How to Get a Wind Farm on your Property

The 2009 Economic Recovery Act created significant tax credits for the development of alternative energy generation. These credits are especially helpful for wind energy development across the nation since, in contrast to solar, much of the nation has sufficient prevailing winds to become a candidate for the utility grade "wind farms" that can generate as much energy as a small power plant. Many landowners are actively pursuing developers to consider their land for wind power since the long term leases for wind farms are a substantial windfall for the lucky landowners. This article outlines the steps necessary to gain the attention of wind developers.

Difficulty: Challenging

Instructions

1. The first issue is land. A major wind farm development will be seeking a large land lease of 100 or more acres. If you don't have that much land yourself, talk to adjacent land owners to expand the proposal to include as much land as possible. It's important to note that just because your proposal includes several land owners have banded together, the developers may select only part of the possible site to locate their turbines on. You will not get far if you try to restrict the developer to some type of equivalent development on all properties.

2. Locate the nearest high power transmission lines. Hopefully, your land is near one of these corridors. You will have to provide the distance, specs, and the year of construction of these towers. There will still need to be more study, but it will be helpful to assure the developers that transmission towers are nearby. Easy access to the grid helps to make the project feasible.

3. A formal wind study needs to be conducted throughout the proposed property. These are typically expensive, so it helps to share the cost among several landowners. Also, talk to your state's economic development department. Many state's are partnering with their state university to conduct wind studies for possible development. You may be lucky enough to be included in ongoing studies.

4. Become a member in organizations such as the American Wind Energy Association. Learn who the players are in major wind energy developments. When you have gathered your information, you can begin contacting these developers and highlight the major findings of your study. You may think that you can't succeed unless you live in a high-wind state like Wyoming, but surprising areas like Missouri are beginning to see major wind farm developments.

Tips & Warnings

• Wind farms buy leases for each large turbine they place on your property. The "footprint" for these turbines are surprisingly small. If you are a farmer, you can plant and harvest right up to the base of the turbine. These turbines can become a blessing for struggling farmers. The rain may not come, but the lease check will be in the mail!
• The southeast United States is the poorest candidate for wind farm development. The average wind speed in these traditional southern states is lower than the rest of the nation.