Wind-Farm Windfall

Fayette County Schools to Reap Benefits of New Turbine Development Far Away

Last Thursday the Fayette County Commissioners Court approved a lease agreement with the renewable energy company Engie for wind turbines on the County’s school land in Baylor County. The deal will bring hundreds of thousands of dollars to public schools in Fayette County over the next eight to ten years and possibly much more in the decades to follow.

In the early days of the Republic of Texas and later the State of Texas, the Legislature granted thousands of acres of what was then wilderness to the counties. Early Texas leaders recognized the need for public schools. At the time, Texas was financially poor but rich in land. Proceeds from these school lands were dedicated by law to the establishment and support of public schools.

Many Texas counties that received school lands have since sold their acreage. Fayette County, however, has always kept its school land, which amounts to roughly 4,200 acres in Baylor County Over the years, Fayette County has leased the land for hunting and ranching. Many years ago there were some oil wells on the property. But the oil industry in Baylor County has since dwindled. Cattle and hunting leases currently generate $75,600 annually. Those leases are up for renewal next year.

The money from the school land is split among the five independent school districts in Fayette County based on enrollment. La Grange ISD gets the largest share, about 47 percent or roughly $36,000, according to La Grange Superintendent Andy McHazlett.

In 2024, Engie approached the County about leasing the Baylor County land for a wind farm. The County entered negotiations with the company, initially through the Fayette County Attorney’s Office. County Attorney James Herbrich brought on an outside attorney who specializes in wind farm leases, Chris Nichols of the Lubbock-based firm Brady and Hamilton.

Nichols gave a presentation to the Commissioners Court last Thursday about the lease terms that Engie was prepared to accept. The terms divide the lease into three phases: a six to eight year development phase, a two to three year construction phase and a 60-year operational phase.

“Over 60 years, the amount of revenue that the county could receive is … substantial is an understatement,” Nichols said.

Nichols said the County would collect $63,000 a year from years one through six of the development phase. During that time, Engie will conduct studies on the land and decide where to place the windmills. The lease includes an option to extend the development phase up to two years, in which case the lease fee would increase to $73,000 for years seven and eight. The County could collect up to $492,000 over those eight years.

Nichols said the construction phase would begin as soon as Engie builds the foundation for at least one windmill. At that point, Engie would pay the County $84,000 annually, which amounts to an additional $251,000 if construction lasts all three years.

Once the wind farm starts to generate electricity, terms of the lease stipulate minimum annual payments of $5,000 per megawatt of nameplate capacity. There will also be a “generation royalty” of $1.75 per megawatt hour. Engie will pay the generation royalty when the power production exceeds the minimum royalty.

Nichols said the nameplate capacity of standard windmills range from 3.5 to 5 megawatts. Accordingly, each windmill would generate $17,500 to $25,000 annually at a minimum.

Two representatives from Engie were at the Commissioners Court meeting – Milton Hernandez and Rodney Simpson. The two of them said they could not estimate how many windmills the property could accommodate before the studies that would take place during the development phase.

Nichols said terms of the lease stipulate that ranching and hunting operations would be able to continue during the operational phase. Simpson said Engie may request a pause on hunting activities while construction takes place. County Judge Dan Mueller asked Sheriff Keith Korenek and retired Pct. 2 Commissioner Luke Sternadel to describe the landscape at the Baylor County property. The two of them visited the place a few years ago to settle a dispute between the ranchers and hunters who use the property.

Korenek described the climate as “a half-click below a desert.”

“There weren’t a lot of signs of deer there,” Korenek said. “I don’t know why they have deer hunters. You didn’t see any scat from the deer to speak of. I think we saw one track. And the cattle owners – I don’t know how in the heck he’s raising cattle up there. There wasn’t much more grass there than on this courtroom floor.”

“The Sheriff is correct,” Sternadel said. “It’s basically all covered in mesquite trees.”

Sternadel said the perimeter fence is in dire need of a replacement.

“Fayette County has not invested anything in the perimeter fences of property, he said. “Normally the landowners share the cost of replacing the fence or repairing it, and none of that has been done to my knowledge. That could get to be a pretty good expense for the County or the school districts, or whoever, in the near future. The amount of money that’s coming in from it right now wouldn’t go very far to put up a mile of fence down each side of that property.

“There are a lot of gullies and washouts in there,” Korenek said. “It would be a challenge.”

Pct. 4 Commissioner Drew Brossmann asked the Engie representatives about the current political climate surrounding clean energy and whether President Donald Trump’s stance against wind energy would affect the project.

“As far as the current administration goes, we’ll go through at least another (administration) before this one goes to the permitting phase,” Simpson said. “We don’t know what that brings.”

“We will probably see another administration with a different perspective and kind of try and move things through there,” Hernandez said. “We do try and prepare accordingly to make sure that everything that we are planning follows also the timelines and the guidelines that are implemented by whichever administration is in place.”

The discussion at the meeting was quite lengthy. In the end, County Judge Dan Mueller said he supported signing the lease.

“It’s our court’s responsibility to govern this property for the benefit of the schools as best we can,” Mueller said. “And I think some good questions were asked here today. Obviously this is a big step, but boy howdy, wouldn’t this be a shot in the arm for all of our school districts? So I’m leaning towards that this is something that the county should do, especially given the advice of legal counsel.”

Pct. 1 Commissioner Jason McBroom moved to approve the lease. Pct. 3 Commissioner Harvey Berckenhoff seconded it. The motion passed unanimously.