Quick answer
Land agreements for wind energy can include a land lease, an easement, or a combination of the two, and they are often called wind leases or wind agreements.[3] The most common land agreement for a wind energy project is a lease, which lets the developer spread its payments over the life of the project.[1] Under a lease, the developer rents a portion of the property for a term of years, and the lease governs the relationship between landowner and developer over the life of the wind project.[1] Easements in a wind project commonly cover underground collector cables, overhead transmission lines, access across land without turbines, and the free flow of wind across the turbines.[1] A lease gives the wind company exclusive possession of land, such as turbine sites and access roads, for a set time, while an easement lets it use land for a limited purpose and the landowner keeps all other rights.[2]
In royalty arrangements, the developer pays the landowner a percentage of the revenue received from the electricity produced by the turbines.[1] Royalties are often paid on a per-turbine basis using the average turbine production across the whole project, which reduces the effect of any one turbine suffering operating problems.[1] In a flat or fixed-fee arrangement, the developer pays a fixed fee per turbine, per unit of land or per megawatt of installed capacity on a monthly or yearly basis.[1]
A wind energy contract generally has three parts: the option agreement, the operating period and the option to extend.[2] During the option period the developer tests the wind resource, assesses environmental impacts and construction feasibility, and markets the anticipated power output.[1] Typical option periods last from two to five years, and option agreements typically include modest fees.[1] An option agreement does not mean a wind farm will be built, and a landowner may receive modest payments for a few years and then see the project canceled.[2]
Operating periods are long-term agreements, generally for 20 to 30 years, and many contracts let the developer renew for an additional operating period.[2] Wind power leases generally have terms of 20 to 40 years, often with an option to extend, while a typical utility-scale wind power project has a useful life of 20 years.[1] Developers commonly want the ability to transfer a wind lease without the landowner's approval, and the original parties to a lease can change during the life of a project.[1]
Texas's wind power facility agreement law, Utilities Code Chapter 301, applies only to agreements entered into on or after September 1, 2019; an earlier agreement is governed by the law as it existed before that date.[5] Chapter 301 as amended in 2025 by H.B. 3228 applies only to agreements entered into on or after September 1, 2025; an agreement entered into before that date is governed by the law as it existed immediately before it.[6] In Texas, a wind power facility agreement covered by Chapter 301 must make the grantee responsible for removing its facilities, including turbines, substations and buried cable to a depth of at least three feet.[4] The Texas agreement must also require the grantee to deliver financial assurance for that removal, such as a parent company guaranty, a letter of credit or a bond.[4] Oklahoma makes the owner of a wind energy facility responsible, at its expense, for decommissioning it, including removing turbines, cabling and foundations to 30 inches below grade.[7]
Wind agreements in the Midwest can include fixed payments per turbine or per megawatt, royalty payments based on a percentage of the income from the wind energy produced, and combinations of the two.[3]
Agreements can also include wind rights payments, one-time payments when construction begins, payments for access roads and transmission line siting, and payments even if no turbine stands on the property.[3]
Neighbor or participation agreements compensate owners of adjacent land for impacts such as noise, and their compensation is typically a one-time, lump-sum payment.[1]
When crop damage occurs, the landowner typically receives payment from the wind project, calculated as the lost product multiplied by the market price for the crop.[1]
Agreements typically make the wind turbine owner or operator responsible for property taxes on the wind equipment.[3]
Minimum payments serve as a floor so landowners receive some revenue even when maintenance outages or lower winds cut production in a given year.[1]
Royalties fluctuate with project revenue because both production and energy prices vary, and the landowner does not have a say in the price of the electricity that is sold.[1]
Fixed fees give both the landowner and the developer certainty about future income or payment streams.[1]
Payment adjustments, commonly called escalator clauses, are sometimes tied to the Consumer Price Index or other measures.[2]
One well-accepted practice is for the project operator to send a summary of gross receipts with each royalty payment, whether quarterly, annually or on another agreed schedule.[1]
