Community Wind Toolbox Chapter 7: Leases and Easements
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In the United States, leasing land to wind energy developers continues to be the most common way rural landowners are participating in wind energy. As the wind industry grows, wind developers are increasing the amount of land they are leasing to keep their future market share from slipping away. Because of this, landowners in windy areas need solid advice about wind energy and what signing a wind energy lease or easement means to both them and future generations who will inherit the land.
Like landowners, many developers of wind projects, both with a community focus and otherwise, can be unfamiliar with the concerns of windy landowners and how to approach them in a respectful and fair way. In an effort to help developers understand how to be equitable in sharing the returns, Windustry has come up with best practices to help the negotiation process move along more smoothly. To help both landowners and developers navigate leases and easements, Windustry developed several documents that provide information about legal issues, fair compensation packages, and best practices. These documents were completed in September, 2005, and updated versions for the Toolbox are forthcoming. Meanwhile, please check out the existing documents, which still provide valuable information on leases and easements.
Click here to go to the existing Leases and Easements package.
Next: Chapter 8: Costs Associated with Community Wind Development
Additional Resources
Please find additional resources under "Read More".
Read more:
Brad Haight is a renewable energy attorney in Colorado. His presentation "Developer Evaluation" gives landowners a starting place in evaluating a wind energy developer that is interested in their land. The document includes information on wind energy development and a checklist of important information for landowners to gather. Click on the file below to download.
The Department of Agricultural, Food and Resource Economics at Michigan State University has published a document entitled "Landowner Guidelines for Evaluating Wind Energy Production Leases". It is aimed at landowners across the country.
- This publication was developed for Winrock International Brasil by Global Energy Concepts, and covers many aspects of wind project development, including a survey or lease terms and a model lease agreement. Click here to download the file from the Winrock website.
- This document was writted by Stoel Rives Attorney Samual J. Panarella, March 2004. Also adapted for North American Windpower in September 2004 and The Law of Wind: A Guide to Business and Legal Issues, Third Edition, 2005. Click here to go to the Stoel Rives web site.
Wind Energy Toolkit
2005: New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, Power Naturally ProgramIncludes a legal guidebook for landowners, a section on lease agreements, and a sample annotated lease agreement.
This speech was given by Bernard Noling of the Southwest Kansas Royalty Owners Association in 2003. He goes over suggestions and things to look out for in negotiating a wind lease, and describes how wind leases are similar to mineral leases.
