LSU Journal of Energy Law and Resources Volume 7 Issue 1 2019 8-5-2019 Is There a Future for Wind Energy in the Bayou State? The Answer, My Friend, Is Blowin' In The Wind Patrick S. Ottinger Repository Citation Patrick S. Ottinger, Is There a Future for Wind Energy in the Bayou State? The Answer, My Friend, Is Blowin' In The Wind, 7 LSU J. of Energy L. & Resources (2019) Available at: https://digitalcommons.law.lsu.edu/jelr/vol7/iss1/5 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Reviews and Journals at LSU Law Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Journal of Energy Law and Resources by an authorized editor of LSU Law Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Is There a Future for Wind Energy in the Bayou State? The Answer, My Friend, Is Blowin’ In The Wind* Patrick S. Ottinger TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction...................................................................................... 3 A. Wind in our History and Culture ............................................... 4 B. What is Wind? ........................................................................... 5 C. Source of Relevant Material ...................................................... 6 I. The History of Wind Energy............................................................ 7 A. Wind Projects in Louisiana........................................................ 9 II. Legislative and Regulatory Framework ......................................... 11 A. Federal Law..................................................................................11 1. United States Fish and Wildlife Service ........................... 11 2. Federal Aviation Administration....................................... 14 3. United States Army Corps of Engineers ........................... 15 4. United States Department of Defense ............................... 15 5. United States Department of Commerce........................... 16 6. Federal Communications Commission ............................. 17 7. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission .......................... 17 B. State Law ................................................................................. 18 1. Regulatory......................................................................... 18 2. Statutory ............................................................................ 19 C. Local Law................................................................................ 20 III. Components of a Wind Energy Project.......................................... 21 A. Identification of Potential Wind Corridor................................ 21 B. Assembly of Land Footprint.................................................... 22 C. Siting and Meteorological Evaluation Towers ........................ 23 Copyright 2019, by PATRICK S. OTTINGER. The author is a member of the Louisiana and Texas Bars and serves as an Adjunct Professor of Law at the Paul M. Hebert Law Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He is a frequent lecturer and author on oil and gas matters, and delivered a paper on the topic of wind energy at the “Symposium on Disruptive Technologies” sponsored by the Journal of Energy Law and Resources on February 23, 2018, at the Paul M. Hebert Law Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. 2 LSU JOURNAL OF ENERGY LAW AND RESOURCES [Vol. VII IV. Arguments Against a Wind Energy Project— Fact or Fiction? ...................................................................................24 A. Wind Turbines Result in Unnecessary Death or Harm to Birdlife ..........................................................................25 B. Wind Turbines Are an Eyesore Adversely Affecting the Aesthetics of the Area ...........................................26 C. Wind Turbines Constitute a Nuisance, Actionable Under Applicable State Law.....................................27 D. Wind Turbines Create “Shadow Flicker” and “Ice Throw”..................................................................................28 E. Wind Turbines Emit Interfering Electromagnetic Signals .......................................................... 29 F. Wind Turbines Impede or Interfere with Agricultural Activities ............................................................. 29 G. Wind Turbines Cannot Withstand a Hurricane or Other Significant Weather Event......................................... 30 H. Wind Energy Projects Increase Greenhouse Gas Emissions.......................................................................... 31 V. The Wind Lease ............................................................................. 32 A. Classification of Wind Under Louisiana Law ......................... 32 B. Characterization of a Wind Lease Under Louisiana Law ......................................................................... 36 C. Customary Provisions in the Wind Lease................................ 37 1. Term of Lease ................................................................... 37 2. Siting of Facilities ............................................................. 38 3. Maintenance of Facilities .................................................. 38 4. Responsibility for Taxes .......................................................38 5. Liens and Privileges ..............................................................39 6. Transfers of the Lease ....................................................... 39 7. Termination, Default, and Remedies....................................39 8. Restoration of Property .........................................................39 9. Insurance and Indemnity.......................................................40 10. Royalties and Other Payments..............................................40 11. Resolution of Disputes ...................................................... 41 12. Lender Protection.............................................................. 41 13. Other Provisions................................................................ 42 D. The “Doctrine of Accommodation”......................................... 42 VI. Marketing of Wind Energy ............................................................ 45 A. Federal Incentives.................................................................... 46 B. Role of Regional Transmission Organizations ........................ 46 2019] IS THERE A FUTURE FOR WIND ENERGY IN THE BAYOU STATE? 3 C. Traditional and Newer Revenue Sources for Wind ..................................................................... 47 VII. Financing of a Wind Energy Project .............................................. 48 A. Customary Documentation ...................................................... 48 1. Project Documentation...................................................... 48 2. Financing Documentation ................................................. 48 Conclusion...................................................................................... 49 INTRODUCTION In an article published in the Journal of Energy Law and Resources,1 your author chronicled the earliest days of the oil and gas industry in Louisiana, particularly as they relate to the remarkable work of the courts of Louisiana in formulating a body of law to address legal issues arising in that nascent industry. Therein, your author characterized the participants in that emerging industry—both “oil men,” lawyers, and judges—as “pioneers.”2 The use of the term “pioneer” was to capture or elucidate the notion that a new industry (of immense importance, one might add) was developing without the benefit of a legal framework to assist courts in the adjudication of a panoply of legal issues presented in those early days. Our “pioneers” of that day, devoid of any legal tools or guidance whatsoever, advanced this legal argument in pursuit of a judicial resolution of a novel issue of law. Might the Bayou State, even a century and a decade and a half after its first commercial oil and gas well,3 soon constitute a new frontier in the pursuit of energy, calling forth a new generation of “pioneers” to harness the wind? This Article examines that question, beginning with an examination of the history of wind and its development and use as a source of energy, as well as some of the challenges faced by a wind developer. The regulatory schemes to which wind projects are subject is also 1. Patrick S. Ottinger, From the Courts to the Code: The Origin and Development of the Law of Louisiana on Mineral Rights, 1 JOURNAL OF ENERGY LAW AND RESOURCES 5 (2012). 2.Id., Part II.D. 3. On September 21, 1901, the first oil well in Louisiana, the Jules Clement No. 1, was successfully completed in a rice field on the “Mamou Prairie” in the community of Evangeline near Jennings. 4 LSU JOURNAL OF ENERGY LAW AND RESOURCES [Vol. VII considered, and undertakes an analysis of the legal framework in Louisiana in which a wind project would be developed. A. Wind in our History and Culture An unchallengeable proposition is that the wind is older than civilization itself. Numerous references to wind can be found in the Bible: Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD swept the sea back by a strong east wind all night and turned the sea into dry land, so the waters were divided.4 He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens, and by His power He directed the south wind.5 For behold, He who forms mountains and creates the wind, and declares to man what are His thoughts, He who makes dawn into darkness, and treads on the high places of the earth, The Lord God of