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Wind Law III symposium gets underway at TSTC |
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Written by Thomas Watson
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Saturday, 21 June 2008 |
Wind Law III, a wind energy symposium focusing on the challenges and opportunities facing the booming domestic wind energy industry in Texas and specifically Sweetwater, began Thursday at Texas State Technical College-West Texas. The symposium, which is sponsored by the Texas Tech University School of Law, West Texas Wind Energy Consortium and American Wind Energy Association, ends today and will feature a number of guest speakers and informative dialogue throughout the day.
One of the guest speakers Thursday was attorney Trey Cox, a partner in the Dallas law firm of Lynn Tillotson Pinker & Cox. Cox represented FPL Energy, one of the nation's wind energy leaders and operators of the Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center in Taylor County, during a trial held in Abilene in December 2006.
The complaint involved a group of residents near the development who charged that the turbines created a visual and auditory nuisance. The visual nuisance claim was thrown out, due to Texas law which states that an object cannot be declared a nuisance because it is in another's line of sight. This left jurors to consider whether or not a wind turbine generated enough sound to be declared a nuisance.
"Sound readings taken a half-mile from the wind farm showed a sound level of only 30 decibels while the turbines were in full operation during the day,” Cox said. “A sound reading taken at night with the turbines turned off revealed that nighttime ambient noises from crickets, leaves rustling and other natural nighttime noises was actually louder at 35 decibels than the sound of the turbines themselves. We were even able to show that a sound reading taken inside the empty courtroom produced a level of 32 decibels."
After two weeks of testimony, jurors deliberated for two days before deciding that the wind farm had not created a nuisance for the plaintiffs, even for two plaintiffs who lived only 1,800 feet from the turbines. Cox said the Horse Hollow ruling was a closely watched and important first victory for the industry as a whole, “but it certainly won't be the last."
He went on to say that, in Texas, installing a wind-power farm is as simple as finding agreeable landowners and drafting lease agreements.
This regulatory vacuum, Cox said, can be a double-edge sword. He said without the protection that consistent policy provides, subjective issues of setback, visual aesthetics and sound levels are left to be ironed out between the utility industry, property owners, lo-cal communities and, when all else fails, the courts. Cox said it is reasonable to assume that regulation will one day become necessary if investment continues at its current pace.
With that regulation a definite possibility, Cox said serious consideration must be given regarding who might someday bear this oversight responsibility.
He said the industry must determine which forum is best for fighting our battles or one will be selected for us. For example, in Texas, the task could fall to the state railroad commission, the state legislature or the Public Utilities Commission (PUC).
Cox said the wind-energy industry must understand the dynamics at work and take an active role in this debate. Sour-ces of future regulation must be analyzed in advance for costs and benefits and a reasonable decision should be promoted, he said.
Other speakers included local attorney Alan Carmichael, who talked about case law from previous and pending judicial ac-tion throughout the state. Ma-yor Greg Wortham and Frank Horak, an engineer with Astek Wind Energy, gave an overview of regulatory policy evolution regarding wind energy in Tex-as, including matters currently before the U.S. Congress and the 2009 Texas Legislature, as well as recent expansion decisions of the PUC.
Other speakers on Thursday included Nancy Emery with Tuggey Rosenthal Pauerstein Sandoloski Agather in San Antonio, who spoke about al-ternative market arrangements for the sale of wind energy and environmental attributes from the turbine to the average retail customer; and Hala Ballouz, president of Electric Power En-gineers of Waco, who discussed emerging issues within the Electric Reliability Counsel of Texas such as transmission capacity analysis, queue position and interconnection.
During the afternoon, per-sons at the symposium were invited on a motorcoach tour of the wind energy projects throughout the region. Visitors were able to see several new technological, cutting-edge turbine types as well as several active large scale construction zones.
The group finished the day with a real Texas chuck wagon barbecue beef ranch feast, along with more networking and opportunities to answer any questions regarding the future of wind energy in Texas and Sweetwater.
Today’s events were scheduled to begin with a focus on the perspective of public schools related to wind energy. A panel of experts, including Guy Nelson, superintendent of the Highland school district, will walk guests through the stages of project development, reinvestment zone policies, Texas school finance issues and taxation limitation agreements.
In addition, Nolan County Judge Tim Fambrough is expected to discuss the economic development and different approaches of county governments to tax value limitations for wind energy projects.
Zollie Steakley, a Sweetwater attorney and experienced landowner counselor, is scheduled to discuss the complexities and trends in landowner wind energy development leases, including option agreements, surface use and royalties.
Events are expected to conclude with a roundtable discussion between Lila Marsh of Vinson & Elkins of Dallas, Alan Carmichael of Wetsel & Car-michael of Sweetwater, and Raymond McDaniel, a rancher in Nolan and Taylor counties, on any emerging landowner lease issues, including current issues and emerging trends.
Sweetwater represents the epicenter of the U.S. wind energy industry and is home to the most active area of wind energy development in the world.
The region boasts turbines capable of generating 4,000 megawatts of electricity and includes the four largest wind farms in the United States, two of which represent the top wind developments in the world.
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Last Updated ( Monday, 23 June 2008 )
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