A parallel plate capacitor is charged and the charging battery is then disconnected. If the plates of the capacitor are moved further apart by means of insulating handles, then
When the battery is disconnected, the charge will remain the same in any case.
The capacitance of a parallel plate capacitor is given by
When d is increased, the capacitance will decrease and because the charge remains the same, so according to q = CV, the voltage will increase, Hence the electrostatic energy stored in the capacitor will increase.