Battery storage rules: Pennsylvania

Fire and building codes in force

• Uniform Construction Code: 2021 IBC, IRC and IEBC, effective January 1, 2026 (34 Pa. Code §403.21; 55 Pa.B. 7701)
• 2021 IFC only to the extent other adopted ICC codes reference it (34 Pa. Code §403.21(a)(8), (b)); the 2021 IBC refers to IFC Section 1207 for energy storage detection (IBC 907.2.23) and explosion control (IBC 414.5.1 and Table 414.5.1)
• NFPA 855: not adopted by name in the Uniform Construction Code; local ordinances and fire codes may require it
• Local fire codes: each municipality may adopt and enforce its own (Act 45 §302(b))

How a project is permitted

Local zoning (a conditional use or special exception in the township's zoning ordinance) or county land-development review, plus a building permit under the Uniform Construction Code from the municipality's code official (or from Labor & Industry or its contracted agency where the municipality does not enforce the code). Ask your township or county planning office whether its zoning or land-development ordinance addresses battery storage. Ask your code official which parts of the fire code's energy storage section (IFC Section 1207) a building permit review applies, and your fire code official which fire code, and which NFPA 855 edition if any, the municipality enforces. Where the Department of Labor & Industry enforces the code, ask it whether a standalone outdoor battery enclosure needs a construction code permit.

State permits and reporting rules that may apply

• Ask whether the project has a written erosion and sediment control plan and, if it disturbs an acre or more, NPDES construction stormwater permit coverage from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) or the county conservation district. Pennsylvania requires the plan once earth disturbance (pads, roads, trenches, grading) totals 5,000 square feet or more, and the permit, with a post-construction stormwater plan, at 1 acre or more, including any larger plan of development the project is part of. 25 Pa. Code §§102.4(b)(2)(i), 102.5(a), 102.6(a)(1)
• Ask whether any stream, wetland or floodway touches the battery site, its access road or its power-line route, and if so whether a DEP Chapter 105 permit has been applied for. Fill, a structure or a crossing there needs a written DEP permit unless a listed waiver applies; where FEMA has not mapped the floodway, it is assumed to extend 50 feet from the top of the stream bank. 25 Pa. Code §§105.1, 105.11(a), 105.12
• Ask where water used on a fire at the site would drain, how it would be held back, and who would phone DEP if it could reach a stream, storm drain or ditch. The person in charge of the substance, or the owner or operator of the site, must notify DEP by telephone immediately when a substance that could pollute reaches, or could wash into, the state's waters (sewers, drains and ditches included), and must remove the residue within 15 days as the rules require. 25 Pa. Code §91.33(a)–(b)
• Ask whether the site will hold hazardous chemicals at Tier II reporting levels and, if so, whether the county emergency planning committee and the responding fire department will receive the report. Facilities with 10,000 pounds or more of a hazardous chemical, or 500 pounds or more (less for some) of an extremely hazardous one such as the sulfuric acid in lead-acid batteries, report to the Department of Labor & Industry by March 1 (and within 5 business days after a new chemical first reaches a reporting amount), and the county committee and local fire department must also get the report. PA Department of Labor & Industry, Tier II (PATTS); 40 CFR 370.10; EPA, "How does a facility report batteries for Tier II?" (updated Mar. 24, 2026)

Legislation

• HB 2380 (2025–26): energy storage procurement (pending): Would require the PUC to have each electric distribution company run a storage program toward 3,500 MW by July 31, 2035, and puts an NFPA 855 clause in storage contracts. Passed the House 116–86 on October 5, 2026; referred to the Senate Consumer Protection & Professional Licensure Committee on October 13, 2026. It does not address zoning or siting. palegis.us, HB 2380 (PN 3630) bill page and text
• HB 2651 (2025–26): statewide siting standards for renewable energy and storage (pending): Would amend the Municipalities Planning Code to require municipalities to allow renewable energy facilities, including energy storage of at least 5 MW and 4 hours, by right, special exception or conditional use in agricultural or industrial zones, and would bar local rules more restrictive than the bill. For storage it sets setbacks of 150 ft from a dwelling, school, playground, park, child-care facility or place of worship and 50 ft from the lot lines of other unoccupied property, electric substations and railroad, utility-line or transit rights-of-way, measured from the nearest battery enclosure; lets a municipality require NFPA 855; and requires a decommissioning plan and an emergency response plan. Referred to the House Local Government Committee on June 22, 2026. palegis.us, HB 2651 (PN 3664) bill page and text
• HB 2692 (2025–26): storage alongside approved solar (pending): Would make battery storage a permitted accessory use, without a further special exception or conditional use, on a parcel with an approved commercial solar facility when the storage capacity does not exceed the solar generating capacity; the storage must meet applicable federal, state and local safety and fire codes. Referred to the House Local Government Committee on July 11, 2026. palegis.us, HB 2692 (PN 3759) bill page and text

Storage in this place

• EIA Form 860M (September 2026): 3 operating battery storage plants in Pennsylvania totaling 34.6 MW, and 1 planned (21 MW, 2027); EIA covers plants of 1 MW or more.

Places within

• Buffalo Township (Washington County), PA — battery storage rules, 1,000 ft from a neighbour's home
• Susquehanna County, PA — battery storage rules, 1,000 ft from non-participating homes
• Dickinson Township (Cumberland County), PA — battery storage rules; utility-scale sites 500 ft from residential zones and schools
• Hemlock Township (Columbia County), PA — battery storage rules, 1,000 ft from buildings on nonparticipating properties
• Mount Joy Township (Adams County), PA — battery storage only in the BPC-O district, 300 ft setback next to residential uses
• Liberty Township (Adams County), PA — battery storage only in the Commercial Industrial zone
• Straban Township (Adams County), PA — battery storage permitted only in the EC-2 district or the distribution overlay
• West Hanover Township (Dauphin County), PA — battery storage only in the Industrial Enterprise district, 300 ft setback next to residential uses
• East Hanover Township (Dauphin County), PA — battery storage only in the IC and IC-1 districts, 300 ft setback next to residential uses
• South Union Township (Fayette County), PA — battery storage in Light Industrial only, 500 ft from homes
• Antrim Township (Franklin County), PA — conditions for battery storage adopted July 2026
• Philadelphia, PA
• Pittsburgh, PA

Sources

• 34 Pa. Code §403.21 — Uniform Construction Code: adopted ICC editions Pennsylvania Code
• Pennsylvania Construction Code Act (Act 45 of 1999) Pennsylvania General Assembly
• Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code (Act 247 of 1968) Pennsylvania General Assembly
• Labor & Industry — which municipalities enforce the Uniform Construction Code PA Department of Labor & Industry
• DEP — Energy storage (Energy Programs Office) PA Department of Environmental Protection
• HB 2380 (2025–26) — energy storage procurement, bill page Pennsylvania General Assembly
• HB 2651 (2025–26) — renewable energy and storage siting standards, bill page Pennsylvania General Assembly
• HB 2692 (2025–26) — storage with approved solar, bill page Pennsylvania General Assembly