This is just some of the legal action that Apex Clean Energy, related companies, and successors have been involved in. We will add more as they are discovered. Note that Apex requires all leaseholders to sign very restrictive confidentiality agreements that do not allow them to talk about their problems or complaints and limits their ability to file a lawsuit against Apex or discuss the ones filed by other parties.
ILLINOIS
Apex sold its Hoopeston, IL project to IKEA (the furniture company) and Apex/IKEA failed to pay a vendor for work completed. Their failure to pay resulted in over $2.1 million liens being issued against local farmers and leaseholders [1, 2, 3]. Apex has structured the agreements so that the property of the landowner, not Apex's assets, are at risk if Apex or it's successor defaults.
"Further research on 'Mechanics Liens' reveals there have been Hundreds of Millions of Dollars worth of Liens filed in County Clerk’s offices across the United States and Canada since 2007 against properties under contract with various Big Wind LLCs [9]."
OKLAHOMA
Seven land owners are suing Apex Wind Construction LLC and related LLCs in order to prevent wind turbines from being built near their homes.
The plaintiffs all live within three miles of the planned wind farm and own property within the "no-build" zone of the planned locations of the wind turbines, the suit says.
As a result, Industrial Wind Turbines, by their own safety standards, create a de facto "no-build" zone in a 1,500 radius surrounding the turbine, according to the suit. In many instances, this "no-build" zone overlaps with the property of landowners who have no agreement with the defendants, the suit says.
"This invasion of plaintiffs' right to use and enjoy their property requires defendants to obtain an easement from the landowner that restricts their ability to construct upon any property within the [1,500] feet of the Industrial Wind Turbine," the complaint states. "Otherwise, defendants' Industrial Wind Turbines will interfere with plaintiffs' ability to use their property as they wish safely." [7, 8]
OKLAHOMA
An oil and gas company, operating dozens of oil and gas wells across the area of Kingfisher Wind, filed a lawsuit against Apex for not following the state law regarding notice. The construction details were not released to the company until 3 days before Apex planned to break ground on the project. “While the map depicts various general elements of the facility, it is impossible for oil and gas operators to discern where, specifically, each component of the facility will be located relative to roads or other infrastructure present on the surface of the lands, including any ... wells, production facilities, flow lines, gathering lines, pipelines and other upstream and midstream facilities,” the lawsuit said [4].
OKLAHOMA
Another local business, crop-dusting in the Kingfisher Wind area for over fifty years, sued Apex and its business partner for planning to construct a 90-foot tall electricity transmission line. The transmission line would restrict the crop-dusting flights, which is a significant threat to their business and livelihood [5]. Leaseholders and non-participants both rely on crop-dusting to protect their crops, but Apex did not act in the best interests of the residents of the community.
Despite promising to be a good neighbor, Apex sold the Kingfisher Wind project before construction was even complete [6].
