Attorney questions wind energy lease
A Marshfield attorney warned Curtiss officials last week about the possible pitfalls of signing a lease with a wind energy company looking to install a transmission line on village land.
Marti Machtan, speaking at the request of area resident Fred Schindler, said the 66-page contract presented by RWE Renewables is “long and extremely complicated,” and was written to heavily favor the wind company’s interests.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen one that is this imbalanced, one-sided, and what I think to be unfair to the landowner – in this case, the village,” he said.
RWE Renewables wants to lease 170 acres of village land in order to possibly install an electrical transmission line that would collect energy generated by wind turbines in neighboring townships.
Machtan said he understands why the promise of additional income included in the lease agreement is “super attractive” to the village, but he urged caution before village officials signed it. He noted that term of the agreement is 37 years, so the board must consider how its decision will affect future generations.
“It’s a huge responsibility that you all have for a document that, to me, is heavily in favor of the wind farm and very, very complex and difficult to understand,” he said. In order to do their due diligence, Machtan said board members should understand as much as they can about the contract and have it reviewed by an attorney, which would cost thousands of dollars. He estimated his own fee for negotiating the contract to be between $8,000 and $10,000.
The lease agreement presented by RWE officials promises to provide yearly payments of less than $3,000 for the first seven years and up to $7,800 for the remaining 30 years. This would be for 170 acres of wooded land on the village’s west side and would not involve the installation of any wind turbines.
Machtan said village officials should consider the impact of inflation on the payments throughout the life of the lease.
“I think the village could make more money at a garage sale than what this agreement is offering,” the said.
Machtan pointed out a provision that allows the wind company to withdraw from the agreement at any time, for any reason. The same would not apply for the village, which raised concerns for Machtan.
“They could terminate the contract at any time, so the dollar might be a mirage, but what is real is what’s on the document,” he said. Another cause for concern, according to Machtan, is a provision in the contract which requires the village to waive all claims for the “risks and nuisances associated with electrical energy generation” unless it is caused by wind farm’s “negligence or intentional misconduct.”
“Anywhere there’s electrical generation I believe there has been claims of stray voltage causing animal health problems or milk production issues,” he said. “There are also claims of cancer.”
Under the contract as written, if a village resident claimed to have gotten sick from the electrical line, the resident could not go to the energy company for compensation, leaving it to the village to take on the liability, Machtan said.
“They’re not written for the benefit of the landowner,” he said.”When there are things that are so incredibly difficult to understand, I just think we all need to proceed with a lot of caution.”
Trustee Jon Unruh said he had also read over the contract and encountered several provisions that gave him second thoughts above approving it.
“If they wanted to cut down all of the trees back there, they could do it,” he said. “If it helped wind generation, they could cut down every tree on the property.”
Unruh sent a series of questions to a representative of the energy company about the wind farm project and the contract.
He said a dealbreaker for him would be a provision that allows the company to greatly reduce the amount of land it is leasing, and thus reduce its payments to the village.
“I don’t think that’s something we can do because the money they’re promising they are not contractually obligated to deliver,” Unruh said.
At a village board meeting in December, an RWE representative told board members that the village would receive payments for the full amount of land even if only a small part of it is used.
“Even if we only use a tiny portion of it for the collection line, if you participate with a 170 acres, you would receive compensation for that entire 170 acres,” said Timur Shevket, wind development manager for RWE.
Machtan said he is personally in favor of wind energy and has nothing against the proposed project, but wants to make sure landowners like the village are treated fairly.
“I’m not against the project. I’m not against the energy source,” he said. “It’s just that, when it affects my friends and neighbors, I want them to know what this stuff means and how it might impact them.”
