With developers flocking to Wyoming to take advantage of the rising popularity of wind power, residents are banding together to get the most from their land.
Elsie Bacon, a 71-year-old widow who owns a ranch in Wheatland, population 3,500, told Felicity Barringer of The New York Times that she saw firsthand how wind-power companies are working to get cheap access rights to her land. A landman came by her house in July, offering her only a fraction of what her neighbors were receiving: “He said, ‘You sure I can’t write you out a check?’ He was really pushy.”
"While ranchers have always been ready to help their neighbors, they have been less willing to discuss their financial affairs," Barringer writes. "That has made it easier for wind developers to make individual deals and insist that the terms be kept secret." But Wyoming residents are finding that it is to their benefit to have these difficult conversations.
“I thought we could use collective bargaining strategies to maybe have a little more leverage in negotiating with wind developers," said Grant Stumbough, who worked for the Agriculture Department's Resource Conservation and Development office and helped develop one of the first associations in Wyoming, If we could all get together and work together cooperatively and do some cost sharing and maybe share some of the profits, I think it’s going to be a benefit to everybody.” (Read more)
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