Texas landowners get paid 78 million dollars to host turbines as a second wind farm phase advances

A tax vote clears the way for a second wind farm phase

NextEra Energy Resources says it will pay landowners in Limestone and Hill counties a combined 78 million dollars over 30 years to host wind turbines on their land, split between 2 phases of a wind farm it calls Hubbard Wind. That is how much Texas landowners get paid for hosting wind turbines at this project, and it matters now because Hill County commissioners voted 3 to 1 on 23 January 2024 to advance a tax break the second phase needs. Phase 1 has run in Limestone County since November 2021, using 108 turbines for about 300 megawatts, a measure of how much electricity a plant can generate at once. Phase 2, called Hubbard Wind II, would add up to 108 more turbines in Hill County for about 300 more megawatts, bringing the combined project to 600 megawatts, roughly double what Phase 1 alone produces. NextEra says Phase 2 is scheduled to begin operating by the end of 2026, pending local and state approvals.

What Hill County landowners get paid to host turbines

NextEra does not publish what any single landowner is paid. The company says individual payments are negotiated per property and kept private, and that each turbine uses less than 1 acre of land, so a landowner keeps almost all their acreage in crops or grazing while the turbine earns a payment for a tiny footprint. The 78 million dollar total is the only public figure, covering both counties and both phases over the full 30 years the payments run. For safety, NextEra says each turbine shuts itself down automatically once sustained wind passes 56 miles an hour or gusts reach about 100 miles an hour, and gets a maintenance check 1 to 2 times a year with monitoring around the clock from a remote center.

The tax break the second phase still needs

The vote commissioners took on 23 January 2024 was not about the turbines themselves. It created 3 reinvestment zones covering 19,400 acres in Hill County, the area a tax abatement agreement would cover, a deal letting a company pay less local property tax for years in exchange for building a project there. The Lakelander, a local news outlet that covered the meeting directly, reports the second phase is expected to cost 400 million dollars, with construction running from April 2026 to December 2026 once approvals clear. Records filed with the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts show NextEra used the same tool for Phase 1, a Chapter 313 agreement with Hubbard Independent School District that limits how much of the project value the district can tax. The agreement was filed in January 2020 and executed in December 2020, a full year before Phase 1 turbines started running, evidence the tax arrangement was planned before construction, not added afterward.

Opposition at the vote

Commissioner Jim Holcomb of Precinct 1 cast the only vote against moving the tax break forward. Several Hill County residents spoke against the project at the meeting, including Robert Stevens, who moved to a small property near Hubbard. NextEra representative James Jowett told residents the project has been through more than 4 years of environmental study, and that the company will post a decommissioning bond, money set aside to pay for removing the turbines later, required by the state, and a road damage escrow, money held back to repair county roads used during construction, required by the county.

I would not want to live somewhere the lights are flashing all night long in my windows.

Robert Stevens, Hill County resident who moved to a small property near Hubbard. Source 3.