Thiel 1
Jenna Thiel
Dr. Vivian Foss
English 300 Sect. 12
1 May 2016
Bending the Wind: Community Acceptance of Wind Farm Development Outweighs
Economic Benefits
As the fastest growing energy source, wind turbines provide a clean and
nonpolluting form of electricity. According to Energy.Gov the United States ranks second
in the world for installed wind capacity, equal to nearly 4.9 percent of its total electricity
demand. Wind power, like other reliable forms of renewable energy, is needed as an
alternative to the use of fossil fuels. Wind turbines come in a large variety of sizes, and
are often grouped together to generate bulk electrical power.
According to Culture Change, the average US household requires about 10,000
kilowatts of energy per year and the average wind turbine (4.7 million kilowatts)
generates enough energy to power 470 homes. The largest machine has a blade span
larger than the length of a football field, stands more than 20 building stories high, and
generates enough to power about 1,400 homes (Wind Energy Basics). The wind is used
to “harvest” energy to generate mechanical power that can then be used to grind grain,
pump water, and power local schools, businesses, and homes. By addressing the
difficult competing factors that local communities face when a wind farm is brought to
their community, we find public acceptance, rejection, corruption, and whether or not the
wind farm has made a difference in the community.
Thiel 2
When the idea of a wind farm is first brought to a community it may be for one of
two reasons: the investors identified the community/site as having good potential or the
community reached out to developers to bring in economic revenue to the community.
But first, in order to successfully site a “proper” and “functioning” wind farm there must
be adequate wind, land rights, permits, financing, transmission capacity, and an investor
for the wind farm site (Anderson).
When a community is identified as having potential by an investor or developer,
there is often much more hidden community opposition to the idea. However, just as
Nicholas Confessore states in his article in the New York Times, wind farms can bring
new jobs, cutting edge energy and technology, and increased tax revenue to the
community, and those circumstances may result in corruption (A16). Local governments
that often encouraged wind power were found to have been generally more supportive
of “new things and activities” in their community (Johnsen Rygg, 173). Often times, once
a community is targeted developers often surge forward into the beginning development
