Solar farm developers target New York with lease offers
Less than a year after New York banned fracking, dashing the hopes of farmers who had hoped to reap royalties from natural gas leases, the commercial solar industry is courting landowners for energy production.
Buoyed by Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo's renewable energy plan and the extension of the 30 percent federal tax credit in December, solar companies in recent months have blanketed rural areas with mailings seeking leases on farmland for solar arrays spanning 20 acres or more. While some farmers welcome the opportunity to earn up to $2,000 an acre annually for the next 20 years or so, some agricultural advisers, community leaders and lawyers are urging caution.
"These are complex business transactions masquerading as lottery tickets," said Chris Denton, a southern New York lawyer who helped landowner groups negotiate oil and gas leases during the Marcellus Shale gas rush in 2009. "There are unexamined risks and environmental impacts. That's why landowners are banding together again to formulate leases that will protect their interests."
Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2016-04-solar-farm-york-lease.html#jCp
