Question 1

How do wind turbines work?

Accepted Answer

When the wind blows past a wind turbine, its blades capture the wind’s energy and rotate, turning the wind’s kinetic energy into mechanical energy. Inside the wind turbine, this rotation turns an internal shaft connected to a gearbox, which then spins a generator that produces electricity. The wind turbine will rotate to face the strongest wind and will angle its blades to best capture the wind energy.

Question 2

How much wind is needed for a wind turbine to operate?

Accepted Answer

A typical modern turbine will start to generate electricity when wind speeds reach six to nine miles per hour (mph), known as the cut-in speed. Turbines will shut down if the wind is blowing too hard (roughly 55 miles an hour) to prevent equipment damage. Over the course of a year, modern turbines can generate usable amounts of electricity over 90% of the time. For example, if the wind at a turbine reaches the cut-in speed of six to nine mph, the turbine will start generating electricity. As wind speeds increase, so does electricity production.

We will collect and analyze several years of wind data in each prospective project area to confirm that the wind resource is excellent for wind project operations.

Question 3

How do wind projects benefit local communities?

Accepted Answer

Wind projects provide numerous benefits to the communities in which they are sited. Wind projects represent significant local investments and drive meaningful increases in the local taxable property base. Wind projects also provide guaranteed annual property tax payments to local taxing jurisdictions, which allow county and local officials to make long-term financial plans and increase spending on public services and other critically important infrastructure.

Wind projects pay millions of dollars per year directly to landowners through lease and easement agreements, resulting in a diversified revenue stream that protects against fluctuating commodity prices and preserves family properties for future generations. In addition, these projects directly create hundreds of full-time equivalent jobs during the construction and installation phases and support indirect and induced jobs during development and construction.

Question 4

Does wind energy make economic sense?

Accepted Answer

The cost of wind has declined by 47% over the last decade, with improved technology and US-based manufacturing making it competitive with other energy sources and the cheapest source of new electricity in many parts of the country.

According to Lazard’s Levelized Cost of Energy Analysis – Version 15.0 (2021), even without tax credits, new wind resources have a levelized cost of energy in the range of 2.6 cents/kWh – 5 cents/kWh.3 Solar projects generate electricity at a lower cost per megawatt hour than would other possible fossil fuel and renewable energy options. These results have been bolstered by the International Energy Agency’s World Energy Outlook 2021, which found, “in most markets, solar PV or wind now represents the cheapest available source of new electricity generation.”

Adding to their growing appeal, wind projects are uniquely able to sell their electricity output at a fixed price over the life of the project because the “fuel” is free and not subject to increases in commodity fuel prices.

Question 5

Is wind energy reliable?

Accepted Answer

Wind energy is the largest source of renewable electricity generation in the US, providing 10.2% of the country’s electricity and growing. While wind is variable as a power resource, that does not mean that wind projects are backed up with a coal or gas plant should the wind stop blowing. The variability of wind can be predictably forecast and used to complement other generation sources. No electricity source runs 100 percent of the time, including coal, gas, and nuclear plants. Grid operators have decades of experience managing changes in supply and demand, and sudden, unexpected outages at large conventional power plants are more costly and difficult to manage than the gradual, predictable changes in wind output.

Question 6

Do wind projects produce enough energy to offset the energy used in manufacturing components?

Accepted Answer

Yes. A typical wind energy project using 2 MW wind turbines repays its carbon footprint in six months or less, providing decades of zero emissions energy that displaces the fossil fuel energy that was used to manufacture the turbines and construct the wind project. As wind turbine technology continues to improve with longer lifetimes and larger nameplate capacities, the length of the energy payback period will continue to decrease.

The Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory reviewed all published research and concluded that wind energy’s carbon footprint is lower than nuclear and most other renewable energy resources.

Question 7

Are wind turbines safe to live or work around?

Accepted Answer

Millions of people around the world live and work close to nearly 700,000 operating wind turbines without any health or safety effects.

According to a 2018 study by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory, there are more than 1.3 million homes located within five miles of a utility-scale wind turbine. The study also found that 92 percent of survey respondents living within five miles of a wind turbine reported positive or neutral experiences and that 90 percent of survey respondents would prefer to live near a wind farm over any type of centralized power plant, whether coal, natural gas or nuclear.

Question 8

Do wind projects impact human health?

Accepted Answer

Numerous peer-reviewed, third-party studies have shown that wind turbines do not have adverse, direct impacts on human health. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology published a study in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine titled, “Wind Turbines and Health: A Critical Review of the Scientific Literature.” A panel of experts with professional experience and training in occupational and environmental medicine, acoustics, epidemiology, otolaryngology, psychology, and public health was commissioned to “assess the peer-reviewed literature regarding potential health effects among people living in the vicinity of wind turbines.” Upon review, they concluded, “No clear or consistent association is seen between noise from wind turbines and any reported disease or other indicator of harm to human health.”

