Petroplex News

Buddy Gieb founded Texas Landowners Opposing Wind (TLOW) in Brown and Coleman counties so that he and his neighbors could keep each other informed about emerging wind farms. 

Landowners nearby who have already leased their land to renewable energy companies are excluded because they signed non-disclosure agreements that prohibit them from discussing the deal with neighbors.

“Once you sign one of their land lease agreements, you cannot talk to your neighbors about anything you’ve agreed to and you’re tied up four to five years,” Gieb told Petroplex News. “From the agreements I've seen, you’re giving them 100% easement to do anything they want on your property. They can even not put a turbine on it and instead put up some kind of facility or use it to store equipment.”

Texas is the top-ranked state in number of wind farms with 13,180 turbines installed compared to 5,073 in Iowa, 3,966 in Oklahoma and 7,599 in California, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).

“More wind farms certainly could change the whole complexion of this area into an industrial site, which is certainly not what central Texas in the Hill Country has always been thought of,” said Gieb in an interview.

Lack of transparency and aesthetics are two of the downsides that Gieb doesn’t appreciate about wind farms. 

The potential for fires and environmental risk also are among his concerns. On July 13 the Buffalo Gap wind farm burned for four days across Nolan and Taylor counties, according to media reports. Eight days later, on July 21, after the wildfire was contained, a second turbine ignited.

“A lot of birds, including eagles, are killed by wind turbine blades and these wind turbines will render your property unmarketable,” Gieb said. “A realtor will tell you that when someone from out of town is looking for a property, they do not even want to look at the land that has wind turbines nearby. They don't want to deal with the noise.”

Renewable energy companies are given tax subsidies in exchange for contributing to the economy and creating jobs for people in the community. 

Specifically, wind, solar, nuclear and fossil fuels have secured between $13 billion and $37 billion in federal subsidies since 2010, with wind receiving 17 times and solar 75 times more subsidies per unit of electricity generated than the average for oil, gas, coal and nuclear, according to a Life: Powered study called "The Siren Song that Never Ends: Federal Energy Subsidies and Support from 2010 to 2019." 

For example, Texas Business Daily reported that Origis Energy, a company based in Miami, Florida, stands to gain nearly $6.7 million in tax incentives from Ector County and Ector County ISD to build a new solar farm called Rockhound Solar A and $5.8 million for a second solar farm called Rockhound Solar B. Both will be located in Ector County.

The trouble, allegedly, is that most of the renewable energy projects don’t keep their promise. According to Gieb, job waivers are used to navigate around the requirement to employ locally. Outside of construction for the two solar farms in Ector County, for example, only four jobs will be created, according to documents obtained by Texas Business Daily.

“There's no job creation with these projects,” he said. “There's temporary jobs, construction jobs, but most of those are usually filled from outside the area. These projects are not really being used for what they were intended. They can’t meet the minimum job requirement so they get a waiver when they submit the application and it’s signed off on.”