing a rising wave of new restrictions as utility-scale battery projects expand beyond traditional renewable energy markets.
The data was compiled by Carina Energy, a Delaware-based firm specializing in battery storage project development. The firm's research team maintains the resulting BESS Moratorium Monitor, a free interactive map and searchable database at carina.energy/bess-moratoriums/ through weekly review of municipal agendas, meeting minutes, and local ordinances across all 17 states, supplemented by proprietary monitoring tools.
Local permitting restrictions have emerged as one of the most significant and least visible barriers to energy storage deployment. Developers routinely commit capital to interconnection deposits and land options before discovering that the host jurisdiction has restricted battery storage construction. The Monitor also tracks the seven states that have enacted legal pathways allowing developers to bypass local moratoriums under certain conditions, including New York’s Office of Renewable Energy Siting (ORES) process for projects exceeding 25 MW.
“The moratorium problem is growing faster than the industry realizes,” said Malaquias Encarnacion, Managing Director of Carina Energy. “When we started tracking these about a year ago, we expected a handful. Finding 150 tells you that local opposition to battery storage is becoming systemic. This isn't a handful of outliers anymore — it's a new regulatory reality, and developers who don't understand it are committing capital to sites that were dead before they started.”
Energy storage developers can access the map and summary database at no cost. Free subscriber alerts—including weekly updates, full Excel exports with source ordinances, and quarterly trend analysis—are available through the Carina Energy website.
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About Carina Energy
Carina Energy provides Owner's Representative and Development-as-a-Service for utility-scale battery storage projects. The firm delivers five core capabilities: a dedicated team of BESS specialists with experience across multiple ISOs and OEM platforms; a local-first development model; a codified scope and liability structure across 600+ tasks that keeps professional risk with insured consultants; a project finance-ready data room built for lender and tax equity due diligence; and a real-time project management platform with critical path controls. Learn more at www.carina.energy.
