A group of residents and landowners are calling upon the county commissioners of Callahan and Eastland Counties to reject requests for tax abatements associated with a proposed wind energy project.
The group of 365 people is trying to stop the Ranchland Wind Project from securing tax abatements because they fear a wind energy project in the area will slow economic development, job growth and lower property values.
“The wind energy company must have 25,000 to 35,000 acres of our land to make this a viable project and they must also receive a tax abatement from our counties,” stated the Callahan County Land Owners Against Wind Turbines on GoPetition. “Our goal is to show the vast majority of residents and landowners in these counties are opposed to the project and also are opposed to offering our tax dollars to large corporations to place wind turbines near our homes.”
Ranchland Wind Project LLC was formed in May 2018 as a foreign limited liability by a company in Lenexa, Kansas, according to the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts.
“Unfortunately, since there are no regulations in Texas governing wind projects, there is no avenue for residents to fight a project,” said Lisa Linowes, executive director and spokesperson for The WindAction Group. “They can't stop it.”
As previously reported in the Lone Star Standard, Texas has a liberal land-use policy and most residents like it that way. What groups such as the Callahan County Land Owners Against Wind Turbines can do is advocate against state and local subsidies.
"This project has proposed turbine sites only a few thousand feet away from Cross Plains Public water wells that supplies the city water," said the Callahan County Land Owners Against Wind Turbines in a statement online. "They will be digging into our water aquifer all over the Cottonwood area, potentially causing irreversible damage to our precious water supply."
About $18 billion in subsidies through 2029 include $14 billion from the competitive renewable energy zone transmission lines, $2.5 billion in property tax abatements, $1 billion in grid interconnection costs and $570 million from the renewable energy credit program, according to a report by the Texas Public Policy Foundation.
“I've only seen one wind farm come into Texas without tax abatements,” said Bill Peacock, energy researcher and columnist for The Texan. “If wind farms don't get local tax abatements, they move on to somewhere else in the state or out of state. That's why it's become the focal point of the local battle against renewable energy.”
Callahan County Land Owners Against Wind Turbines did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
“It’s the landowners that are leasing the land to the wind farm developers,” Linowes told the Texas Business Coalition. “They are all being built on private land but many people absolutely do not want wind projects anywhere near them because of the blinking, the noise, the spinning, and the visual blight is horrible.”
According to the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), Texas is an industry leader, providing about 25 percent of the nation’s wind energy.
“There's a significant impact from wind farms on local communities,” Peacock told the Texas Business Coalition. “It affects the social fabric of the county. They sometimes pit neighbor against neighbor, elected officials against citizens and voters, and it certainly disrupts the lives of many people who live within hearing and even within sight of the wind farm. It has a tremendous detrimental effect throughout the area.”
