Advocating Against Inappropriate Siting of Industrial Wind Development in a Pristine River Basin (Part 2 of 3)
Rocksprings Val Verde Wind LLC: A Catalyst for Conservation Efforts
In 2017, the first industrial wind project was constructed in Val Verde County by Rocksprings Val Verde Wind LLC, under French company, Akuo. This 149.34-megawatt project, comprising 69 430-foot turbines, was developed with minimal public disclosure, leaving the local community unaware until construction was well underway. The initialization of the project raised concerns about the potential environmental and economic impacts to the region, exacerbated by the lack of transparency surrounding the development. (For an overview of many of the sensitive ecological and cultural resources found in the region, read Part 1 of this series here).
With Devils River Conservancy positioned as a voice for conservation in the region, the unexpected development of the Rocksprings Wind Farm alerted DRC to the need to anticipate and prevent future industrial encroachment to the pristine landscape surrounding the Devils River. This led to the launch of the Don't Blow It, Texas! campaign in 2018, an initiative aimed at educating the public and policymakers about the potential adverse effects of unregulated wind energy projects in sensitive areas like the Devils River Basin. While supportive of renewable energy, the campaign emphasized the importance of thoughtful regulation to prevent ecological degradation. Eventually, the campaign resulted in a new 501(c)4 entity for Don't Blow It, which allowed for increased advocacy and associated fundraising to pursue additional action beyond DRC's capacity as a 501(c)3. This step would become critical in the face of even greater development pressure that was to come.
GH America's Land Acquisitions and National Security Concerns
The projected placement of 700-foot-tall wind turbines in the Blue Hills Wind Development at the highest point in the county would make these the tallest onshore wind turbines in existence in the U.S. Turbines of that height could be visible from up to 50 miles away, and their presence at that altitude would have even more significant impacts to migratory wildlife, dark skies, and Laughlin Air Force Base training operations.
While the Rocksprings Wind Farm was operational by 2018, another project was already on the horizon. GH America, a subsidiary of Chinese billionaire Sun Guangxin's company, Xinjiang Guanghui Industry Investment Group, acquired 10 ranches—more than 130,000 acres—in Val Verde County between 2016 and 2018 with intentions to develop a portfolio of wind and solar projects, and the proposed wind farm on the 15,000-acre Carma Ranch was the first project in the queue (Forbes, 2021). The initial plans for what became known as the Blue Hills Wind Development included 46 turbines, some of which would be 700 feet tall, over 50% taller than Rocksprings Wind Farm's turbines. The greater height of these turbines would also contribute to greater negative impacts related to drilling and cement-filled grout pumping into the fragile limestone karst foundation, along with light pollution, disrupted viewsheds, and other exacerbated consequences to land, wildlife, and people.
This proposal not only renewed environmental alarms regarding further industrial development but also raised new national security concerns due to Mr. Sun's political and financial ties to the Chinese Communist Party and the consequent cybersecurity risks posed by the project's future connection to the state's energy grid and its proximity to Laughlin Air Force Base (LAFB), as well as the U.S. border with Mexico. LAFB is one of two major bases responsible for training U.S. fighter pilots, and the placement of the planned Blue Hills Wind Development turbines within LAFB's military training routes (MTRs) for surface-level flight paths further exacerbated these concerns. Devils River Conservancy, along with local landowners and other supporters, hired national security consultants and lobbyists and collaborated with investigative journalists to bring national attention to both the environmental and geopolitical risks associated with this development. John Hyatt, a Forbes journalist, was instrumental in uncovering Mr. Sun's background and the risks his involvement might pose to the energy grid's cybersecurity. DRC also consulted with and received support and guidance from The Nature Conservancy, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Val Verde County Commissioner's Court, Del Rio Chamber of Commerce, Devils River Association, Lower Pecos Landowners Group, the Shumla Archaeological Research & Education Center, the Military Affairs Association, and members of the national free press. This collective community-driven effort was instrumental in placing roadblocks in the way of this project's progress.
