Wind energy projects can impact local economies through job creation, tax revenue, local landowner income, and changes to home sale prices. The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory published a study with new findings on the effects of wind energy development on home prices.
Funded by DOE’s Wind Energy Technologies Office, the research conducted the largest-ever study of U.S. home sales around wind farms to date, examining more than 500,000 home sales. The study finds short-term reductions to some home sale prices within one mile of wind turbines compared to sales of homes farther away.
In more populous counties, home prices are reduced after the announcement of wind energy development but return to prior levels 3–5 years after wind farm operations begin. No impact was found in less populous counties. The study did not compare home values in wind communities to communities without wind, nor did it examine the impact of other economic effects such as increased local tax revenue and worker income that might increase home prices across communities with wind development.
Learn more about this topic on WETO’s WINDExchange web page and the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy’s Clean Energy Facts.
