Wind Power Making Headway in Oil Country

Texas has a number of attributes that make it an excellent draw for wind energy companies.

For one, Texas is thoroughly familiar with the way that natural resource leases work because of its longstanding relationship with the local oil and gas industry. The leases that the General Land Office has signed with WEST are similar to the leases signed with oil companies, with a rent for operations plus a royalty interest on revenue that's generated.

That allows for a smooth process when the state wants to sign an energy deal.

Additionally, the waters offshore Texas are already sprinkled with oil rigs and shipping corridors. Thus, many coastal residents are acclimatized to rigs and tankers along their coast and are less likely to protest against major infrastructure in the water that would be deemed unsightly elsewhere.

This issue recently proved problematic when a company proposed a wind farm called the Cape Wind Project in Nantucket Sound off of Cape Cod, Mass. Residents of the exclusive area, including U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy, joined forces to try to halt its construction.

The next factor results from a quirk in the agreement by which the Republic of Texas joined the U.S. in 1845. That pact allowed Texas to retain sovereign authority of its waters 10 miles out from its coast, as opposed to other coastal states that control their waters only three miles out.