US BESS Conversion Registry: Seven Rungs, Five Facilities, One Operating Line

Approximately 7 GWh of US BESS cell capacity is operating, on a single converted line at a single facility, per trade reporting not confirmed by company output disclosure. The rest of the domestic BESS conversion pipeline distributes across earlier evidence stages, and the distance between those stages is wider than the coverage suggests.

This registry applies a common proof ladder to five US battery facilities with public language about BESS production, conversion, or customer pursuit. Facility operational status and product-readiness status have decoupled. A plant can be standing, staffed, producing EV cells, while its BESS evidence trail stops well short of anything a procurement team can write against. Qualification timelines, yield ramps, spec-hold-at-volume reality occupy that gap. Conflating "operating" with "contractable" misprices domestic BESS supply availability.

All evidence through July 24, 2026. GM-Samsung New Carlisle included as a contrast case (paused greenfield, no BESS pivot). Ford Kentucky excluded; see prior coverage.

The Seven Rungs

Each rung requires its own verifiable evidence. Clearing a lower rung does not imply clearing a higher one.

1. Customer agreement. Disclosed supply deal or binding offtake for BESS cells from this facility. Weight depends on whether the buyer is named, terms disclosed, volume allocated to the specific plant.

2. Input sourcing. Cathode, anode, electrolyte, or separator contracts for the BESS chemistry at this facility. Where a chemistry change is involved (NCA-to-LFP, cylindrical-to-prismatic), this rung is where the conversion's material reality either exists or doesn't. A facility with a strong customer agreement but no disclosed cathode supply has a contractual obligation without a verified raw-material pathway. Cathode qualification at volume is not a procurement formality. It is a months-long process that determines whether a stated production timeline is executable or aspirational.

3. Line conversion evidence. Physical equipment orders, line modification, installation, or commissioning for BESS production. Trade reporting or company disclosure of converted lines.

4. Demonstrated output. Cells produced on BESS-converted lines. Company-stated or independently reported. Distinct from EV cell production on unconverted lines.

5. Shipment. BESS cells shipped to a customer or integrator. Evidence of liftings, logistics, or delivery.

6. Customer acceptance. Buyer confirms receipt, qualification, integration, or warranty-accepted repeat orders.

7. Compliance documentation. 45X/MACR credits claimed for BESS output; PFE/FEOC status established for BESS chemistry and sourcing chain; tariff-origin documentation. As established in prior coverage, no public 45X claims registry exists. This rung is structurally unverifiable from outside unless companies disclose.

A buyer asking "can I contract today?" needs evidence through at least Rung 5. A buyer planning for 2027-2028 needs Rungs 1-3 to be solid.

StarPlus Energy (Samsung SDI / Stellantis JV) — Kokomo, Indiana

Rung 1 — Partially cleared. Samsung SDI announced a KRW 1.5 trillion ESS prismatic battery supply deal with "a U.S. energy company" in March 2026, phased 2026-2029, production at StarPlus. A separate KRW 2T+ LFP ESS deal was announced December 2025 with an unnamed U.S. customer described as an "energy infrastructure developer/operator." Neither deal names the buyer. Firmness, exclusivity, remaining unallocated volume: none independently verifiable by a prospective second buyer.

Rung 2 — Partially cleared for LFP; unclear for NCA ESS. Samsung SDI signed a mid-to-long-term LFP cathode deal with L&F in March 2026, supply starting 2027. LFP mass production is stated for Q4 2026, but L&F cathode supply begins 2027. Either an interim cathode supplier exists and has not been disclosed, or "Q4 2026 mass production" describes qualification or sample-production rather than commercial-scale output. The public trail does not resolve which. As flagged in prior coverage, this timing gap is one of three simultaneous conversion stresses at StarPlus. NCA cathode sourcing for the already-converted ESS line is not separately disclosed. The L&F deal also raises MACR documentation questions that chemistry switches introduce.

