Our families properties were included in Mr. Pickens' wind farm plan. He later cancelled the project, but we have since been contacted others seeking to build similar projects.
Some of these offers seemed to be of a doubtful nature, but some turned out to be actual bonafide offers from reputable developers.
While the legal restrictions imposed by some of these proposed contracts would be acceptable to people using the land to farm or run livestock, others would seem to be very restrictive to those wishing to develop their mineral estate.
Read the contract carefully. Does it give the wind farm developer control over the roads on the property? Can they deny use of them to drilling teams? Does the contract restrict the stringing of electrical lines? Remember, some wells need to be electrified.
Does the contract restrict development within a certain distance of wind farm installations? A three quarter mile restricted area would yield a mile and half of undrillable property.
Everyone's situation is different. For some, it would not be a problem, but for others it would. The answer is to read the contract and think about how it would affect you personally.
All good advice. Thanks. One of things I have been wondering is how does the income from a wind farm compare to royalties? How long are the contracts? Are the terms comparable? Can u give a ballpark figure? I assume the land is tied forever and they have complete access. We are thinking about it but don’t know anything?
Thanks
Read the contract. It should be explained there. Parse it sentence by sentence. Bear in mind that unless other factors fall into play, only those with wind generators on their land will benefit. In our case, when our grandparents passed away, the family realized that keeping the ranch together was the only way to make it work. Each got their individual portion of the land, but it was kept together as one ranch.
The mineral estate was held together by a cross conveyance. That spread the risk and benefited all of the family members in their own proportion. A well on any of our properties would benefit all of us.
The wind farm on the other hand would only benefit those that had units placed on their land.
The payment of royalties should be explained in the contract. Things vary from case to case. Some have good minerals but not much wind. Others might have a lot of wind but no minerals.
You have to make your own evaluation of your situation. Good Luck!
Appreciate your response. Sentence by sentence is the only way to go thru a contract. Good luck to you.