Further, Health Canada, in partnership with Statistics Canada, conducted a major study of over one thousand homes and reached the same conclusion, stating, “No evidence was found to support a link between exposure to wind turbine noise and any of the self-reported illnesses.”

Wind projects do not burn fossil fuel to generate electricity, and as a result, do not emit any air pollutants such as carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, or particulate matter. Wind helps avoid 330 million metric tons of CO2 emissions annually, which is the equivalent to removing 72 million cars from the road. It is estimated that by reducing harmful emissions that contribute to chronic illness and premature death, wind projects reduce public health costs by billions of dollars a year.

Question 9

Do wind turbines create loud noise that's disruptive to neighbors?

Accepted Answer

Today’s wind turbines take advantage of over 30 years of design, engineering, manufacturing, and operating experience to minimize sound from operations. Further, our projects will be designed to comply with state and local laws to limit sound impacts.

Question 10

Do wind projects affect local wildlife?

Accepted Answer

Wind energy projects, like all forms of development, can result in interactions with the natural environment. Wildlife and natural resources are an important consideration in our selection of project sites.

Even though it has comparatively few effects on wildlife, the wind energy industry is closely regulated by state and federal agencies to ensure any effects are minimized and mitigated.

Climate change remains the largest threat to wildlife. Wind power is far less harmful to wildlife than the traditional energy sources it displaces and is one of the most effective, fastest, cheapest solutions to reduce carbon pollution and the climate change it contributes to.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Lab noted that wind turbines cause less than 0.01 percent of all human-related bird deaths. As David O-Neil, Chief Conservation Officer at the Audubon Society stated in a Huffington Post article, “You can’t be against renewable energy, wind and solar, if you are for protecting birds.”

Question 11

Do wind projects negatively impact property values?

Accepted Answer

No. Many studies have shown that wind projects do not have long-term negative impacts on the value of neighboring properties. Wind projects benefit all local property owners by driving economic investment and tax revenue. These funds improve roads, schools, and community services, while also keeping local taxes low – all of which factor into property values.

According to the Energy Policy Institute, 10 major studies spanning three countries and 1.3 million property transactions over 18 years have found that wind projects do not decrease property values:

• The U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Lab collected data from more than 50,000 home sales among 27 counties in nine states. These homes were within 10 miles of 67 different wind facilities, and 1,198 sales were within one mile of a wind turbine. The data span the periods well before announcement of the wind facilities to well after their construction. The research found no statistical evidence that home values near turbines were affected in the postconstruction or post-announcement/preconstruction periods.

• The Massachusetts Clean Energy Center studied the relationship between wind turbines and residential property values in Massachusetts to assess whether home values were affected by proximity to wind turbines. An analysis of more than 122,000 Massachusetts home sales between 1998 and 2012 found no statistically significant evidence that proximity to a wind turbine affects home values.

• Another study by the Centre for Economics and Business Research argues that wind turbines do not negatively affect property values, and, in some cases, may increase home prices.

• Numerous other property value studies based on statistical analysis of real estate transactions have found that wind facilities have no consistent significant impact on property values (Sterzinger et al. 2003; Hoen et al. 2009; Hinman 2010; Carter 2011).

Question 12

What happens if ice accumulates on wind turbine blades?

Accepted Answer

As with any structure, wind turbines can accumulate ice under certain atmospheric conditions. This possibility and the risk of ice throw is taken into account during both project planning and operation. The turbines used for our projects will be sited according to applicable regulations, which requires setback distances from roads and residences that adequately protect the public from the risk of ice throw.

In addition, modern wind turbines are designed with ice detection systems to minimize the potential for ice throw. If ice accumulates on the blades, the turbine will simply shut off and will remain at a standstill until the ice melts.

Question 13

Who is responsible for decommissioning?

Accepted Answer

Our lease agreement states that the company is responsible for the decommissioning and removal of project infrastructure at the end of each project’s life. Standard decommissioning practices include dismantling and repurposing, salvaging/recycling, or disposing of the solar energy improvements, and restoration.

Additionally, state, county, and local permitting authorities routinely require a decommissioning and restoration plan be put in place, which outline the various ways in which the project owner will safely and responsibly remove installed equipment and restore the property within the project area. In addition, financial securities are often required to ensure host communities and landowners will bear no responsibility for decommissioning or restoration.

Frequently Asked Questions