Caprock Wind Ranch Tour
Renewable Energy on State Trust Lands
As the United States attempts to wean itself from its dependence on foreign fossil fuels and unsustainable energy sources, the New Mexico State Land Office is playing a pivotal role in the development of clean renewable energy supplies. Commissioner of Public Lands Patrick Lyons is the first land commissioner in the history of the Land Office to lease trust lands for wind, biomass, and solar energy production. Renewable energy projects are principal in the Land Office’s efforts to diversify its portfolio, provide additional sources of support for the trust’s beneficiaries, and create economic growth opportunities and jobs in New Mexico.
Currently, New Mexico ranks twelfth in terms of measured potential wind capability, but eighth for existing wind power generation capacity, second in the nation for solar potential, and provides “significant” bioenergy resources from overgrown range and forests. Wind power is the fastest growing of the renewable energy technologies. In New Mexico nearly 500 megawatts of wind power is being generated, or enough energy to power 250,000 homes, conservatively. When New Mexico reaches fullcapacity, 49,700 megawatts of power could very well be produced. Commissioner Lyons has leased – or optioned for lease – 115,720 acres of trust lands for wind energy development. Wind turbines are operational on 6,756 acres of trust lands and nearly 109,000 acres are awaiting construction or are optioned. The combined earning power of the six wind farms currently under lease approaches $42 million over the course of their prospective 35-year terms. He continues to pursue aggressively other energy companies to locate in New Mexico and right now the Land Office is negotiating with seven companies that have expressed an interest in investing in the state’s wind energy generation portfolio. These applications represent an additional 400,760 acres of trust lands for wind farm development.
Caprock Wind Ranch
The largest developer of wind power in the Southwest leased 1,840 acres of trust lands in 2004 to build the Caprock Wind Ranch 20 miles southeast of Tucumcari in Quay County. The facility consists of 80 turbines – eight of which are located on trust lands – and produces 80 megawatts of power, providing sufficient electricity to serve the year-round average needs of about 26,600 Xcel Energy-served homes across eastern New Mexico, the High Plains of Texas, the Oklahoma Panhandle and southwestern Kansas. The term of the lease is 37 years. The lease payment is $32,000 annually and staff expects the facility to earn $1.18 million for the trust. The beneficiaries earning revenue from the Caprock Wind Ranch lease are Public Schools (41.30%) and New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology (58.70%).
As the United States attempts to wean itself from its dependence on foreign fossil fuels and unsustainable energy sources, the New Mexico State Land Office is playing a pivotal role in the development of clean renewable energy supplies. Commissioner of Public Lands Patrick Lyons is the first land commissioner in the history of the Land Office to lease trust lands for wind, biomass, and solar energy production. Renewable energy projects are principal in the Land Office’s efforts to diversify its portfolio, provide additional sources of support for the trust’s beneficiaries, and create economic growth opportunities and jobs in New Mexico.
Currently, New Mexico ranks twelfth in terms of measured potential wind capability, but eighth for existing wind power generation capacity, second in the nation for solar potential, and provides “significant” bioenergy resources from overgrown range and forests. Wind power is the fastest growing of the renewable energy technologies. In New Mexico nearly 500 megawatts of wind power is being generated, or enough energy to power 250,000 homes, conservatively. When New Mexico reaches fullcapacity, 49,700 megawatts of power could very well be produced. Commissioner Lyons has leased – or optioned for lease – 115,720 acres of trust lands for wind energy development. Wind turbines are operational on 6,756 acres of trust lands and nearly 109,000 acres are awaiting construction or are optioned. The combined earning power of the six wind farms currently under lease approaches $42 million over the course of their prospective 35-year terms. He continues to pursue aggressively other energy companies to locate in New Mexico and right now the Land Office is negotiating with seven companies that have expressed an interest in investing in the state’s wind energy generation portfolio. These applications represent an additional 400,760 acres of trust lands for wind farm development.
Caprock Wind Ranch
The largest developer of wind power in the Southwest leased 1,840 acres of trust lands in 2004 to build the Caprock Wind Ranch 20 miles southeast of Tucumcari in Quay County. The facility consists of 80 turbines – eight of which are located on trust lands – and produces 80 megawatts of power, providing sufficient electricity to serve the year-round average needs of about 26,600 Xcel Energy-served homes across eastern New Mexico, the High Plains of Texas, the Oklahoma Panhandle and southwestern Kansas. The term of the lease is 37 years. The lease payment is $32,000 annually and staff expects the facility to earn $1.18 million for the trust. The beneficiaries earning revenue from the Caprock Wind Ranch lease are Public Schools (41.30%) and New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology (58.70%).
