Wind Turbines Coming to Fayette County?

A wind power company, Apex Clean Energy of Charlottesville, Va., has approached dozens of landowners in Fayette County about leasing property for a potential wind energy project. The company had planned to host a landowner dinner at Frisch Auf! Country Club on Thursday, June 13.

They’re calling the project “Mustang Wind.” It has attracted a huge amount of negative attention on local social media. However, the Record spoke with some of the landowners who had been approached by the company, and several of them were interested in hearing more from the Apex representatives.

The Record also spoke with Anna Richey of Apex Clean Energy on Tuesday. Richey said the meeting on Thursday was not open to the public. Richie said the venue cannot accomodate a meeting open to the general public.

Richey said Apex is trying to determine whether a wind project would be feasible in Fayette County. She said the company was not ready to comment about where the project would be located or how big it would be, saying the project was in the very preliminary planning phase.

Based on the location of the landowners we spoke with, it appears that Apex is interested in property north of Schulenburg.

Previously, Apex built a 1,400-acre solar farm in Gonzales County. It operates several other wind and solar projects throughout Texas.

According to the State Comptroller’s Office, Texas has led the nation in wind power generation for the past 17 years. In 2023, wind represented 28.6 percent of the state’s total energy generation, second only to natural gas.