A tale of three counties: Understanding wind development in the rural Midwestern United States

Understanding the context in which local wind farm development has been accepted by the local community is important for meeting the United States' wind energy goals. To further this understanding in the rural Midwest, we investigated three counties in Indiana with varying levels of wind farm development using a mail survey, stakeholder interviews and a review of local newspaper articles and government documents. We found high levels of acceptance for wind energy in general and for local wind farms in all three counties despite the differences in actual development. Multiple statistical methods were employed to identify factors leading to support of wind turbines within the community, but support was so high that no individual factors were identified as statistically significant. The survey and interviews showed that reasons for support of wind energy include economic benefits to the local community, environmental benefits and the protection of the agricultural lifestyle and landscape. Reasons for opposition include concerns about setback distances, impacts on rural lifestyles, and impacts on other types of development. Despite overall community support, the support of the local county governments varied and appears to have greatly impacted wind farm development within their jurisdictions.

► We used a mixed-methods approach to understand acceptance in three Midwestern counties, USA.
► We found widespread community-level acceptance for wind energy and wind farms.
► Support was for financial and environmental reasons.
► No individual factors were identified as significant for support of wind farms.
► The local governments played an important role in the development of wind farms within their communities.