Community Winds Coming of Age
Interview with Jacob Susman, CEO & Founder
What is Community Wind?
Community Wind is a relatively new industry in the U.S. focused on developing smaller, distributed utility-scale wind farms developed and owned, in part, by members of the communities in which they’re developed. This approach to development leads to a genuine sense of community involvement. According to a study from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the economic benefits that flow to the community can often be greater than the typical land lease payments. One of the major benefits of Community Wind projects is that they provide incremental jobs, wages and business income in communities, since ownership is retained and profits are recycled locally. In addition, the community has a significant amount of control over management of the project and there are opportunities for members of the community to have a direct financial stake in the project. A typical project size ranges between 5-80 MW, although they can range both higher and lower. The Community Wind industry is now growing at a record pace - an average of 76% per year - and market share is expected to increase significantly by 2012.
How does Community Wind compare to traditional wind development?
The most obvious point of comparison is the role of the local community in developing and owning community wind projects. In traditional wind projects, development, construction and ownership reside with companies based outside the community where the project is to be built. After NextEra Energy (the largest owner/operator of wind farms......
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