Rung 3 — Cleared for NCA ESS. ETNews reported one Phase 1 line converted to NCA ESS production at approximately 7 GWh, operating. Two additional lines identified as planned prismatic LFP at approximately 12 GWh each. Samsung SDI's March 2026 release states conversion from EV to ESS has been gradual since Q4 2025. Status: trade-reported, consistent with company language.

Rung 4 — Trade-reported, not company-quantified. ETNews describes the NCA ESS line as operating. Samsung SDI has not disclosed cells produced, yield, or output rate.

Rungs 5-7 — No public evidence. No named shipment, customer receipt, acceptance, or compliance filing located through July 24, 2026.

Terminal question: The NCA ESS line is trade-reported operating, with a supply deal against an unnamed buyer. Whether unallocated NCA ESS capacity exists for a second buyer cannot be determined from public evidence. LFP output is future-dated (Q4 2026 at earliest, subject to the cathode timing question above). Next verifiable gate: shipment or customer acceptance evidence on the NCA ESS line. If it surfaces, StarPlus becomes the first facility in this registry to clear Rung 5.

LGES Lansing — Delta Township, Michigan

Rung 1 — Cleared. Strongest in the registry. The Department of the Interior announced a $4.3 billion Tesla-LGES LFP prismatic cell supply agreement, production at Lansing for Tesla Megapack 3, launching 2027. LEAP described dedicated lines at Lansing for the Tesla agreement, cells produced 2027-2030. Named customer, named product, named facility, disclosed value, disclosed timeline.

Rung 2 — Not publicly established. No LFP cathode, anode, or electrolyte supply contract for Lansing has been disclosed. The L&F deal is Samsung SDI's, for StarPlus. The facility with the strongest customer agreement in this registry has no public cathode source. The Tesla agreement creates a production obligation beginning 2027. The material pathway to meet it is not visible.

Rung 3 — In progress, inferred from trade reporting. The 2.8-million-square-foot building is standing, with over 2,000 construction workers reported on site as of March 2026. TheElec reported LGES had placed major equipment orders and was converting parts of the factory for LFP ESS, lines expected live H2 2027. Status inferred from trade reporting, not from direct facility-level disclosure of equipment installation milestones.

LGES Q1 2026 results described its North American ESS production network as:

listing Lansing among standalone facilities alongside Holland and Windsor. Apply scrutiny. Lansing has no demonstrated output, no disclosed cathode source, a production launch approximately a year away. "Now in place" as applied to this facility describes a standing building with equipment on order. It does not describe an operating ESS production line. The gap between the investor-facing characterization and the observable evidence matters for anyone using LGES disclosures to assess near-term domestic ESS supply.

Rungs 4-7 — No evidence. Production launch is 2027.

Terminal question: Not contractable today. Pre-production. Next verifiable gate: equipment installation completion and line commissioning, expected H2 2027 per trade reporting.

Panasonic Kansas — De Soto, Kansas

Rung 1 — Ambiguous. Panasonic's June 2026 Investor Day materials state that products in sales projections had secured "awards," defined as product-development agreements and orders. No data-center battery customer named. No GWh allocation between EV and data-center production disclosed. As covered in prior audit, De Soto is producing, but its contribution to any specific application cannot be stated as a number.

Rungs 2-3 — Not established. No equipment orders for data-center line conversion disclosed. Kansas Reflector reported first data-center cells expected mid-to-late 2028 or early 2029. Panasonic's investor deck targets mass production in FY3/29 (ending March 2029). Reuters reported approximately ¥350 billion allocated to Panasonic Energy for AI-infrastructure investment, but no facility-level equipment-order confirmation has surfaced. The facility currently produces automotive 2170 cells across four operating lines with approximately 1,800 employees.

Rungs 4-7 — Not applicable. No data-center or BESS cells produced.

Terminal question: Not contractable. Planned, not contracted or equipped. Next verifiable gate: a named customer or disclosed equipment order for data-center line conversion. The 2028-2029 timeline places this facility two to three years from any form of energy-storage contractability on current evidence.

