is wind energy right for your...

Is Wind Energy Right for your Township?

MTA Annual ConferenceApril 11, 2017

Sarah Mills, PhD

What I’ll cover• Overview of wind development

• Surveys of landownerso Individual impactso Community impacts

• What should you consider?

2

Utility-scale windfarms in Michigan

• 900+ turbines– 1,600 MW (425,000 homes)

• 8 counties

Wind Development 101• Zoning constraints

• Landowner paymentso Disturbanceo Royaltyo Participation/friendly neighbor

• Property tax paymentso ~$20M per year statewide

Survey DataWhen, who, and where

& what did I find?

5

2016 Community Survey

• Owners of land assessed ag or residential

• 10 townships with windfarms

• 2,013 responses (53% response rate)

• Funded by C.S. Mott Foundation

2014 Farmland Survey

• All owners of land assessed ag

• 14 townships– 9 with windfarms– 5 without

• 1,210 responses (53% response rate)

• Funded by Dow Fellowship

Things to keep in mind • Not all respondents live in township

o Even if they do, some live far from turbines

• Results not weighted; more populous townships more represented

• Margin of error: ±1.5%

Overall drivers of attitudes

• Being within earshot of turbines

• Type of land owned o secondary vs. primary residence o farmland /rental property only

• Direct compensationo Some better than noneo $1,000 per year as key threshold

9

Individual‐level Impacts

• Noise• Visual• Health• Property value• Farm income• Farm succession

10


40 47 38

1218

10

29 22 31

1912

21

All Paid Unpaid

Turbines create noise pollution

StronglyagreeAgree

StronglydisagreeDisagree


11


39 46 37

1222

10

25 19 27

2414

27

All Paid Unpaid

Turbines create visual/aesthetic problems

StronglyagreeAgree



12


49 47 50

23 37 19

18 9 219

810

All Paid Unpaid

Turbines cause human health problems

StronglyagreeAgree



13


36 46 32

1019

7

30 21 33

2414

27

All Paid Unpaid

Turbines decrease nearby property values

StronglyagreeAgree



14


0 100000 200000 300000 400000 500000

Turbines

Neighbors in pool

Unpaid neighbors

Non‐windfarm

Investments over 5 years: 2009‐2013

Home Outbuildings Drainage/Irrigation Equipment

$ 193k

15

$ 187k

$ 180k

$ 449k



80

62

64

57

Turbines

Neighbors in pool

Unpaid neighbors

Non‐windfarm

% that have farm succession plan

16


Individual‐level Impacts Take‐aways

• Views on noise, visual impact, property values roughly 50/50Financial stake = rosier view

OR no financial stake = more soured view

• Most don’t see health impacts

• Having turbine on property results in additional on-farm investment, succession planning

17

Community‐level Impacts

• Job creation• Roads• Township

services• County

services• Schools• Relationships

with neighbors

18


15 10 176 5

7

57 54 58

21 31 18

All Paid Unpaid

Turbines create jobs

StronglyagreeAgree



services• County


with neighbors

19


4 5 38 6 9

6040

67

20

32

177 17

4

All Paid Unpaid

Turbines’ effect on local roads

Greatlyimproved

Somewhatimproved

Neither

Somewhatworsened

Greatlyworsened


services• County


with neighbors

20


2 2 23 3 3

7357

79

1829

144 10 2

All Paid Unpaid

Turbines’ effect on township services

Greatlyimproved

Somewhatimproved

Neither

Somewhatworsened

Greatlyworsened


services• County


with neighbors

21

$2.630 Million to townships in

Huron County in 2015


2 2 24 3 4

7762

82

1526

113 7 2

All Paid Unpaid

Turbines’ effect on county services

Greatlyimproved

Somewhatimproved

Neither

Somewhatworsened

Greatlyworsened


services• County


with neighbors

22

$2.749 Million to county gov’t in

Huron County in 2015


1 1 22 1 2

6444

70

24

35

219 19

6

All Paid Unpaid

Turbines’ effect on local schools

Greatlyimproved

Somewhatimproved

Neither

Somewhatworsened

Greatlyworsened


services• County


with neighbors

23

$2.083 Million to ISD; $2.074 Million to local

schools in Huron County in 2015


11 7 12

19 1820

64 6563

5 9 41 1 1

All Paid Unpaid

Turbines’ effect on relationships with neighbors

Greatlyimproved

Somewhatimproved

Neither

Somewhatworsened

Greatlyworsened


services• County


with neighbors

24

Community‐level Impacts Take‐aways

• Most see job creation (with caveat about types of jobs)

• Majority haven’t seen changes to community services, schools, or relationships with neighbors

o Tax uncertaintyo Increasing cost of services may limit visible impacts

25

Would they welcome wind development again?

• Quality of life

• Willingness to accept new turbines

26


10 8 11

1910

22

5554

55

1321

103 7 2

All Paid Unpaid

Turbines’ effect on overall quality of life in township

Greatlyimproved

Somewhatimproved

Neither

Somewhatworsened

Greatlyworsened

27

• Quality of life



2615

30

108

1023

22

23

21

23

20

2132

18

All Paid Unpaid

Willingness to host additional turbines in your township

Stronglysupport

Somewhatsupport

Neither

Somewhatoppose

Stronglyoppose

28

• Quality of life


What should you consider?How to reap the benefits without the heartburn

29

How does this fit with your long‐term plan?

• If goal is for substantial residential development or growth of tourism, wind may not be right

• If goal is to sustain agriculture, wind can fit

30

The ideal zoning ordinance?

14 1131 377 8

10 827 22

222628

27

1817

24 3319 13

Unzonedtownship

1.5x height 1,000ʹ/1,320ʹ 1,320ʹ

Support/oppose additional turbines in township, by zoning setback distance

Stronglysupport

Somewhatsupport

Neither

Somewhatoppose

Stronglyoppose

31

Zoning ordinance considerations

• Setback distanceo Participating vs. non-participating landowners

• Noise limit and enforcement

• Flicker analysis

• Decommission plan/financial assurance

32

The importance of transparency

285 11

43729

56

14

11

22

1427

24

9

20

16

30

13 321

61

267 5

All Stronglyagree

Agree Disagree Stronglydisagree

“The wind project developer acted openly and transparently throughout the planning process.”

Support/oppose additional turbines in township, by agree/disagree wind developer acted transparently

Stronglysupport

Somewhatsupport

Neither

Somewhatoppose

Stronglyoppose

33

The importance of transparency

287 6

41

759

1 7

16

6

22

928

24

7

20

15

32

12 321

68

287 9

All Stronglyagree

Agree Disagree Stronglydisagree

“Local government officials’ decisions about the wind project were in the best interests of our township.”

Support/oppose additional turbines in township, by agree/disagree local officials acted in best interest

Stronglysupport

Somewhatsupport

Neither

Somewhatoppose

Stronglyoppose

34

Be ready to answer questions

• About who benefits / amount of tax revenue

• About decommissioning

35

Invite me to your township

• Grant from C.S. Mott Foundation covers my expenses—all you need to do is invite me

• Aim: to provide evidence-based account of experiences across the state

• I can give a presentation, or just answer questions

36

The CLOSUP Wind ProjectSarah Mills, Project Manager

Phone: (734) 615‐5315Email: [email protected]

Web: www.closup.umich.edu/wind

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