In Oklahoma, wind energy accounted for about 42% of in-state electricity net generation in 2023 and economists estimate landowners across the state collectively get almost $100 million every year in payments. In the first story of a three-part series for NPR’s Climate Solutions Week, Oklahoma reporters dive into the financial impact of the wind industry in rural spaces.
The first thing Kevin Brewer does when he walks out of his house is look at his wind turbines to see if they’re spinning.
“As we're talking and doing this, there's no wind and they're just sitting there not moving,” Brewer said. “Yes, it’s something I look at every day.”
This still day is a rarity where Brewer farms southwest of Watonga. He's a retired Future Farmers of America agriculture teacher and a fourth-generation producer who is in the seed wheat business with his son.
On the windless day, the Brewers work on their combine as his grandsons play in the barn, cows graze and wind turbines stand in the nearby field. Factors like changing commodity prices, input costs and weather play a part in the income of farmers and ranchers.
“If you don't like gambling, you better not get into ag because it is a gamble every day,” Brewer said. “Weather, insects, Mother Nature. It's either too wet or too dry. We're never satisfied with what we got, we’re always wishing for something else on weather and Mother Nature.”
And Mother Nature keeps Brewer busy. For him, farming is in his blood and Brewer said he thinks about his family's legacy on the farm every night.
“I’m one that likes family traditions and things like that, so I feel like I’m taking care of their land, the way I look at it,” Brewer said. “It’s not mine, it’s theirs and I’m just taking care of it. And then I’ll pass it on to my son and grandson for them to take care of it.”
All that caring for an operation takes money, and wind farm companies will pay landowners to use their land. Some landowners use payments to supplement their incomes and rural communities have received money from nearby wind farms. But there’s also pushback to green energy projects, and state lawmakers introduced bills this session aimed at restricting wind industry projects.
About 15 years ago, the Brewers were approached about a wind farm but not enough people signed up for the project. Eventually, there was a bigger push in the area and now they have five turbines, all about a year-and-a-half old and some named after his grandkids.
In all, he said it took about two years for the contract to be worked out and signed. He said concrete had to be put down for cranes to get into the field to build the turbines, and the crops around the structure don't grow as well.
“But I guess you can expect anytime you do something, you’re going to have some damage and like that, but they’ve done their best,” Brewer said. “They’ve done their best.”
One of the reasons they decided to lease their land is because it would provide some steady income that wasn’t a gamble to help pay some bills around the farm.
“There's things I don't like about it, but there's, you know, the process is good too,” Brewer said. “So I'm about 50/50 on them. There are days you wake up mad at them and days you like them.”
Wind turbines financial impact in rural communities
There are only certain places in Oklahoma companies want to put turbines, obviously where it’s windy and near infrastructure to channel the power produced.
For the most part, wind farms are in the western half of the state and according to the U.S. Wind Turbine Database, there are 5,597 turbines in Oklahoma.
The state’s first windfarm was built north of Woodward in 2003, and two years later a wind farm near Weatherford went online. From the city’s town hall, visitors can see wind turbines swish in the distance.
Longtime Weatherford Mayor Mike Brown said when the wind industry began to pick up pace in the area, people did have questions but most liked the idea of getting a payment tower while still being able to farm up to the turbine.
“You know, we've always had some oil wells. We've had some different things on the countryside,” Brown said. “So it wasn't an issue that really scared people.”
Although the industry is still young, the experience has been positive so far. He said that initially, the city benefited because people were spending money in the area while the towers were being constructed. He points to his neighbors in nearby Thomas, a rural community about 17 miles north of the city.
“They received a lot more with these other 300 turbines,” Brown said. “They've got a new gym, a new football, baseball fields are turfed - those types of things that probably a small community couldn't do otherwise.”
Natural gas and wind are responsible for most of the state’s total in-state electricity net generation in 2023, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Natural gas accounted for about 50% and wind provided about 42% of Oklahoma’s total net generation.
Oklahoma State University agricultural law and economics expert Shannon Ferrell says the wind industry has grown massively since the early 2000s.
Wind farm companies have big property tax bills that cycle into local governments. The money from the wind industry comes to local public schools through ad valorem property taxes.
Ferrell said existing wind projects over their lifetime have paid about $945 million in ad valorem taxes so far.
“Everything to date has been about $660.5 million to local schools, 105.6 million to Careertech, 178.8 million to county governments,” Ferrell said. “And then if you move that forward, the breakdowns are fairly similar as to what those projects would pay going forward to an end of life that we assume might be at 2050.”
For landowners, Ferrell said they collectively get an estimated $98.8 million a year in payments.
A pushback from lawmakers
But this year, wind development and broader green energy projects have been heavily criticized by some state lawmakers.
Anti-wind bills were introduced this session amid rallies and community demonstrations opposing infrastructure projects.
Infrastructure projects like transmission lines to meet the state’s growing power demand are being planned in Oklahoma, but some landowners have pushed back against such projects.
In January, a crowd gathered in the state capitol to rally against transmission lines and green energy projects. They listened to speakers including Rep. Jim Shaw, R-Chandler.
“I've been in gas my entire career. I understand why and how that industry has been the backbone of our state for generations,” Shaw said at the rally. “I understand we need energy to live, but we have all the energy we need with reliable oil and gas right here, right now.”
As lawmakers considered wind energy bills, conversations centered on property rights and rural identity.
Sen. Casey Murdock, R-Felt, represents the state’s panhandle.
“There's a picture in my living room that I think is God awful ugly. I said you know what? My wife thinks it's beautiful,” Murdock said. “I said, beauty's in the eye of the beholder. When I see a wind turbine, I see progress, I see development, I see that landowner making money.”
Murdock said he appreciates economic growth and ways for landowners to make more money amid the challenges of farming and ranching.
“It's not that I'm pro wind. It is pro development of rural lands,” Murdock said. “And like I said, we don't get a whole lot out there. But this is an industry that wants to invest. We have the resource. I’m going to protect my landowners.”
This report was produced by the Oklahoma Public Media Exchange, a collaboration of public media organizations. Help support collaborative journalism by donating at the link at the top of this webpage.
