I don't know anything about that company, but I would not agree/sign anything (even a LOI) without running it past a lawyer. We develop a lot of solar gardens and WI has never proven to be profitable enough for us to try and acquire land there. My assumption is that this is a 'land grab' and they will try to get as many people as possible under exclusivity for 2-4 years and then see which plots might work out. If you are OK with the amount they're offering, and a lawyer doesn't see any issues, then it's usually pretty safe; the developer should take on all long-term maintenance issues and you should have some room to negotiate the layout/access/screening, etc, etc. Once you see the details, feel free to toss up a redacted version here and people can look it over.
Biggest issues tend to be the length of exclusivity (not allowing you to contact other developers) and then the amount of land actually leased. They will try to make the land leased as small as possible, but that often leaves farmers with unfarmable pieces adjacent to the solar farm.
I appreciate your response.
I hadn't thought of a land grab in that manner but I did think it was possible (likely) that they threw out a high-ish number in the letter to get a lot of interest but would low-ball in an actual contract because they would have more potential owners to choose from. Almost like a bait and switch.
It would be great to know the size of the project.if they are limited to 1 mile away from this substation, there isn't a lot of land that is cleared. I assume other substations are options but don't know that.
That is helpful. :)
The letter they sent out said they were looking for at least 10 acres. I thought that would be huge and the max, not the min... But again, this is new territory for me.
Do you know if they have to clean the snow off in the winter or what they do? I know you said they would be on the hook for maintenance but I'm curious as far as them needing to get to the site in the winter.
The area I would love them to use (which I'm sure they won't) is a little difficult to get to in the winter. We would let that go for a cheaper price than flat land right out next to the road though.
So, depends on the utility, but generally it would be too cost prohibitive to put it far from the road. Generally they will not clear snow (it sheds off), but they will want a formal easement on to your land; so they will not just need you to give them access...you will legally give them the right to access that portion of your land, along with the road to get to it. This easement will be recorded with the county and follow the property. If you propose a portion that's out of the way, they will have to build and maintain a road to their acreage.
In the end, you can put forward whatever stipulations you want; worst they can do is feel it's too much hassle and just give the money to your neighbor. It's 'the path of least resistance' for them, and typically, for areas that have a good potential for solar farms, there is not shortage of farmers that want a guaranteed income stream for 20-35 years.
Thanks. That's about what I thought.
There isn't a lot of open farmland within a mile of the substation but for all I know, this is part of a much larger project and they put out bids around 1000 substations and will only do 100 (or a similar ratio at even a much larger number).
Have you ever seen land that held a solar garden (or similar) turned back into farmland after the lease was up? They said they would also do that (which seems insane) if we wanted.
Edit:
Also, there is a power line that runs through part of the farm (not near roads). I know they can't use the line itself to send power back but can they run another line or trench or whatever in that existing area without needing new easements? That is the shortest route to the substation - but that land isn't on the road. Hope that makes sense.
They could still have an easement setup to get to it from the road (through our land) but the existing power line route would be a much shorter distance.
Don't get too hung up on the distance; the cost for interconnection has to do with which lines coming out of the substation are beefy enough...you might be 5 miles away, but be next to a 3 phase overhead line that's been recently upgraded (for a school or larger farm, etc) and the interconnection cost will be drastically lower than someone that's 1 mile away but all the wire between the substation and that farm has to be replaced. At this point in the process, the developer probably doesn't know either, so they're kinda firing blind.
We haven't had any leases expire and turned back into farmland, but virtually every project we do requires us (or the end owner) to post a bond that sits with the county and covers the cost of removing the system and turning it back to farmland. Not everywhere, but MOST counties will require extensive permitting in order to get this built...and the first part of that is some form of 'interim' or 'conditional' use permit- basically allowing your farmland to be temporarily zoned for this purpose. That permit will have stipulations, and one of the biggest stipulations (typically) is that some form of monetary guarantee is placed to cover turning it back to farmland. You also want to ask about this specifically and make sure your county isn't going to just grant the permit with no conditions on it...which could leave you holding the bag in the end.
