“The process of evaluating a wind lease can be complex, and the signing of such a lease involves a long-term commitment by the landowner. Leases can be as short as a few pages or as long as a hundred pages. As a general rule, longer lease documents provide more detailed responsibilities for the leasing parties and are more likely to provide specific answers for disputes that arise in the future. It is also important to note that nearly all leases are option agreements and do not guarantee that wind energy will be developed on the property. “A modest fee ($5 to 10 per acre) is paid for the option of developing the property for wind energy generation. Whether this option is exercised will depend upon a number of factors (e.g., adequacy of the wind resource, electricity prices, proximity to the electrical grid, local regulations, etc.)”

The lines above are excerpted from the recently released publication “Land Owner Guidelines for Evaluating Wind Energy Production Leases,” written by faculty members at Michigan State University. You can see the entire document by clicking here. Thanks to IFU board member Gregg Heide of Pomeroy for providing the link.