SK Commerce — Commerce, Georgia

Rung 1 — Not cleared. SK Battery America's March 2026 WARN filing disclosed a permanent workforce reduction from 2,566 to approximately 1,600. The company stated it:

"Pursuing" is the weakest forward-looking language in this registry.

Rungs 2-7 — No evidence. No BESS input sourcing, line conversion, output, shipment, acceptance, or compliance evidence. Whether Commerce is currently producing EV cells at reduced capacity or is effectively idled cannot be determined from outside. The WARN filing is nearly five months old. No post-WARN operational signals located through July 24, 2026 in company statements, local reporting, job postings, or earnings disclosures. SK Innovation's Q2 2026 results are scheduled for July 30 and may provide facility-level clarity.

Terminal question: Not contractable. No disclosed BESS customer, no conversion evidence, unresolved operational status. This facility has regressed on the broader proof ladder since the WARN event, as noted in prior coverage. Next verifiable gate: a named BESS customer or any evidence of line conversion activity.

GM-Samsung New Carlisle — St. Joseph County, Indiana (Contrast Case)

Not a BESS conversion. A paused EV battery greenfield. Construction paused late June 2026 after exterior completion, no disclosed resumption timeline. The original Indiana EDC announcement specified 30+ GWh of nickel-rich prismatic and cylindrical cells for GM. No chemistry or application change announced. The St. Joseph County development agreement's December 31, 2027 substantial-completion deadline would require county approvals to extend.

Included to illustrate the distance between a standing asset with equipped lines that could theoretically convert (StarPlus, Panasonic Kansas) and a building shell without lines, workforce, or product. New Carlisle cannot meaningfully be assessed against the proof ladder. It has not reached the stage where conversion is a coherent concept.

Registry Summary

Reading Across the Registry

Same rungs, every facility. Three gaps land in the same places.

Input sourcing (Rung 2) is the gap that governs timeline credibility. StarPlus has an LFP cathode deal whose timing raises questions about Q4 2026 readiness. LGES Lansing, carrying the strongest customer agreement in the registry, has disclosed no cathode source whatsoever. Panasonic and SK Commerce have no BESS input contracts. For any facility pursuing a chemistry change, Rung 2 is where the conversion's material reality resolves or fails to. I grew up hearing my mother's sourcing stories at the dinner table: the difference between a factory that could make samples and a factory that could hold spec at volume, the eighteen-month supplier qualifications, the catastrophic cost of qualifying the wrong supplier. Announced capacity without a secured and qualified cathode supply is a production timeline built on the assumption that the hardest part of the supply chain will resolve on schedule. It sometimes does. It usually doesn't.

Shipment and customer acceptance (Rungs 5-6) are empty across the entire registry. No facility has public evidence that BESS cells have left the plant and been received by a buyer. A converted line can be operating without producing cells that meet a buyer's incoming inspection, hold spec at volume, or integrate into a system. For procurement purposes today, this is the gap that prices.

Compliance (Rung 7) is structurally unverifiable. No public 45X claims registry exists. Whether any facility's BESS output will qualify for credits, clear PFE/FEOC requirements, or satisfy tariff-origin rules for its specific chemistry and sourcing chain cannot be assessed from outside. A domestically produced BESS cell that is not credit-eligible or FEOC-compliant occupies a fundamentally different commercial position than one that is both. IRS Notice 2026-15 established interim MACR/PFE guidance; safe-harbor tables remain forthcoming. The compliance question is not abstract policy but the next pricing variable, and its resolution timeline is not publicly fixed.

The registry updates as evidence changes. SK Innovation's Q2 results on July 30 may resolve the Commerce operational question. StarPlus NCA ESS shipment evidence, if it surfaces, would be the first Rung 5 clearance in the registry. LGES Lansing's next meaningful gate is equipment installation confirmation, likely not visible until late 2026 or early 2027. Panasonic Kansas is the longest-dated facility here and will not generate new rung evidence until equipment orders or a named customer appear. For each, the question is which rung clears next and what evidence would constitute clearance. The registry will track both.