Wind and Solar Leasing in Gilliam County, Oregon

A wind-energy market with two decades of history

Wind development in Gilliam County dates back to the mid-2000s and expanded significantly with the Shepherds Flat Wind Farm near Arlington, an 845-megawatt facility that was among the largest wind farms in the world when construction began in 2009. The Leaning Juniper I and II wind projects, developed by what is now Avangrid, sit alongside Shepherds Flat and other smaller projects across the county's plateau country. Because this market is mature rather than emerging, a landowner approached about a new lease -- or a buyer evaluating land near an existing turbine string -- is dealing with experienced developers, established transmission interconnections, and county officials who have negotiated dozens of these agreements over two decades, not a first-of-its-kind proposal.

That maturity cuts both ways for a landowner. On one hand, lease terms, easement structures, and decommissioning-bond requirements in Gilliam County wind agreements have been refined through years of practice and legal review. On the other, a landowner negotiating a new lease is doing so against developers who already know the market rate for the area -- a strong reason to have any specific lease offer reviewed by an attorney experienced in Oregon wind-lease agreements before signing, rather than relying on this page or general online guidance.

The Strategic Investment Program: why the county's wind tax base isn't what it looks like

A critical fact for anyone evaluating Gilliam County's wind-driven prosperity, or a specific parcel's relationship to it, is Oregon's Strategic Investment Program (SIP), authorized under ORS 307.123. SIP allows certain large capital projects -- wind farms among them -- to negotiate a partial property-tax exemption with the host county rather than paying tax on full assessed value. Under the typical structure, only the first $25 million of a project's value goes onto the regular tax rolls (rising 3% per year over the life of the agreement), with the developer instead paying the county a negotiated annual community service fee, capped at $2.5 million. In March 2025, the Gilliam County Court approved a new SIP agreement with Avangrid covering a repower of the Leaning Juniper IIB facility -- an upgrade reported at $170 to $190 million, involving replacing major nacelle components, lengthening turbine blades, and refurbishing generators to extend the facility's productive life.

For a land buyer, the practical takeaway is that Gilliam County's wind-driven tax revenue and its headline project values are not the same number -- a large share of assessed wind-farm value is capped under SIP agreements rather than fully taxed, with the community service fee substituting for a portion of what full property tax would otherwise generate. Wind property taxes still contributed an estimated $11.9 million to the county in 2020, a substantial sum relative to Gilliam's roughly 2,000 residents, but a specific project's SIP terms (which vary by agreement and typically run 15 years) should be understood before assuming a given facility's assessed value tells the whole revenue story.

What a landowner considering a lease, or a buyer near an existing project, should verify

1. Confirm whether a specific parcel is already under an existing wind lease or easement (these run with the land and typically survive a sale) by checking recorded documents with the Gilliam County Clerk before purchase.
2. For a new lease offer, verify the developer's decommissioning-bond or restoration-fund commitment -- Oregon counties increasingly require this in wind-lease conditions, and it should be a recorded obligation, not just a verbal assurance.
3. Ask whether the specific project is (or will be) under a Strategic Investment Program agreement, since that affects the county's long-term revenue from the project and, indirectly, the level of county services a nearby landowner can expect over the SIP term.
4. Have any lease agreement reviewed by an attorney experienced in Oregon wind-energy leases -- payment structure (per-acre, per-turbine, or production-based), term length, renewal options, and easement scope for access roads and transmission lines vary significantly between agreements and are not standardized.