In Oklahoma, a landowner paid on the amount of electricity produced must receive, by a statutory deadline after each payment, a statement that explains the basis for the payment and a means of confirming it.[7]
Oklahoma landowners who are paid on the amount of electricity produced and who have allowed a wind turbine foundation on their property may also inspect the operator's records, no more than once per calendar year, to confirm the accuracy of payments made within the past 24 months.[7]
Under Kansas law, apart from leases and easements recorded before July 1, 2011, no one but the surface owner may use land to produce wind or solar energy unless the surface owner grants that right by lease or easement for a definite period.[8] Wyoming treats wind energy rights as an interest in real property that belongs with the surface estate and may not be severed from it, except that wind energy may be developed under a wind energy agreement.[9] Oklahoma's wind statute recognizes that mineral estate owners hold a historical right to make reasonable use of the surface to explore for and produce minerals.[7]
To negotiate a wind agreement, a landowner needs clear title, and when land is jointly owned each legal owner must consent to the agreement.[3] Mortgages, farmland leases, hunting rights and other easements on the land can all influence negotiations with a wind developer.[3]
Wyoming: nothing in the Wind Energy Rights Act restricts transferring a wind energy agreement, including the surface owner's right to receive payments under it.[9]
Wyoming: unless otherwise agreed, wind energy easement interests acquired after April 1, 2011 revert to the surface owner if production stops for ten continuous years or no turbine starts generating electricity within 20 years after the wind energy agreement is executed.[9]
Montana: a wind energy right, including any royalty, may not be severed from the real property, although a seller of the land may keep the payments under an existing wind option or wind energy agreement.[14]
North Dakota: apart from wind easements, an interest in the wind resource may not be severed from the surface estate, but a seller of real estate may keep payments from an existing wind energy project.[13]
North Dakota: a wind option, wind easement or wind lease is void after five years unless any required certificate of site compatibility or conditional use permit has issued and a transmission interconnection request is in process and not under suspension.[13]
South Dakota: wind and solar energy rights may not be severed from the surface estate but may be leased for up to fifty years, with lease payments made annually.[15]
Nebraska: no interest in a wind or solar resource on a tract of land may be severed from the surface estate.[16]
Oklahoma: the lessee of a wind or solar energy agreement may not unreasonably interfere with the mineral owner's right to make reasonable use of the surface to produce minerals.[17]
Oklahoma: a stop in generation caused by curtailment or repowering does not count toward the 24 months without generation that define abandonment of a wind energy facility.[7]
Oklahoma: the owner of a wind energy facility that began commercial generation on or after December 31, 2016 must file evidence of financial security for decommissioning with the Corporation Commission by the fifth year of operation.[7]
Most U.S. wind electricity generation capacity is in the middle of the country.[10] The five states with the most electricity generation from wind in 2025 were Texas, Iowa, Oklahoma, Kansas and Illinois.[10]
Project stage: an option agreement only shows that a company is considering a wind farm, and the project can be canceled before turbines are built.[2]
Remaining term: wind power leases generally run 20 to 40 years, often with an option to extend.[1]
Production and prices: royalties rise and fall with both the project's output and the price paid for its power.[1]
Minimum payments: a minimum payment sets a floor under royalty income in years when the turbines produce less energy.[1]
Escalators: an escalator clause adjusts payments over time, sometimes by reference to the Consumer Price Index.[2]
Equipment life: turbine blades are durable for 20 to 30 years.[11]
Curtailment and repowering: Oklahoma does not treat a stop in generation caused by curtailment or repowering as abandonment.[7]
Termination clauses: some contracts specify the conditions under which either party may terminate the lease.[1]
Removal security: under a Texas agreement covered by Chapter 301, the grantee must deliver its decommissioning financial assurance no later than the earlier of the agreement's termination or the 10th anniversary of commercial operations.[4]