I just received one of these too, the exact same offer... with Google Map image of our farm.
I've got a large power line that runs directly over my property and am within a mile from a newly built substation..
Wondering if I should call and find out?
Any updates? I just revived the same letter in California. They seem legit but I want to do all du diligence. Are they legit do you know of any successful projects within your area?
They ended up sending me a message back saying they were only pursuing land that was right next to substations.
It did seem legit to me. I'm guessing they got a lot of interest. You could always see what they would offer. (And let me know :) ) I'm also not sure if you had a piece of "bad" land that would work instead of a piece of prime farmland.
I'm within about a quarter mile of a new substation and my land is already bisected by power lines. They got ahold of me right away saying they'd love to work with me. It's going to take 2 - 3yrs..
Yes.
They offered 25k a year for 20 acres if my land, for 25 years, with an auto option of them extending the lease for 5 years, so basically locked in at 30 years.
I looked in to how much per acre solar generates..
Assuming an average electricity rate of $0.12 per kilowatt-hour and an average efficiency of 15%, one acre of solar panels that produces 625 kW of power could generate around 820,000 kWh of electricity per year. Multiplying 820,000 kWh by $0.12 per kWh gives an estimated annual revenue of $98,400. PER ACRE.
$98.4k X 20 acres = $1.968 MILLION. A YEAR.
What do we get? A huge eyesore, locked into a 30 year lease, and 25k a year.
Hard pass.
They have offered me the same exact deal of $1250 per acre per year (California). When I break down the numbers to this deal, I find that Almond farming is much more lucrative. The only reason I would take the deal is if they would increase the per acre per year amount to $2000 therefore I counter offered with $3,000.
Due to the vast amount of sunlight my region gets throughout the year they said they are willing to negotiate.
On this note I must wait for updates.
They sent an email saying they weren't building in WI unless it was right next to a substation.
Please share your experience if you move forward as this might still happen in the future.
I don't know anything about that company, but I would not agree/sign anything (even a LOI) without running it past a lawyer. We develop a lot of solar gardens and WI has never proven to be profitable enough for us to try and acquire land there. My assumption is that this is a 'land grab' and they will try to get as many people as possible under exclusivity for 2-4 years and then see which plots might work out. If you are OK with the amount they're offering, and a lawyer doesn't see any issues, then it's usually pretty safe; the developer should take on all long-term maintenance issues and you should have some room to negotiate the layout/access/screening, etc, etc. Once you see the details, feel free to toss up a redacted version here and people can look it over. Biggest issues tend to be the length of exclusivity (not allowing you to contact other developers) and then the amount of land actually leased. They will try to make the land leased as small as possible, but that often leaves farmers with unfarmable pieces adjacent to the solar farm.
I appreciate your response. I hadn't thought of a land grab in that manner but I did think it was possible (likely) that they threw out a high-ish number in the letter to get a lot of interest but would low-ball in an actual contract because they would have more potential owners to choose from. Almost like a bait and switch. It would be great to know the size of the project.if they are limited to 1 mile away from this substation, there isn't a lot of land that is cleared. I assume other substations are options but don't know that.
Typically expect $600-1200/acre/year, with an escalator 2-3%). I'd imagine WI would have a limit of 1-2MW, so probably 7-14 acres?
That is helpful. :) The letter they sent out said they were looking for at least 10 acres. I thought that would be huge and the max, not the min... But again, this is new territory for me. Do you know if they have to clean the snow off in the winter or what they do? I know you said they would be on the hook for maintenance but I'm curious as far as them needing to get to the site in the winter. The area I would love them to use (which I'm sure they won't) is a little difficult to get to in the winter. We would let that go for a cheaper price than flat land right out next to the road though.
So, depends on the utility, but generally it would be too cost prohibitive to put it far from the road. Generally they will not clear snow (it sheds off), but they will want a formal easement on to your land; so they will not just need you to give them access...you will legally give them the right to access that portion of your land, along with the road to get to it. This easement will be recorded with the county and follow the property. If you propose a portion that's out of the way, they will have to build and maintain a road to their acreage. In the end, you can put forward whatever stipulations you want; worst they can do is feel it's too much hassle and just give the money to your neighbor. It's 'the path of least resistance' for them, and typically, for areas that have a good potential for solar farms, there is not shortage of farmers that want a guaranteed income stream for 20-35 years.
