On September 28, 2019, students from The University of Texas School of Law (Texas Law) and Texas Tech University School of Law (Texas Tech) toured of the Sweetwater Wind Warm, one of the largest wind farms in the world. The tour was led by Rod Wetsel, a recognized leader in wind energy and a former adjunct professor at Texas Law. (Professor Wetsel currently teaches wind law at Texas Tech.) During the tour, the students first listened to a presentation on wind turbine operation by the project manager at Leeward Wind Energy. They then got a presentation on wind turbine power monitoring and went inside an operation wind turbine. After leaving the wind farm, they visited 69 Ranch, which has over 100 wind turbines covered by one of the first wind leases in Nolan County. At Ranch 69, the students heard presentations on the impact of wind energy on the Sweetwater and West Texas economy by the director of Sweetwater Enterprise for Economic Development and local landowners in the surrounding wind projects. The wind tour concluded with a driving tour to observe E.On’s Roscoe Wind Project, the third largest wind farm in the world. The students got to network with attorneys and others involved in wind energy over a BBQ lunch. The wind tour will be a great complement to a master wind class being led by Wetsel at Texas Law on October 18th. (RSVP here.) During the master class, Wetsel will train Texas Law students on how to negotiate and draft a wind lease, with a look at wind energy in international and comparative law perspectives. The master class and the wind tour were made possible by the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation and Wetsel, Carmichael, Allen & Lederle.
Here’s what Texas Law students had to say.
“As a student the trip was not only informative about technical issues that lawyers need to consider when structuring transactions but it also impressed upon me the necessity of having a cordial relationship with all the parties involved especially the landowners. That importance cannot be realized from sitting behind the desk.”
-Humzah Yazdani, LL.M. Candidate 2020 and 2019-2020 Fulbright Scholar from Pakistan
“The trip was a wonderful opportunity to see the tangible impact of how wind energy affected a community. To see how a huge wind farm was integrated into West Texas ranch life really helped my understanding of how energy projects can impact real people on the ground.”
-Connor Kilgallen, LL.M. Candidate 2020 (from Ireland)
“The tour to the Sweetwater Wind Farm has been an amazing experience! It was the first time that I have visited a facility related to a renewal energy project. This experience has allowed me to have a better understanding about the wind power industry and the different variables needed to operate a project of this category. I was also surprised about the large number of wind turbines operating in the area and the capacity of energy they can annually produce. Also, it was great to meet some landowners and company’s representatives who shared their views about the importance to work together in the development of this business and the care of the environment. I hope that more renewals energy projects like this one can continue develop and expand in Texas and in many other places of the U.S”.
-Cecilia Cahuayme Zuñiga, LL.M. Candidate 2020 and 2019-2020 Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation Scholar from Peru
“I am very happy that I visited the Leeward Wind Energy at Sweetwater Wind Farm I on 28 September 2019. I learned a lot! Namely, I understood how wind turbines operate and generate electricity, the technologies that the operator uses to monitor operations and transfer electricity to the transmission system and many other things. I believe that any lawyer specializing in energy law should understand various technological aspects in order to be able to advise properly on wind-turbine or electricity contracts and represent effectively contractors in any court or arbitration dispute. Additionally, I wanted to see whether wind power plans have any impact on the environment. I was nicely surprised that I did not hear any noise produced by the powerful rotor grades and I could not observe any substantial impact on animals. I particularly liked the visual impacts that the wind turbines had on the landscape. I would absolutely recommend this tour to my friends and colleagues!”
-Raimonda Kundrotaitė, LL.M. Candidate 2020 (Lithuania)