A Breakthrough: Legislative Action
As a result of the collective push, early in 2020, U.S. Senator Ted Cruz attached an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act which proposed greater federal oversight of wind farm development in proximity to military bases (Hyatt, Forbes, 2021). In July of that year, Senator Cruz, along with Senator John Cornyn and Representative Will Hurd, highlighted these issues by sending a letter to US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin warning of the national security risk posed by Mr. Sun's involvement in the Blue Hills Wind Development. They also urged the Department of Defense to reassess the project's implications for Laughlin Air Force Base.
In response to growing apprehensions and the increasing trend of land purchases by foreign companies, Senate Bill 2116 was introduced to the Texas Legislature, sponsored by Senator Donna Campbell. The bill, known as the Lone Star Infrastructure Protection Act, was enacted in July 2021, and aimed to safeguard critical infrastructure from foreign entities linked to adversarial governments, including China. DRC spent considerable time with key elected officials and their staff to ensure SB 2116 became a priority, along with critical supporters such as Mr. Kyle Bass. The enactment of the Lone Star Infrastructure Protection Act was celebrated as a victory for DRC, our partners, and the Devils River Basin community, but there was still more work to be done.
Learn more about the scope of DRC's and others' concerns around the Blue Hills Wind Development in the first two years of the Don't Blow It campaign, including perspectives from landowners, recreationists, biologists, and local leaders. (MacCormack, San Antonio Express-News, 2020).
In conjunction with work on SB 2116, DRC supported addition bills during the 87th Legislature Session related to zoning authority. House Bill 783, sponsored by Representative John Cyrier, proposed giving the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department more input on the proximity of wind farms to state parks and natural areas, and House Bill 623, sponsored by Representative Eddie Morales, was designed to give county commissioners courts the ability to zone for wind farms. Neither of the bills were successfully signed into law, but their introduction did raise awareness about the lack of zoning authority held by local leaders to make decisions about commercial industrial development in their communities. These considerations have only become more important as non-resident investors increasingly view less-developed counties like Val Verde as prime real estate for industrial infrastructure and resource extraction.
““My definition of private property rights is that I can do anything on my land as long as it’s legal, ethical, and doesn’t harm my neighbor.” ”
The Fight Continues: Transition to Greenalia and Ongoing Advocacy
While the Lone Star Infrastructure Protection Act was passed mid-2021, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) failed to immediately terminate GH America’s interconnection requests and block further development by the company. In late 2022, GH America claimed to have sold its interests in the Blue Hills Wind Development to Greenalia—a startup Spanish renewable energy company with no prior history of developing U.S. projects—but the waters were murky when it came to verifying GH America’s complete divestiture. At the time, while records showed GH America had sold the land and transferred project development rights to Greenalia, the deed included financial milestones which Greenalia was contractually beholden to meet by GH America. That, along with GH America’s remaining ties to the project through the original interconnection application, were viewed as a continued violation of the law. Finally, after nearly two years of unnecessary delays by ERCOT to act, landowners of the Ward-Walker Seven Oaks Ranch and Cole Ranch banded together in May 2023 to sue ERCOT for failing to uphold SB 2116 and canceling GH America's application to connect Blue Hills Wind Development to Texas' energy grid (Houston Chronicle, 2023). [If you hit a paywall, click here for a recap of the article.] In response, ERCOT finally pressured GH America to divest the Blue Hills Wind Development completely, along with two solar projects that were also in development on other company-owned properties in the state.
While the transfer of ownership was not ideal in comparison to a complete cancellation of the wind project, particularly in light of the lack of due diligence on Greenalia’s part to understand the challenges of and opposition to the project during the acquisition phase, DRC and our partners continued advocacy efforts with the new company. We engaged with their representatives repeatedly in 2022 to underscore the environmental sensitivities of the Devils River Basin. In January 2023, DRC and the Lower Pecos Landowners Group sent a letter of opposition to Greenalia, citing concerns about ecological damage and negative impacts to local eco- and agritourism, property values, and national security, among other considerations. It also included a resolution by the Val Verde County Commissioner's Court opposing the project. While the letter did blanketly oppose installation of the Blue Hills Wind Development, its authors proposed Greenalia focus on solar development in areas on Carma Ranch that might be suitable for low-impact operations.
