Anyone Doing Wind Farms?

[Northforker]

Turbine access roads can be and usually are gated at the entrance, insist that this be included in the lease terms. Access road locations(alignment) can also be negotiated. Many landowners that I have dealt with insisted successfully that the access road follow the edge of the property or field edge as much as is practical, typically, a drawing that shows turbine coordinates and road, collection, and any other features is presented to the landowner for sign off prior to IFC drawings.

 

[luckydude]

Turbine access roads can be and usually are gated at the entrance, insist that this be included in the lease terms. Access road locations(alignment) can also be negotiated. Many landowners that I have dealt with insisted successfully that the access road follow the edge of the property or field edge as much as is practical, typically, a drawing that shows turbine coordinates and road, collection, and any other features is presented to the landowner for sign off prior to IFC drawings.

Thanks for the tip!

 

[clifp]

Quick update---we've decided to sign up for the project for 50 years. There'll be an initial period of "feasibility study" (for which we will receive a 5-figure compensation), at the conclusion of which the vendor will decide whether to proceed. Lease payment schedule is uniform for all participating landowners.

We're exploring the best way to transfer the affected parcels (2) to our teenage heirs so that they will receive all future annual lease payments---money will go straight into their Fidelity accounts that we've set up for them for index fund investment. At the conclusion of the 50-year lease, when DW and I will be long dead and buried, they can then decide what to do with the land.

I'm glad you did. I suspect that whatever health issues are present, that overall benefits to society of accelerating the move to renewable energy far exceed the health impacts.

A few years ago, I became the owner of a commercial solar project, which provides roughly 1/2 the energy for ~100 affordable housing apartments here in Honolulu.

Financially, it is a really good deal for me, thanks to generous Federal and State tax credits. I a get decent size check that pays off the loan, and gives me a very healthy after tax return. The renters buy electricity from me for $.20 a KWH as opposed to $.35 KWH (highest in the country) from the utility company
Best of all instead of burning oil to make electricity, we convert sunlight to electricity.
At the bottom of the invoice, I calculate how many barrels of oil is saved by the PV systems, it is about 1.5 barrels/day. Now in country that uses 20 million barrels per day, it is clearly a drop in the bucket (barrel??). Still if million of us early-retirement folks did this, it would be more than a drop in the bucket.

Anyway, it makes me feel good, hope a similar thing happens for your project.

 

[luckydude]

I'm glad you did. I suspect that whatever health issues are present, that overall benefits to society of accelerating the move to renewable energy far exceed the health impacts.

A few years ago, I became the owner of a commercial solar project, which provides roughly 1/2 the energy for ~100 affordable housing apartments here in Honolulu.

Financially, it is a really good deal for me, thanks to generous Federal and State tax credits. I a get decent size check that pays off the loan, and gives me a very healthy after tax return. The renters buy electricity from me for $.20 a KWH as opposed to $.35 KWH (highest in the country) from the utility company
Best of all instead of burning oil to make electricity, we convert sunlight to electricity.
At the bottom of the invoice, I calculate how many barrels of oil is saved by the PV systems, it is about 1.5 barrels/day. Now in country that uses 20 million barrels per day, it is clearly a drop in the bucket (barrel??). Still if million of us early-retirement folks did this, it would be more than a drop in the bucket.

Anyway, it makes me feel good, hope a similar thing happens for your project.

Thanks for sharing your story. That sounds like a win/win/win situation all the way around---you make $, provide cheaper and more affordable electricity to the community, and help fight climate change by going green. That's a great outcome for everyone.

If you don't mind sharing, did you plan and execute the whole project from the ground up and own all the infrastructure, or did you partner with a solar power company for the venture? What made you decide to invest in the green energy space?

 

[clifp]

Thanks for sharing your story. That sounds like a win/win/win situation all the way around---you make $, provide cheaper and more affordable electricity to the community, and help fight climate change by going green. That's a great outcome for everyone.

If you don't mind sharing, did you plan and execute the whole project from the ground up and own all the infrastructure, or did you partner with a solar power company for the venture? What made you decide to invest in the green energy space?

