Wind Power on State Lands
Wind development can be an attractive revenue option for states that have viable wind resources on their trust lands. Wind can provide much higher revenue per acre than many other sources of typical revenue. An added benefit is that harvesting the wind does not deplete any finite resources.
Several state land offices are already pursuing wind development on state trust lands. The first such wind project, in west Texas, is a joint project by the Texas General Land Office and the Lower Colorado River Authority, a public utility in central Texas.
Wind Powering America Assistance to State Land Offices
Analysis of State Land Potential
NREL can assist state land offices in analyzing their trust lands for wind development potential. By overlaying wind resource maps with land use, transmission capacity, and load centers, this type of analysis can help state officials target lands that that warrant further study. NREL has already provided similar analysis for the federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the State Land Office in Montana. This service is free to states where wind resource assessment maps are current and verified.
Technical Assistance
The Wind Powering America team is committed to providing or linking state land officials with the appropriate technical resources that they need as they pursue wind development. This includes information about wind technologies, current market experiences, and project development.
Inclusion in Federal Land-Use Study
BLM is updating their land use analyses throughout the West and is offering to include adjacent state trust lands in their analyses without cost. Inclusion in the BLM analyses can provide states with the information they need to determine if wind or other renewable energy development is a viable development option for their trust lands.
Wind Workshop for State Lands
A workshop specifically focused on wind on state lands was held at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Boulder, Colorado, on April 29-30, 2003. Contact Julie Jones for a copy of the Wind Workshop for State Lands proceedings.
Documents
- Walters, T. (March 3, 2004). "Wind Opportunities for Idaho State Lands." National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Presented to the State and Local Initiatives Group.
- Bonneville Power Administration. (December 2002). "Synthesis and Comparison of Baseline Avian and Bat Use, Raptor Nesting and Mortality Information from Proposed and Existing Wind Developments."
- Windustry. "Wind Energy Easements Legal Issues."
- National Wind Coordinating Collaborative. (December 1999). "Studying Wind Energy/Bird Interactions: A Guidance Document."
- National Wind Coordinating Collaborative. (March 1998). "Permitting Wind Energy Facilities: A Handbook."