Wind Turbines Don't Hurt Property Values
A new comprehensive study — The Impact of Wind Power Projects on Residential Property Values in the United States: A Multi-Site Hedonic Analysis — conclusively shows that property values are not harmed by wind turbines and wind power facilities.
The study, conducted by Lawrence Berkely National Laboratory shows that neither views of wind facilities nor proximity to wind facilities have any significant effect on property values.
The study examined “7,500 sales of single-family homes situated within 10 miles of 24 existing wind facilities in nine different U.S. states.”
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As the report states, neither views of nor distance to wind facilities “have any consistent, measurable, and statistically significant effect on home sales prices.”
Results from this study “are expected to be transferable to other areas,” according to the report.
Even research of proximity to roads, conventional power plants and high-power transmission lines can show a relationship (negative) to property values, according to report co-author Mark Thayer. But not wind facilities.
So, concerns that these gigantic wind facilities are harming their neighbors financially seems to be a myth that can now be laid to rest.
via Business Green
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3) South Carolina To Lead US With $98 Million World-Class Wind Center
Image Credit: Conor Dupre-Neary via flickr under a Creative Commons license
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This is great news. I’m a huge solar and wind energy advocate. However, I have come across news stories about noise problems with wind turbines for those who live very close to large turbines. This study doesn’t really address that noise issue.
Personally, I have no idea how much noise wind turbines produce, at what level, how close one has to live to them, etc. to potentially be negatively affected by this.
However, I would hope that folks who might really be negatively affected by turbine noise don’t get run over roughshod just because property values don’t seem to go down due to wind farms. It’s not all about money, it’s also about the quality of life for us all.
In the end, I need to do more research on the noise issue in order to become better informed about it, as, I suspect, many of us do.
good point.
i agree & have heard similar things — that it is really harsh to be near the noise. but i imagine it must depend on the type of turbines, and, of course, the proximity.
as you say, it isn’t all about money — also quality of life — and we need more research on the issue
good point.
i agree & have heard similar things — that it is really harsh to be near the noise. but i imagine it must depend on the type of turbines, and, of course, the proximity.
as you say, it isn’t all about money — also quality of life — and we need more research on the issue
good point.
i agree & have heard similar things — that it is really harsh to be near the noise. but i imagine it must depend on the type of turbines, and, of course, the proximity.
as you say, it isn’t all about money — also quality of life — and we need more research on the issue
This is great news. I’m a huge solar and wind energy advocate. However, I have come across news stories about noise problems with wind turbines for those who live very close to large turbines. This study doesn’t really address that noise issue.
Personally, I have no idea how much noise wind turbines produce, at what level, how close one has to live to them, etc. to potentially be negatively affected by this.
However, I would hope that folks who might really be negatively affected by turbine noise don’t get run over roughshod just because property values don’t seem to go down due to wind farms. It’s not all about money, it’s also about the quality of life for us all.
In the end, I need to do more research on the noise issue in order to become better informed about it, as, I suspect, many of us do.