Northeastern US - Post-Construction Opinions

Public approval for wind projects usually starts high (before the project is started) and support consistently increases after the wind farm is constructed. Once the wind farm is built, many who were opposed to wind energy change their opinion and decide to support the wind farm. In Searsburg, Vermont, the wind farm project had a 66% approval / neutral rating before construction and 83% afterwards. Other projects have had similar results.

Hull, Massachusetts
Public Votes Approval for Wind Farm Expansion

Hull, Massachusetts has a unique wind turbine installation. The single wind turbine is located at a coastal site, at the end of the local school football field. The running joke for the local sports team is that this turbine offers the "home team" a distinct advantage - since the spinning blades distracts the "away team". See the Hull Website for more details. Hull is currently planning on installing a second wind turbine, public support for the project is strong.

Searsburg, Vermont
Pre & Post Construction Survey Results

	Big Supporter	Moderate Supporter	Non Supporter
Prior to Construction 1996	30%	36%	35%
Post Construction 1997	52%	31%	17%

"The most common reaction was a sense of 'awe' or express 'amazement', while others find the rotating turbines 'calming'. For some the experience was 'almost spiritual'."

Public Acceptance Study of the Searsburg Wind Power Project:
Year One Post Construction
Clinton Solutions December 1997

Princeton, Massachusetts
Wind Farm Expansion gets 3-1 Approval

Princeton, Massachusetts has one of the oldest wind farms in the US. At a town meeting, the public voted on replacing an array of older turbines with two much larger modern wind turbines. The results showed a majority support for new turbines. The two new turbines will produce forty (40) times the electricity of the aging, existing wind farm.

Northeastern US
Press / Media Support

Wind Energy in the news. Select local stories, editorials, and letters from Maine newspapers and elsewhere.

Rutland Herald (2004)
Northern Sky News (2004)
Lewiston Sun Journal (2002)
Cape Cod Times (2002)
Maine Biz (2002)

Support on the WEB

For more information on wind farms and public perception, two excellent resources are:

• Yes2Wind Website - UK based pro-wind website. Has lots of information about wind and "debunks" many common myths about wind.
• Wind Energy Fact Sheets - detailed information from the American Wind Energy Association.