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Acquiring development-stage projects: what you are buying, how deals are staged, what to check, and where the records are

59 sourced entries · Checked October 17, 2026

A development-stage project is a bundle of rights and study positions, most of them conditional. This page sets out what published practitioners and the operators themselves say about that bundle: how prices and milestones are structured, which interconnection steps carry value in ERCOT, what the diligence list covers, where each item can be verified in a public record, and what the market data says about how many projects reach the finish.

Jump to: Stages, what transfers, and how payment is staged · Diligence: what to check · Public records for verification · The market: deal volume, prices and failure rates

Not deal advice. No dollar-per-watt price range appears below because none of the loaded public sources publishes one; where a source describes structure only, the entry says so. Confirm every item against the record named, and with counsel.

Stages, what transfers, and how payment is staged

The two core rights, how purchase prices and milestone payments are typically structured, developer fees, land-agreement terms, and the ERCOT interconnection steps from request to stability assessment.

Our reading, not a sourced statement. The sequence matters more than the label. A project with site control and a completed full interconnection study is a different asset from one with an option and a screening study, even at the same nameplate.

Diligence: what to check

Revenue and basis risk, curtailment, environmental and title items, species and aviation, cultural review, decommissioning obligations, property tax, local siting restrictions, and tax-credit eligibility after the 2025 law.

  • Physical fixed-volume hedges, used in place of a PPA in markets like ERCOT, fix revenue on a P99 shape and leave basis risk with the project owner. (Norton Rose Fulbright Project Finance NewsWire, 19 Jun 2019)
  • Basis risk in hub-settled VPPAs: in Aug 2019 ERCOT North hub hit $9,000/MWh while a node was $1,000; a 300 MW project would have lost $2.4M in one hour. (Norton Rose Fulbright Project Finance NewsWire, 16 Jun 2020)
  • ERCOT curtailed 5% of available wind and 9% of available utility-scale solar in 2022; EIA projects 13%/19% by 2035, with 36% of projected curtailment transmission-related. (U.S. EIA Today in Energy, 13 Jul 2023)
  • Phase I ESAs under ASTM E1527-21 satisfy EPA All Appropriate Inquiries (effective May 13, 2022); components have a 180-day shelf life. (Quarles & Brady, 29 Mar 2022)
  • ALTA/NSPS 2021 survey standards apply to contracts on/after Feb 23, 2021; the wetlands Table A item was removed and can be negotiated back in as Item 20. (Womble Bond Dickinson, 2021)
  • In wind land diligence, severed mineral rights and multiple owners are common issues; a title company can help identify interested parties, and lenders or permitting may require landowner consents or estoppels. (Stoel Rives, The Law of Wind (online edition, © 2026))
  • USACE describes a preliminary JD as non-binding/advisory and usually the most efficient option for a site; an Approved JD is appealable. (USACE Vicksburg District, Regulatory)
  • USFWS IPaC generates an official ESA species list for a project area and may be used by proponents without a federal nexus. (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, IPaC instructions)
  • FAA notice (Form 7460-1, filed via OE/AAA) is required for any structure over 200 feet AGL under 14 CFR Part 77. (FAA, Aeronautical Information Resources (AIR) Section 5-2)
  • Any project with a federal permit, license or funds must be coordinated with the Texas Historical Commission under Section 106; most reviews complete within one 30-day period. (Texas Historical Commission, Project Review FAQ)
  • Texas solar facility agreements: grantee must post financial assurance for removal by the earlier of termination or the 20th anniversary of COD, with cost estimates by the 10th anniversary and at least once every five years. (Tex. Util. Code §302.0005 (via texas.public.law))
  • Texas BESS decommissioning law (eff. Sept 1, 2025) requires financial assurance by the 15th anniversary, versus 20th for solar and 10th for wind leases; waivers are void. (Baker Botts, Jul 2025)
  • Texas Chapter 313 school-tax limitations expired Dec 31, 2022; of 804 projects that submitted reports, 66% are renewable energy projects. (Texas Comptroller, Chapter 313 Report 96-1359, 2025)
  • JETI, the Chapter 313 successor (rules effective Jan 16, 2024), excludes renewable energy projects. (Texas Comptroller, Fiscal Notes, Mar 2024)
  • Chapter 312 abatements (cities, counties, special districts; not school districts) expire September 1, 2029 unless the Legislature renews the chapter. (Tex. Tax Code §312.006)
  • By end-2024 at least 459 counties/municipalities in 44 states had adopted severe local siting restrictions on renewables; 498 contested projects in 49 states. (Columbia Sabin Center, 30 Jun 2025)
  • IRA §6418 credit transfers are made for cash payments; payments are excluded from seller income and non-deductible to buyer; recapture applies proportionately to transferees. (Mayer Brown, 8 May 2024)
  • OBBBA: wind/solar 45Y/48E credits end for facilities placed in service after Dec 31, 2027 unless construction begins by July 4, 2026; Notice 2025-42 removed the 5% safe harbor except small solar. (Orrick, 22 Aug 2025)
  • FEOC/material-assistance (Notice 2026-15): projects under construction by end-2025 need no calculation; non-PFE share must reach 60% for power projects starting 2030+, 55% rising to 75% for storage; supplier certificates may be relied on. (Norton Rose Fulbright Project Finance NewsWire, Feb 2026)
  • Buyers should expect interconnection/deliverability as a common red flag; up to 93% of prospecting-phase capacity may never reach COD, and there is no standard stage-gate framework. (Wood Mackenzie, 7 Oct 2025 (orig. 1 Oct 2024))
Our reading, not a sourced statement. The items that most often change a valuation after signing are the ones with a public record behind them: the interconnection cost report, the deed records, the tax agreement, the county ordinance. Pull them before the price is agreed, not after.

Public records for verification

Where the interconnection, regulatory, land, environmental and corporate facts can be checked without relying on the seller.

  • ERCOT's monthly GIS report is the public source for planned generation; from March 2026 it includes a Transmission Interconnection Costs Report under Planning Guide §5.2.8.4. (ERCOT, Resource Adequacy / GIS Reports page)
  • ERCOT interconnection requests (GINRs) must be submitted and modified through the online RIOO-IS application. (ERCOT, Resource Integration page)
  • PUCT Interchange filings are searchable by control number, case style, utility type/name, filing party, item type and date range. (PUCT Interchange Filings Search)
  • Recorded instruments filed in the proper county give notice to all persons and are open to public inspection; unrecorded conveyances are void against a bona fide purchaser without notice. (Tex. Prop. Code §13.001–13.002)
  • TCEQ Central Registry is the public query for regulated entity numbers, locations and owner/operator contacts. (TCEQ Central Registry)
  • SEC EDGAR provides free public access to filings under the 1933, 1934, 1939 and 1940 Acts. (U.S. SEC, About EDGAR)
  • The Texas Comptroller publishes a table of current JETI agreements with applicant, school district, project type, proposed investment and limitation percentage. (Texas Comptroller, JETI Current Agreements)

The market: deal volume, prices and failure rates

Published counts of project acquisitions, PPA price movement, queue completion and withdrawal rates, and the reasons projects fail, as reported by the analysts and labs that track them.

How this page was made

Each entry is one statement tied to one public page; a second, independent pass loaded every cited page and kept only the statements that page supports. Secondary reports (trade press, law-firm alerts) are cited as what they are. Nothing here is advice, and this site does not rank, recommend or endorse any company; where a third party publishes a ranking, the entry says whose ranking it is. Found an error? Say so and it will be fixed.

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