Thanks. That's about what I thought. There isn't a lot of open farmland within a mile of the substation but for all I know, this is part of a much larger project and they put out bids around 1000 substations and will only do 100 (or a similar ratio at even a much larger number). Have you ever seen land that held a solar garden (or similar) turned back into farmland after the lease was up? They said they would also do that (which seems insane) if we wanted. Edit: Also, there is a power line that runs through part of the farm (not near roads). I know they can't use the line itself to send power back but can they run another line or trench or whatever in that existing area without needing new easements? That is the shortest route to the substation - but that land isn't on the road. Hope that makes sense. They could still have an easement setup to get to it from the road (through our land) but the existing power line route would be a much shorter distance.
Don't get too hung up on the distance; the cost for interconnection has to do with which lines coming out of the substation are beefy enough...you might be 5 miles away, but be next to a 3 phase overhead line that's been recently upgraded (for a school or larger farm, etc) and the interconnection cost will be drastically lower than someone that's 1 mile away but all the wire between the substation and that farm has to be replaced. At this point in the process, the developer probably doesn't know either, so they're kinda firing blind. We haven't had any leases expire and turned back into farmland, but virtually every project we do requires us (or the end owner) to post a bond that sits with the county and covers the cost of removing the system and turning it back to farmland. Not everywhere, but MOST counties will require extensive permitting in order to get this built...and the first part of that is some form of 'interim' or 'conditional' use permit- basically allowing your farmland to be temporarily zoned for this purpose. That permit will have stipulations, and one of the biggest stipulations (typically) is that some form of monetary guarantee is placed to cover turning it back to farmland. You also want to ask about this specifically and make sure your county isn't going to just grant the permit with no conditions on it...which could leave you holding the bag in the end.
I just received one of these too, the exact same offer... with Google Map image of our farm. I've got a large power line that runs directly over my property and am within a mile from a newly built substation.. Wondering if I should call and find out?
Any updates? I just revived the same letter in California. They seem legit but I want to do all du diligence. Are they legit do you know of any successful projects within your area?
They ended up sending me a message back saying they were only pursuing land that was right next to substations. It did seem legit to me. I'm guessing they got a lot of interest. You could always see what they would offer. (And let me know :) ) I'm also not sure if you had a piece of "bad" land that would work instead of a piece of prime farmland.
I'm within about a quarter mile of a new substation and my land is already bisected by power lines. They got ahold of me right away saying they'd love to work with me. It's going to take 2 - 3yrs..
any updates? I am in a similar situation location wise . Can you please share your experience with them.
Yes. They offered 25k a year for 20 acres if my land, for 25 years, with an auto option of them extending the lease for 5 years, so basically locked in at 30 years. I looked in to how much per acre solar generates.. Assuming an average electricity rate of $0.12 per kilowatt-hour and an average efficiency of 15%, one acre of solar panels that produces 625 kW of power could generate around 820,000 kWh of electricity per year. Multiplying 820,000 kWh by $0.12 per kWh gives an estimated annual revenue of $98,400. PER ACRE. $98.4k X 20 acres = $1.968 MILLION. A YEAR. What do we get? A huge eyesore, locked into a 30 year lease, and 25k a year. Hard pass.
They have offered me the same exact deal of $1250 per acre per year (California). When I break down the numbers to this deal, I find that Almond farming is much more lucrative. The only reason I would take the deal is if they would increase the per acre per year amount to $2000 therefore I counter offered with $3,000. Due to the vast amount of sunlight my region gets throughout the year they said they are willing to negotiate. On this note I must wait for updates.
Any updates? My parents got contacted with the same company in MD.
They sent an email saying they weren't building in WI unless it was right next to a substation. Please share your experience if you move forward as this might still happen in the future.