Poster Spotlight: Recognizing the Economic Impact of Proper Siting in the Land Acquisition Process: The Causal Interplay of Stakeholders, Value, and Constructability

Description and Background: The Renewable Energy Industry is somewhat apart from other industries in the Energy Sector in that it has far greater options when selecting potential sites for project development than do industries tied to the presence and accessibility of specific geological or mineral features. While this broadens the total number of possible sites, it also obscures the specific tracts and locations best fit for project, development, and market needs. There is a need to consider and appreciate the economic impact and value of the several and varied current land uses already in place on a given tract, the competing demands of rival industries and stakeholders with their unique project economics, and the associated access, permitting, transmission, and construction costs attendant to bringing a particular tract into a project as opposed to one of several alternate sites.

A discussion of the following points will be provided:

- The value of pre-project stakeholder analysis and subsequent outreach to key supporting partners and appeasing or avoiding identified opposition groups.
- Site access, ingress and egress, and the associated potential easement issues.
- The need to review, identify, and understand existing land uses and their associated revenue streams.
- Understanding the surface, mineral, and potential leasehold ownership issues which will affect a developer’s ability to occupy and use a given tract of land.
- Understanding the proposed or potential economic value of a tract of land for competing land uses and how they compare to your project’s value.
- A review of the potential impact this sale or lease might have on the landowner to better understand their needs and concerns during the acquisition process.
- The need to complete this process and analysis prior to landowner outreach in an effort to avoid or ameliorate landowner fatigue.