A Practitioner's Guide to Real Estate and Wind Energy Project Development

Interest and investment in wind energy project development are steadily increasing in the United States. For the first time, wind energy became the leading source of new electricity-generating capacity in the country. With current developments ranging from small and community projects to distributed and utility-scale wind ventures, this book supplies a much-needed reference for practitioners who need to understand the real-estate legal issues involved. This focused, practice-oriented guide provides a straightforward explanation of the process of developing a wind project and a discussion of the basic legal documents involved in putting a wind energy project together. Author Kathleen Law examines the many types of legal issues involved with developing a successful wind project, focusing specifically on the issues most important to real estate lawyers, including siting, environmental issues, zoning and permitting, entity structure, title insurance and endorsements, and leases or easements with the landowner, along with as discussion of the basic documents necessary to put a wind energy project together.
Topics include: * Site determination * Studies and environmental assessments * Permitting * Wind project easements and leases * Title insurance and issues* Zoning and building permits * Incentives * The types of entities and entity structures utilized * Corporate farming statutes * Liability issues* Severability of wind rights * Other types of agreements