My family owns some farm land in northwest Mississippi. Recently we were contacted by the firm, Samuel Gary and Associates, about the possibility of an extended lease for the purpose of setting up a number of windmills. I have absolutely no experience with such matters. Is anyone here familiar with this firm?

Thanks, Tiffany. The letter they sent suggests a rent that sounds a little too good to be true, up to $25,000/windmill per year. Any help I can get is appreciated.

Bob

Hi Bushmaster,

Although we are not familiar with this specific firm, we strongly recommend contacting a lawyer that is familiar with land lease negotiations.

In a case like this, the landowner would sign an agreement granting the developer the right to use their land for wind development, and in return, the landowner would receive compensation from the developer. Typically, the developer would own any turbines that are put up and would do all of the work of developing the project.

Wind leases and easements are often written to cover extremely long periods of time--30 to 60 years is typical, and they can be longer than 150 years in some cases. Because of the long-term ramifications of wind leases and easements, and because they are often complicated documents full of technical and legal terms, it is important for landowners to seek assistance in assessing any offer made to them.

We recommend that any landowner considering signing a lease or easement consult a lawyer with experience in wind energy development. You may find additional information available on our website at: http://www.windustry.org/leases.
Good resources to learn more about leasing your land include:

* Leases and Easements ( http://www.windustry.org/sites/windustry.org/files/LandEMain.pdf
* Best Practice Policies for Leases and Easements ( http://www.windustry.org/sites/windustry.org/files/LandEBestPractices.pdf
* Compensation Packages ( http://www.windustry.org/sites/windustry.org/files/LandECompPackages.pdf

I hope this information is helpful!

Thanks,
Tiffany
Windustry