Public Perceptions

When it comes the wind industry public perception is a make or break piece of the puzzle. Anti-wind groups are rather vocal and tend to pop up quite quickly. In our situation, it seems to me as if most people in the Texas Panhandle are very open-minded about the idea of having wind turbines in their backyard, but I guess it's best never to assume anything.

Our association is made up of several hundred landowners who see the potential that wind energy development offers them and their communities. Working for these specific landowners gives me the indication that most of our area is pro-wind, but it wouldn't hurt to find out for sure. An opposition free area will only make it easier for wind developers to get through the process of development and I have a feeling that that is exactly what our area is. My feelings though, probably don't count for much; I would really like to be able to make this statement as a fact rather than an opinion.

It seems as if most Americans support renewable energies and wind energy specifically. A National Wind blog entry from earlier this year referenced a survey of Americans wherein 82% favored wind energy developments in their hometown (read the full blog entry here). And of course there is the news that has come out recently about how wind turbines are not affecting property values (read one of the recent news articles here). That can only mean good things when you're discussing public perceptions. All this has got me thinking more deeply on this topic in relation to Hale, Floyd and Motley Counties in Texas.

I spoke at a local church men's group on Sunday and one of the questions I got was whether people in the area supported wind energy development. I could only answer the question based on my experiences and hence my opinion. My answer, of course, was that I believe people are ready for wind development to happen here. Landowners are optimistic about the royalties that they can potentially receive, local communities are excited about the jobs and expanded tax bases the development will bring and local contractors are looking forward to being able to provide their services in constructing the farms. But, the question got me thinking about the people that I hadn't reached or the people that hadn't contacted me about wind development. Could there be people in our area who oppose wind energy development, but just haven't voiced their opinion because the situation hasn't come to fruition?

This led me to think about a series of presentation topics at AWEA's recent fall symposium and specifically one presentation about a research project that concerned public perceptions of wind energy in Wyoming. A group out of Macalester College conducted the study and you can find out more about what they are studying on their Web site: http://www.macalester.edu/windvisual/. It was interesting to hear what concerns local residents had about wind energy, what they thought was the greatest benefits of wind energy, and what mitigation strategies they favored.

My point in referencing this study is to show how beneficial it could be to conduct this type of study in the Panhandle of Texas and to hopefully get the attention of someone who might be looking for at location to conduct a similar study. I contacted researchers at Macalester College and let them know about our area and our interest, but I would be interested in hearing from anyone else who might be interested in working with us on this type of a project as well. Like I said before, my feelings are that we would find most area residents to be pro-wind, but it sure would be nice to have proof!

Until next time...