I own an undivided 1/8 of the minerals in about 2000 acres near Houston Tx,. A company has approached us wanting an Accommodation Agreement to install solar panels. They started at $50.00 a net acre and now are at $400.00. They are designating specific sites as drill sites, but I am concerned that entering an agreement may prevent my future ability to lease. Also, I want to obtain the optimum compensation for giving up my rights to drill anywhere on the acreage. There is minor, mostly depleted production on the acreage and prior significant production in the last 15 years. I know very little about Solar Farms and need guidance from someone who has expertise in this area. I hope this is not too far off-topic. I prefer not to agree, but I know that there have been some cases related to this issue, and I’m not sure about the best course of action. Any direction would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
It would be wise to contact an attorney who specializes in solar leases. There are quite a few in Texas. If they are making accommodations for drilling sites, that is good as the mineral rights are dominant over the surface rights in most cases Most of the drilling these days is horizontal, so having a drill site at the edge of a drilling unit is preferred, so not necessarily an issue with solar. I have seen areas that have solar, wind and oil and gas co-exist.
A solar farm greatly lowers the value of surrounding land. They should pay you a lot more. Other property owners won’t be happy and if you were in their position you would not either. From some others I know dealing with this it is very hard to get paid. They want to obligate you and might not be able to go through with the deal. Don’t sign anything until you have a Cashiers Check in hand.