A Texas state district court in Hale County, Texas recently issued a verdict under Texas state law and determined that wind rights are a severable property interest in the surface estate and therefore, a trespass claim can be brought in violation of these rights. The judge granted the plaintiff’s motion for partial summary judgment but left the damages award to a jury. In a turning point decision, the jury delivered a verdict for plaintiff Ridge Renewables (“Ridge”), granting a damage award exceeding $1 million for the alleged bad faith trespass violations.
The Severability of Wind Rights from a Surface Estate