What Buckhead buys depends on the deal, and Buckhead tells the seller up front which interest it is offering to buy — for example, the payments for the rest of the current lease term, a term easement, or a longer-term interest. A wind lease rents land for a term of years, and wind power leases generally have terms of 20 to 40 years, often with an option for extending the lease.[1] Wyoming law states that nothing in its Wind Energy Rights Act restricts transferring the surface owner's right to receive payments under a wind energy agreement.[9] New York's wind energy guide for local decision makers explains that an easement runs for a term of years when the granting instrument provides one, and otherwise in perpetuity.[1] State law can cap the term instead: in South Dakota, wind and solar energy rights may be leased for no more than fifty years.[15] Some states limit longer-term interests in the wind itself: Montana bars severing a wind energy right, including a royalty, from the real property.[14]
Under a wind lease, the landowner typically keeps the right to continue to grow crops, raise cattle or otherwise use the land outside the project.[1] Under an easement, the landowner keeps all property rights other than the limited use granted.[2] In Oklahoma, the wind statute recognizes that mineral estate owners hold a historical right to make reasonable use of the surface to explore for and produce minerals.[7]
Buckhead Energy buys wind lease payments and wind royalties. A well-crafted wind lease spells out the payments, including how much, when and under what conditions, so the lease and its amendments define the payment stream being sold.[1] Wyoming defines a wind energy agreement to include an agreement to participate in the income from wind energy generation, and it requires the agreement or a memorandum of it to be recorded with the county clerk.[9] Kansas requires every instrument that conveys an interest created by a wind or solar lease or easement to describe the land and the terms under which the lease or easement was granted or may end.[8]
Some energy leases limit what the landowner may do with the payments: an example solar lease published by a New York State commission bars the landowner from severing the lease payments or assigning them to a third party without the developer's consent.[12] The same example lease requires the landowner to sign estoppel certificates and consents to assignment that are reasonably necessary or that the developer or its lenders request.[12] Because different agreements can have very different legal and tax implications, landowners should always have an attorney carefully review them.[1]
Alaska (57.4 MW)
Arizona (1,234.9 MW)
Arkansas (144 MW)
California (6,020.4 MW)
Colorado (5,384.1 MW)
Connecticut (5.7 MW)
Delaware (2 MW)
Hawaii (236.5 MW)
Idaho (1,132.3 MW)
Illinois (8,472.9 MW)
Indiana (3,617.1 MW)
Iowa (13,645.2 MW)
Kansas (9,696.3 MW)
Maine (1,215.2 MW)
Maryland (239.3 MW)
Massachusetts (116.8 MW)
Michigan (3,732 MW)
Minnesota (4,817 MW)
Mississippi (184.5 MW)
Missouri (2,433.3 MW)
Montana (2,137.3 MW)
Nebraska (3,441.4 MW)
Nevada (151.8 MW)
New Hampshire (214.1 MW)
New Jersey (9 MW)
New Mexico (4,322.4 MW)
New York (2,854.2 MW)
North Carolina (397 MW)
North Dakota (4,940.5 MW)
Ohio (1,101.1 MW)
Oklahoma (12,942.3 MW)
Oregon (4,299.5 MW)
Pennsylvania (1,546.8 MW)
Rhode Island (48 MW)
South Dakota (3,613.2 MW)
Tennessee (27 MW)
Texas (43,927.7 MW)
Utah (389.8 MW)
Vermont (149.1 MW)
Washington (3,395.5 MW)
West Virginia (602 MW)
Wisconsin (827.4 MW)
Wyoming (4,630.7 MW)
Mineral Rights vs. Surface Rights
Educational information only — not legal, tax, or investment advice. Consult a qualified attorney, CPA, or landman about your specific situation.
Buckhead Energy buys wind lease payments and wind royalties. A wind royalty is a percentage of the revenue the developer receives from the electricity the turbines produce.[1]
Buckhead Energy buys wind lease payments and wind royalties. Wyoming law states that nothing in its Wind Energy Rights Act restricts transferring the surface owner's right to receive payments under a wind energy agreement.[9] Montana law provides that a wind energy right, including any royalty, may not be severed from the real property.[14]
It depends on the lease: for example, an energy lease published by a New York State commission, for a solar project, bars the landowner from assigning the lease payments to a third party without the developer's consent.[12] That example lease also requires the landowner to sign estoppel certificates and consents to assignment requested by the developer or its lenders.[12] State law can also bear on it: Wyoming law states that nothing in its Wind Energy Rights Act restricts transferring the surface owner's right to receive payments under a wind energy agreement.[9]
Wind agreements can pay fixed amounts per turbine or per megawatt, royalties based on a percentage of the income from the energy produced, or a combination of the two.[3] Royalty leases often add a minimum payment that serves as a floor in low-production years.[1] Some contracts also pay a one-time amount when turbine construction begins, and a landowner may receive annual payments even when no turbine is sited on the property.[2]
