In 2001, 125 wind turbines went up on Texas land used for sheep grazing and hunting; those uses continued, while the project paid about $930,000 in school taxes

Somewhere in Texas, 125 giant wind turbines loomed over land where sheep grazed, and hunters roamed. It was in 2001, at Indian Mesa in Pecos County, Texas. Did the sheep and hunters have to leave? A 2004 report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) said no. Those uses continued, and the project paid about $930,000 in school taxes.

Old jobs, new turbines

How does that work? Start at the base of each turbine. The GAO said even a large turbine used only about a quarter-acre, including access roads. Farmers and ranchers could continue planting crops and grazing livestock up to the base. Most of the landowners did not build the projects. Instead, most farmers leased land to energy companies. They were paid for the land and for the right to use the wind above it. Some farmers told GAO that this income was more stable than income from crops and livestock. Owning a project was uncommon. The report put farmer and landowner ownership at less than 1 percent of utility-scale wind capacity nationwide. Building one cost about $1 million per megawatt, which was a lot for one farm or ranch. Lease deals varied. A lump sum brought cash up front but gave up the ongoing payments. A share of revenue could pay more if wind power gained value, but it carried more risk.


A small land footprint

A National Renewable Energy Laboratory study measured this. The authors reviewed 172 large wind projects, both planned and operational. For 93 projects with data, the average land permanently disturbed was 0.3 hectares per megawatt. The average total project area in 161 projects was about 34 hectares per megawatt. That is more than 100 times larger. Roads made up 79 percent of the permanently disturbed land in the 23 projects that provided details. Temporary construction areas averaged an additional 0.7 hectares per megawatt. Recovery took two to three years on grasslands, decades in deserts, the authors noted. They also cautioned that the projects were loosely defined in scope and that the total was only a rough guide.

Funding for local schools

These taxes can be tough on small counties. The GAO said large wind projects were built in some of the poorest rural counties in the nation, which generally have little industry. With so little other industry, wind became a large share of a small tax base. Pecos County school districts reportedly collected about $5 million in 2002 from property taxes associated with wind projects. That year, one district, Iraan-Sheffield, received about a third of its property tax revenue from wind. Indian Mesa alone paid about $930,000 in school taxes. Such taxes could also help fund hospitals and fire protection. The report counted some 30 to 35 permanent jobs to operate and maintain the county's wind projects. Tax rules varied by county. In Upton County, Texas, a 10-year tax break for developers left school taxes intact

What broader research shows

Similar results were found elsewhere, though the gains appeared modest. Jason Brown and colleagues studied 1,009 counties in a 12-state Great Plains region, including Texas, and published their findings in Energy Economics. They looked at wind installed between 2000 and 2008. Counties with some of the most new wind capacity were in north-central and west Texas, southern Minnesota, and northern Iowa. Their estimate was about $11,000 per year in county personal income and .5 jobs per megawatt. For the average county that hosts wind energy, that translated into a 0.22 percent increase in personal income and a 0.4 percent increase in employment. These are averages, so individual counties may vary. The estimate of jobs was less certain than the estimate of income. The study was also not a full cost-benefit analysis, the authors said.

The limits of the story

Wind is not the magic solution. The GAO found that in the 10 states that have the most wind power, wind accounts for only a small portion of farm income. Farmers directly received between $10 million and $45 million in income from wind. Net farm income in those states was $14 billion in 2002. Wind power was also a small part of the energy mix at the time. By December 2003, it represented only about one-tenth of 1 percent of total U.S. generating capacity, a national figure that says little about local effects, although its capacity had quadrupled since 1990. University of Texas officials told the GAO legal and technical assistance was crucial in getting a favorable lease on university property. The GAO also said it did not independently verify the data from its sources. Brown's team noted that self-reported numbers are commonly used in project case studies. The GAO report itself is now more than twenty years old.

Indian Mesa shows land can do more than one thing. The devil is in the detail of every lease and tax transaction, and it is the detail that decides who wins. So next time you see a turbine on a hillside, look at what’s happening around its base.