Wind energy development is expanding rapidly, creating many opportunities for communities to participate in wind development. Windy acreage, once cursed for losing top soil, is now seen as a potential goldmine. Many farmers and landowners are clamoring to get in on the action. Wind energy offers many financial, environmental, and social benefits to the communities and individuals who choose to get involved with its development.
This report reviews various business structures for community wind development, reviews previous studies on the economic impact of both wind development in general and the relative impacts of corporate and community wind development, and investigates the specific case of the economic impact of community vs. corporate wind development for a multi-turbine project in Big Stone County, Minnesota.
Mason City, IA has this ordinance related to zoning of wind projects. Click on the link below to view the ordinance.
Several counties in Southwestern Minnesota have developed a model zoning ordinance wind systems under 5MW for other counties in the state to refer to. A downloadable version of this Model Wind Ordinance is available along with a Companion Document to the Minnesota Model Wind Energy Conversion Ordinance.
Wind monitoring equipment and software for wind resource assessment.
366 Summer Street
Somerville, MA 02144
(617) 776-8520
Wind resource assessment technology and equipment
P.O. Box 0509
Hinesburg, VT 05461
(802) 482-2255
Minnesota’s original (2005) Community-Based Energy Development (C-BED) legislation offers some important benefits to community wind projects, but understanding how it works can be a little challenging. This article will try to explain the major aspects of the C-BED program and illustrate how community projects are helped with a simple example.
The FAA has a very nice long range radar tool where you can enter the latitude and longitude of any point in the U.S. and find out if development in that area will significantly impact radar operations. Check out your site today!
Perspectives on an NWCC/NREL Assessment of Distributed Wind offers a summary analysis of distributed wind generation in Europe and what lessons the European system offers for distributed generation in the U.S. The paper discusses many of the issues and benefits related to distributed wind generation.
The Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency (DSIRE) is a comprehensive database of incentives for wind and other forms of renewable energy. It is a great resource for up-to-date policy information.