Wind power leases generally have terms of 20 to 40 years, often with an option for extending the lease.[1] Typical option periods before construction last from two to five years.[1] Operating periods generally run 20 to 30 years, and many contracts let the developer renew for another operating period.[2]
Developers commonly seek the ability to transfer a wind lease without the landowner's approval, so the company making the payments can change during the life of the project.[1] Under a Texas agreement covered by Chapter 301, when ownership of the wind power facilities is transferred, the existing decommissioning financial security stays in place until the landowner receives security that meets the statute.[4]
In Texas, a wind power facility agreement entered into on or after September 1, 2019 must make the grantee responsible for removing its turbines and substations, and buried cable to a depth of at least three feet.[5] Under Chapter 301, the agreement must also provide for road removal and, if reasonable, surface restoration at the landowner's request, made no later than the 180th day after the later of the date the facility is no longer capable of generating electricity in commercial quantities or the date the landowner receives written notice of intent to decommission.[4] In Oklahoma, the facility owner must complete decommissioning within twelve months after abandonment or the end of the equipment's useful life.[7]
In Oklahoma, a stop in generation caused by curtailment or repowering does not count toward the 24 months without generation that define abandonment.[7] In a royalty lease, a minimum payment serves as a floor in years when the turbines produce less energy.[1]
Neighbor or participation agreements compensate owners of land adjacent to a project, and compensation for neighbor agreements is typically a one-time, lump-sum payment.[1]
An accounting professional can help a landowner determine the income tax implications of wind agreement payments.[3]
The lease spells out the payments, including how much, when and under what conditions.[1] In Wyoming, a wind energy agreement or a memorandum of it must be recorded with the county clerk.[9] In Oklahoma, each production-based payment comes with a statement explaining its basis.[7]
A common practice is for the operator to provide a summary of gross receipts with each royalty payment and to give landowners access to the data on request.[1] Oklahoma law requires a statement after each production-based payment, by a statutory deadline, and lets a production-paid landowner who allowed a wind turbine foundation on the property inspect records covering the past 24 months.[7]
[1] New York Wind Energy Guide for Local Decision Makers: Land Agreements — New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) (accessed November 1, 2026)
[2] A Landowner's Guide to Commercial Wind Energy Contracts (RE-5-W) — Purdue University Extension (accessed November 1, 2026)
[3] Introduction to Wind Energy Leases (G432) — University of Missouri Extension (accessed November 1, 2026)
[4] Texas Utilities Code, Chapter 301: Wind Power Facility Agreements — Texas Legislature (accessed November 3, 2026)
[5] H.B. 2845 (86th Legislature, 2019), enrolled: wind power facility agreements — Texas Legislature (accessed November 3, 2026)
[6] H.B. 3228 (89th Legislature, 2025), enrolled: wind and solar power facility lease provisions — Texas Legislature (accessed November 3, 2026)
[7] Oklahoma Statutes, Title 17, Sections 160.11 to 160.19 (Oklahoma Wind Energy Development Act) — Oklahoma Legislature (accessed November 3, 2026)
[8] K.S.A. 58-2272: Instruments conveying interest involving wind or solar resources and technologies — Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes (accessed November 1, 2026)
[9] Wyoming Statutes, Title 34, Chapter 27: Wind Energy Rights Act — Wyoming Legislature (accessed November 3, 2026)
[10] Wind explained: Where wind power is harnessed — U.S. Energy Information Administration (accessed November 1, 2026)
[11] Understanding Alternative Energy: Wind and Solar Energy Systems on Texas Rangelands — Texas A&M AgriLife Extension (accessed November 1, 2026)
[12] Planning for Offsite Solar Energy Projects (Issue Paper Series, example solar lease) — New York State Tug Hill Commission (accessed November 1, 2026)
[13] North Dakota Century Code, Chapter 17-04: Wind Energy Property Rights — North Dakota Legislative Branch (accessed November 3, 2026)
[14] Montana Code Annotated 70-17-404: Severance of wind energy rights limited — Montana Legislature (accessed November 1, 2026)
[15] South Dakota Codified Laws 43-13-19: Severance of wind or solar energy rights limited — South Dakota Legislature (accessed November 3, 2026)
[16] Nebraska Revised Statute 76-3004: Interest in wind or solar resource; restriction on severance — Nebraska Legislature (accessed November 1, 2026)
[17] Oklahoma Statutes, Title 52, Section 803 (Exploration Rights Act of 2011) — Oklahoma Legislature (accessed November 1, 2026)
Buckhead Energy buys wind lease payments and wind royalties.
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