The Nature Conservancy’s Site Renewables Map covering Val Verde County, TX. Click to explore.
Then in February 2023, The Nature Conservancy in Texas (TNC) published a press release opposing the Blue Hills Wind Development, due to the project's placement within intact natural habitat and in proximity to protected lands, bat roosts, and endangered and threatened native species, according to TNC's Site Renewables Right map. This online tool "helps inform developers about where they should consider siting solar and wind projects to avoid environmental impacts...[it] can assist companies and communities in avoiding impacts to wildlife and natural areas that we are trying to protect" (TNC, 2023). Later that year in July, after a lack of headway with Greenalia representatives (AP News, 2023), DRC collaborated with The Nature Conservancy in Texas, Audubon Texas, Shumla Archaeological Research & Education Center, Bat Conservation International, and North American Butterfly Association to present a formal letter of opposition to the project's location. Our shared concerns focused on the region’s significance as a critical corridor for migratory birds, bats, and Monarch butterflies, the proximity of Fern Cave to the proposed project—home to millions of Mexican free-tailed bats—and the work that has already been done to conserve over 150,000 acres of this intact Texas landscape, the impact of which would be incontrovertibly undermined by this industrial development.
Concurrently through 2023, DRC participated in the stakeholder input process for a compatible use study commissioned by Val Verde County for Laughlin Air Force Base. Our input shined a light on the need to further evaluate the potential impacts of a second wind farm's construction in proximity to the base, in addition to the benefits of continuing to conserve the surrounding undeveloped land. The final report was published in January 2024, and concluded that, as proposed, the Blue Hills Wind Development would prevent pilots from practicing low-level flying in two highly utilized MTRs (page 6-97; pdf 237/300). Additionally, the report noted how a high density of wind turbines on the landscape can contribute to radio frequency (RF) interference and radar cluttering that may negatively impact flight missions, as wind turbines are a source of RF clutter and can distort radar signal accuracy due to blade rotation. The resulting Doppler shifts can create blind spots by obstructing the radar's field of view and even generate false positives for aircraft in the sky (page 6-67, pdf 207/300). With the Rocksprings Val Verde Wind farm in operation, a second farm in proximity to it and Laughlin Air Force Base could contribute significantly to this effect and potentially compromise base training operations.
In June 2024, Devils River Conservancy submitted a letter to Senator John Cornyn urging him to oppose the renewal of the Department of Defense (DOD) wind turbine mitigation agreement for Laughlin Air Force Base (AFB) with regards to the Blue Hills Wind Development. Our letter highlighted national security concerns tied to the project’s origins with Chinese oligarch, Sun Guangxin, who remains an influence on the project based on contracts revealed during GHA’s litigaiton against Greenalia for breach of contract, a lawsuit they filed in the summer of 2024. We emphasized the threat this project poses to the flight paths of Laughlin AFB, the largest employer in Val Verde County, as well as the irreplaceable conservation and cultural values of the Devils River region. Senator Cornyn’s subsequent letter to the DOD reflected our concerns, in which he called for the cancellation or suspension of the mitigation agreement and urged a thorough investigation into the project’s ownership, national security implications, and compliance with U.S. law.
This screenshot taken 4/15/2025 shows a heat map of wind farms in Texas, with red areas showing more recent installations, and orange and yellow areas representing older projects along the color gradient. Click to explore the US Geological Survey's Wind Turbine Database Viewer and see how these wind projects are both increasing in density and expanding into new regions of the state.
So where do we stand?
Within the past year, DRC has been busy supporting new legislation and preparing for additional steps to mitigate the negative impacts wind energy development can have when inappropriately sited and underregulated. The goal is not to thwart renewable energy initiatives entirely but to ensure they truly do support environmental sustainability as well as the local communities who rely on the persistence of the land's natural resources to thrive.
