The windy city : harnessing power in the neighborhood landscape

Abstract

As wind power has spread in North America, so has an awareness that community acceptance will largely determine whether this renewable energy source continues to grow. Despite apparently widespread popular support for wind energy, a number of proposals for wind farms in rural and offshore locations have been derailed by local concerns. Meanwhile, several towns and cities have begun to explore another possibility: siting wind projects in urban areas. This thesis provides a framework to help readers compare the stories told about wind power in cities to the experiences in rural or "pristine" locations. It asks: 1) What are the motivations for wind power development in the urban context? 2) Does the community and political response to wind power in towns and cities differ from the experience in rural or offshore settings? To answer these questions, I investigated wind energy projects in Hull (Boston, MA region), Toronto (ON), Palmdale (Los Angeles, CA region), and Lackawanna (Buffalo, NY region). Based on a review of existing literature on rural wind siting controversies, I anticipated that local opinions about urban wind power would be formed primarily by expectations about the urban skyline and natural landscape, choice of ownership models, and the extent of meaningful community participation in the planning process. I found that while many of the factors highlighted in research on rural wind siting did affect community acceptance in the four cases, the greater social and spatial complexity of the "local" urban environment created new challenges. I conclude that 1) stories about urban wind power's costs and benefits diverged at the neighborhood scale and city scale;

(cont.) 2) the use of degraded and industrial sites helped in siting turbines, but did not guarantee success due to the multiple interpretations of even these sites; 3) "local" ownership did not necessarily quell controversies over siting; and 4) political dynamics that were largely unrelated to the specific projects strongly influenced communities' receptiveness to proposed wind development. I suggest several strategies to help cities plan for urban wind power initiatives at a larger scale that are equitable and provide meaningful environmental and economic benefits.