11 reasons we are opposed to signing the wind easement

1.     Our land could be tied up for as much as 57 years. At the time of signing the contract, you are not guaranteed a turbine, you do not know placement, or how many turbines will be on your land. It is a real possibility that there might be one right next to you and you only receive a gravel lane, transmission line, or overhang. If you do not receive a turbine or use your land in any way, they retain the right to kick you out of the project. 57 years is a long time especially when it comes to developing technology. We simply don’t want ourselves or our heirs to be locked into a project on our land for that long. Simply put, you have a lien on your land for up to 57 years. Think about that.

2.     Each attorney we talked to expressed concerns for the landowner and suggested several provisions to protect the landowner. Terms such as reasonably, substantially, related to, from time to time, less than and considerable are up to anybody’s discretion.  The terms used are vague and open ended. 

3.     The contract lays out the fact that there are not only turbines, but overhead and underground transmission lines, communications lines, switching stations, transformers, energy storage facilities, roads, meteorological towers, etc. The easement covers the entire piece of land with no restrictions. You are essentially signing a blank check as to what all may be placed anywhere on your land in addition to the turbines themselves. There are many decisions out of the landowners control.

4.     Once you have agreed to the contract, you have lost any course of action if you are negatively affected by any aspects of windfarm operation. The contract recognizes that the production of wind turbine operation involves electromagnetic, audio, flicker, visual, view, light, noise, vibration, air turbulence, wake, electrical, radio interference, shadow and other effects attributable to wind turbines, and other wind power activities.

5.     Inflation is based on CPI which has nothing to do with energy with a minimum of 2% per year. A greater concern is that there is no inflation calculated during the development period of 7 years. The numbers we are looking at today are already outdated from the time the contract was presented just months ago.

6.     The contract states that we voluntarily waive the right to a trial by jury. We feel we would want a jury of our peers if the agreement ever came to dispute. In the event of a lawsuit, the costs of mediation will greatly counterbalance any revenue received through the contract. 

7.     We have seen around the US that it is not uncommon for these projects to be refinanced and sold after completion. This can happen multiple times. The contract also grants the right without obtaining the consent of the landowner, to grant co-easements, separate easements, or sub-easements to the land. We don’t know who we will be working with over the course of 57 years.

8.     A major concern that comes up in many conversations is the decommissioning of these turbines.  We feel this topic needs to be addressed in greater detail in the contract.  The decommissioning of a turbine could be upwards of $500,000.00 and we do not like the idea of concrete only being removed to 5’.  This is a big undertaking to fall onto any landowner.

9.     We are also very concerned about what would happen if the company fails. In Tazewell County each turbine is assigned an individual tax identification number; this is done to protect the farmer from losing their entire property.  This is a red flag to us – there is a risk of losing the footprint the turbine and roads sit on, especially if the company goes bankrupt like they are in other areas of our country right now.

10.  The contract does not specify any level of insurance. This is especially concerning due to the number of lawsuits related to ears ringing because of turbines.

11.  The compensation from this project seems relatively small on an after-tax basis in comparison to what is given up over the decades.  As we mentioned before, our concerns are rooted in the long run implications rather than the short term financial gain.

This list goes on to include the impact on wildlife, confidentiality, mortgage implications, landowner restrictions and more.  You can explore more concerns in the resources. We have also provided a redline contract from an attorney, if you wish to read more about what it means for our land.