Battery storage rules: Santa Cruz County, CA
Santa Cruz County has a draft Energy Storage combining district ordinance (Board-approved draft, January 2026) that would prohibit NMC chemistry and set siting limits (parcel size, setbacks, outside the Coastal Zone). It has not been adopted. In August 2026 the Board asked the California Energy Commission to use the draft as a framework and baseline standard.
Santa Cruz County: draft rules would prohibit NMC chemistry (not adopted)
The county's draft ordinance says energy storage systems shall not use nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) chemistry (draft SCCC 13.10.408(G)(3)). It has not been adopted. On August 11, 2026 the Board asked the California Energy Commission to use the draft as a framework and baseline standard. Ask the county whether it still plans to adopt it. Santa Cruz County, Board-approved draft ESCD General Plan and Code Amendments (January 2026); Board of Supervisors letter to the CEC (August 11, 2026, TN 271965)
Fire and building codes in force
- 2025 California Fire Code (CFC), Title 24 Part 9, effective Jan 1 2026; adopts NFPA 855 (2023)
- OSFM triennial code cycle; 180-day local-adoption window
- CPUC GO 167-C (Res. ESRB-13, Mar 13 2025)
How a project is permitted
Dual track: (1) local Lead Permitting Agency (LPA) by default — 550+ agencies, 58 counties — or (2) the CEC AB 205 Opt-In, a state certificate issued in lieu of local permits that supersedes local setbacks and ordinances (>50 MW / ≥200 MWh).
Setbacks and spacing
- 300 ft from sensitive receptors; 1,000 ft from hospitals, schools, commercial day care and elderly-care facilities; 100 ft from roadways and property lines; 10-acre minimum parcel with a development area of 20 acres or less, outside the Coastal Zone. Proposed (not adopted) Santa Cruz County, Board-approved draft ESCD General Plan and Code Amendments (January 2026), draft SCCC 13.10.408(A)
Check a specific system
For a proposal or a system you're evaluating, answer a few questions in BESScheck: you get the rules that apply here, a checklist of what to ask, and the sources behind each line.