Community Wind - Resources
"Locally Owned Energy Projects: From Conception to Completion" by David Kolsrud
Publication by a developer/farmer/consultant on all the factors to consider and steps to take in proceeding with a community-owned renewable energy project. The paper is aimed at projects in general and is not specific to wind energy. The information is presented in more of a check-list format, rather than as explanations of each step.
"Community Supported Wind Power" from Mother Earth News
This June/July 2007 article in Mother Earth News covers the basics of community wind and talks about the challenges to community wind in the U.S.
Click here to read the article on the Mother Earth News website.
"Broadening Wind Energy Ownership by Changing Federal Incentives" from the New Rules Project
This April 2008 report from the New Rules Project discusses how simple changes to the federal production tax credit (PTC) and SEC registration process for cooperatives could significantly reduce barriers to community ownership of wind.
Download the report from the New Rules website here: http://www.newrules.org/de/ptc-wind-ownership.pdf
"Wind Energy Guide for County Commissioners" from NACO
This guide from the National Association of Counties was released in November, 2006. According to the NACO website, "this publication is designed to provide county commissioners, planners,
and other local county government officials with a practical overview
of information required to successfully implement commercial wind
energy projects in their county."
Wind Energy Siting Handbook from AWEA
According to the AWEA website, "The Wind Energy Siting Handbook was developed by the AWEA Siting Committee to inform wind energy developers and other interested parties about environmental siting issues relevant to land-based commercial-scale wind energy project development in the United States.
GLRWEI Webinar #1: The Basics of Wind Energy - Sept 9, 2007
Click here to view the recorded webinar.
Click on these links to download the powerpoint presentations without audio:
Community Wind Webinar from the Mid-Atlantic/ Southeastern Regional Wind Energy Institute - January 14, 2008
Windustry's own Lisa Daniels and Rebecca Pilcher-Cleland were two of the speakers for this webinar aimed at people interested in Community Wind in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern states.
Also presenting were representatives of the Hull Wind project in Hull, MA.
Kansas Community Wind Toolkit
This resource from the Kansas Corporation Commission is an Xcel spreadsheet that steps through the ins and outs of community wind in Kansas, including extensive discussion of areas with good potential for community wind development.
Community Wind in Kansas - 2008 Interview with Dan Nagengast
In this interview with the Climate Energy Project, Dan Nagengast of the Kansas Rural Center talks about community wind opportunities in Kansas.
New Report from ILSR: "Minnesota Feed-In Tariff Could Lower Cost, Boost Renewables and Expand Local Ownership"
This January 2008 policy brief from the New Rules Project of ILSR highlights how several European countries, and more recently the Canadian province of Ontario, have adopted a simple yet powerful strategy to expand renewable energy and benefit local economies. It is called a feed-in tariff: a mandated, long-term premium price for renewable energy paid by the local electric utility to energy producers. Evidence shows that a feed-in tariff achieves greater results at a lower cost than do other strategies like tax incentives or renewable electricity standards.
Click here to go to the New Rules Project website and download a copy of the report.

