Avoiding Costly ALTA Survey Update with Owner's Affidavit

As-built ALTA surveys are a standard requirement at post-construction for energy projects, whether wind or solar. TerraPro Solutions was engaged on the refinance of a 44-megawatt wind project in Riverside County for AES Corporation — a project that had been operating for 15 years.

The lender required the requisite insurance coverage, which typically means updating the ALTA survey. However, updating a 15-year-old ALTA survey can take several months and cost tens of thousands of dollars — neither of which was compatible with the refinancing timeline and budget.

TerraPro Solutions identified a creative solution: rather than commissioning a costly and time-consuming survey update, we worked with the client to execute an owner's affidavit. Because AES had been the continuous owner-operator of the project for 15 years, they were in a position to provide the affidavit attesting to the current state of improvements and site conditions.

This approach satisfied the title company's requirements for issuing the necessary insurance coverage — without requiring a full survey update. It required careful coordination with both the title company and the client to ensure the affidavit covered all lender requirements.

The project refinancing closed on time, meeting all required deadlines. The owner's affidavit approach saved the client tens of thousands of dollars in survey costs and months of delay — without compromising the coverage required by the lender.