In its final days of session, the North Dakota legislature passed a bill creating certain requirements for leases or easements for wind energy development that are entered into in the state.
The bill’s requirements for wind leases and easements include: placement of a cover page on every wind lease encouraging the landowner to review the agreement with his or her attorney; negotiations may not be maintained as confidential (although the terms of the final agreement may be kept confidential under a mutual confidentiality provision); the lease may not be signed until at least ten days after it has been delivered to the landowner; and the landowner may terminate the lease if the wind energy facility has not operated for a period of at least three years (unless certain payments are made to the landowner under the lease).