We examine the impact of proximity to land-based commercial wind turbines on residential home values in the United States using data from 2005 to 2020. Our results are primarily driven by wind projects located in urban counties with populations greater than 250,000. We find that homes located within 1.25 mile (2 km) of a commercial wind turbine experience on average approximately an 11% decline in value following the announcement of a new commercial wind energy project, relative to counterfactual homes located 3-5 miles away. This impact is dynamic: It is largely driven by declines in sale prices following the announcement and during the construction of a wind project. Once a wind project becomes operational, home prices tend to rise with property value impacts becoming small and statistically insignificant 9 years or more after the announcement of the project (about 5 years after project operation). Homes located 1–2 miles from a commercial wind turbine experience smaller impacts and homes located farther than 2 miles away are unaffected.
[NWW note: Abandoned homes and those bought out by the developers seem seem not to have been included.]
Eric J. Brunner, School of Public Policy, University of Connecticut, USA
Ben Hoen, Electricity Markets and Policy Department, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, USA
Joe Rand, David Schwegman, Department of Public Administration and Policy School of Public Affairs, American University
Energy Policy, 7 December 2023
doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2023.113837
Download original document: “Commercial wind turbines and residential home values: New evidence from the universe of land-based wind projects in the United States”