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Pipelines and oil and gas lines under a Texas solar project

Updated September 26, 2026 · About 6 minutes

Much Texas farm and ranch land is already crossed by pipelines. Those lines come with rights that usually outrank a new solar or storage lease, so they shape where panels, roads, and fences can go, and what the developer has to negotiate.

Find out what already crosses your land

The Railroad Commission of Texas publishes a public map of oil and gas wells and pipelines (RRC GIS Viewer).
Your title commitment and survey list recorded easements, including pipeline rights-of-way, with their terms. A developer will pull these during due diligence; ask for copies.
Look for pipeline markers along fence lines and roads, and ask the operators named on them for their easement documents.

Why existing pipeline easements matter to a solar project

Pipeline operators need to reach and inspect their lines. An encroachment is placing something in the easement area that may interfere with the operator's rights under the easement agreement (Williams). Operators ask landowners and developers to keep the right-of-way clear of structures and other obstructions and to keep it visible and accessible (Chevron Pipe Line guidelines).

So panels, inverters, fences, and roads generally cannot simply be built over a pipeline. For each existing easement, the developer evaluates whether a consent and crossing agreement is needed, or whether the easement holder will modify its easement to allow the project to cross or overlap it, or narrow a "blanket" easement so it avoids the project (Stoel Rives). Large operators run formal encroachment review processes for this (Kinder Morgan).

What this means for you: land under and beside pipelines may end up as setbacks rather than panel rows, which can reduce the usable acreage a developer will pay for. Ask how the layout handles each line.

Minerals and future wells

If the minerals under your land are owned separately, the mineral owner can use the surface reasonably to develop them, which can mean new wells and flowlines. How that fits with a solar project is covered in mineral rights and solar leases.

If a new pipeline wants to cross your land

A pipeline company's first offer and proposed easement are negotiable. Texas attorneys recommend limiting the easement to one pipeline of a specific size and type, and requiring the company to indemnify you for damage, injuries, or contamination caused by the pipeline (Dawson & Sodd). Pipeline companies with eminent domain authority must also address the easement terms Texas law requires since 2021; see transmission line easements and eminent domain, which covers the same Landowner's Bill of Rights.

If you already have a solar lease or option, tell the pipeline company, and tell the solar developer about the pipeline offer. Both agreements may restrict what the other can do.

Digging near pipelines: the 811 law

Texas's Underground Facility Damage Prevention and Safety Act (Utilities Code Chapter 251) requires anyone planning to dig to notify a one-call center first, and requires utility and pipeline operators to mark their lines (Texas811). Excavators must contact a notification center at least 48 hours before digging (TxDOT), and operators generally must mark their facilities within 48 hours of the notice, excluding weekends and holidays (Utilities Code 251.157). Railroad Commission rules add requirements for digging near pipelines (Texas811). Call 811 before posts, trenching, or road work.

Check a spot

Click your land on the map to get its free land report: flood zone, wetlands, nearest power line, soils, survey location, and the half-mile, 500-acre standout test. In Texas, parcel acreage fills in automatically.

Questions to ask the developer

Which pipelines and easements did your title review find, and how does the layout avoid them?
Will you need crossing or consent agreements from pipeline operators, and who pays for them?
How much of my acreage becomes setbacks around pipelines, and does that change what I am paid?
What happens if a mineral owner needs new well sites or flowlines later?
Who is responsible for calling 811 and for damage to buried lines during construction?

General information from the sources linked above, not legal advice. Pipeline easements vary widely; have a Texas attorney review yours.