Establishing and maintaining effective relationships with landowners is a critical part of OneEnergy's solar project development work. In this blog post, OneEnergy's development team presents 3 keys to establishing and maintaining successful landowner partnerships.

#1: Recognize that every landowner is unique.

Every landowner relationship is as unique as the property OneEnergy considers for development. A rancher's land use requirements will differ from those of his neighbor, who may use a portion of her land for mineral production. A development contract with the owner of marginally productive farmland in Maryland will look different than a development contract with the owner of a brownfield site in Oregon. There is no one-size-fits-all solution, so it's critical that OneEnergy take the time to understand each landowner's history, goals, and preferences at the outset.

#2: Be transparent.

Solar development, like any project development process, has risks and contingencies. OneEnergy educates landowners about the key solar development milestones, details the most important challenges and opportunities specific to the property, and lays out the anticipated construction timeline.

#3: Communicate frequently.

Frequent communication is the most vital ingredient to maintaining a productive and respectful landowner-developer relationship. In this spirit, OneEnergy works hard to keep landowners informed and up-to-date on project progress. Landowners are understandably keen to hear development and project viability updates. Moreover, OneEnergy understands that being a good partner means developing a project alongside the landonwer, as he/she continues to operate the land. That requires us to understand and respect land use schedules, to coordinate on-site work in advance, and to treat each landowner as a true partner in development.

If you are a landowner considering leasing a portion of your property for solar development and you would like to learn more, visit our Frequently Asked Questions page: http://www.oneenergyrenewables.com/projects/landowner-faqs.