Are you kidding, that seems like entirely too much like work. I'm RETIRED!!!

It was pretty much a turnkey system. The company was in the business of designing and installing complicated solar systems. I knew the CEO, he was an Annapolis grad, nuclear engineer, and former state energy czar. The biggest motivator was two smarter, and richer friends who had done projects with him and were happy.

I had some input on the financial engineer, but none on the actual engineering. I have a maintenance contract with the installer, and mostly I just send out invoice every 3 months. so very turnkey.

 

[Koolau]

I suppose there are a lot of issues involved in leasing for wind farms. But my inclination would be to take the money and run.

Just this discussion suggests (at least to me) that RE faces significant challenges beyond the technical but YMMV.

 

[luckydude]

Just this discussion suggests (at least to me) that RE faces significant challenges beyond the technical but YMMV.

I think there are different challenges with different kinds of RE holdings. My experience is that with farm/ranchland investment, most of the challenges come from dealing with fairly predictable things such as govt regulations and rules (e.g. filing ag exemption in a timely manner) with occasional one-off events like easements, minerals, or in this case, wind farming, etc. The tenant aspect is fairly straightforward and almost never an issue, and there's very little maintenance involved in general (other than the occasional cross-fence and pond repairs).

My limited experience with residential rental RE based on my one rental unit (which now stands vacant after I got rid of an a**hole tenant) is that it is much more involved due to the human factor of screening/dealing with tenants, ever changing rental laws and regulations that increasingly favor tenants, and the constant wear and tear on rental units that require maintenance. Also the legal liability aspect is a real concern.

For me at least, land investment is a cake walk compared to residential rental RE, which I wouldn't touch with a 10-foot pole.

 

[luckydude]

Are you kidding, that seems like entirely too much like work. I'm RETIRED!!!

It was pretty much a turnkey system. The company was in the business of designing and installing complicated solar systems. I knew the CEO, he was an Annapolis grad, nuclear engineer, and former state energy czar. The biggest motivator was two smarter, and richer friends who had done projects with him and were happy.

I had some input on the financial engineer, but none on the actual engineering. I have a maintenance contract with the installer, and mostly I just send out invoice every 3 months. so very turnkey.

That's a great setup for a hands-off investor. Sounds like you're minting money with minimum w**k

 

[Stormy Kromer]

I wonder how many of the close neighbors objecting would be thinking of you if their farm needs more income to stay afloat and they decide to put in a pig farm upwind of your place (living there or not). Not many, I'd bet. If the property zoning currently allows for a windfarm, they have very little to say. If it needs to be rezoned or have a variance, then lookout.

I have a 3,600 head pig barn half a mile north of me. I'll take a wind tower any day.

 

[Koolau]

I have a 3,600 head pig barn half a mile north of me. I'll take a wind tower any day.

I'll take a pig farm over a turkey farm - odor wise. But, yes, a wind farm is preferable to most animal farms. AND you can still raise animal feed on the land not directly affected by the wind tower and access. YMMV

 

[dixonge]

for your perusal:

https://robertbryce.com/renewable-rejection-database/

https://robertbryce.com/midamerican-energy-abandons-plan-to-add-30-wind-turbines/

 

[Koolau]

for your perusal:

https://robertbryce.com/renewable-rejection-database/

https://robertbryce.com/midamerican-energy-abandons-plan-to-add-30-wind-turbines/

Slow reader here, can you bottom line it for us? Thanks

 

[dixonge]

Slow reader here, can you bottom line it for us? Thanks

Yeah, my bad, sorry about that.

The first link is a database of wind and solar farms rejected by locals, 320 since 2015.

The second is just an example of a fight between landowners and MidAmerican Energy during which they sued to force landowners to accept their wind farms. The courts sided w/ the landowners recently, and MidAmerican had to relent.

 

[Koolau]

^^^^^^^

Thanks, so much.

It doesn't seem to bode well for renewables. NIMBY is alive and well! YMMV