NREL is a national laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, operated by the Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC.

Stakeholder Priorities in Wind Energy

Eric Lantz, NREL

AWEA WINDPOWER 

Conference 2011

Anaheim, CA

May 23, 2011

NREL/PR-6A20-51590
NATIONAL RENEWABLE ENERGY LABORATORY

Presentation Overview

1) Premise/Background

2) Basic Approach

3) Primary Takeaways

4) Priorities by Region

5) Priorities by Type

2
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Understanding Stakeholder Values and 

Concerns is Critical to Wind Project Success

3

• Project success depends on 

one’s ability to manage varied 

community interests.

• Knowledge of stakeholders 

and their values allows space 

to develop a strategy that 

solves potential problems 

before they emerge.

www.socialacceptance.ch
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Basic Approach to Understand Stakeholder Values

4

• Develop a simple survey instrument

• Distribute to the Wind for 

Schools/Wind Application Centers

• Distribute voluntary survey at WWG 

meetings, energy fairs/events, to 

conference mailing lists, etc.

• Stakeholders engage in two 

activities:

• Force ranking of 10 windspecific variables by 

“importance to you”

• Rating the relative significance 

of aesthetics, noise, and wildlife 

in the industry’s ability to 

achieve 20% wind by 2030.
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Data Represent the Midwest, Great Plains, MidAtlantic (and Alaska)

5
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Data are Weighted toward Industry and the Midwest

Responses by Group Responses by State

6

KS, 77, 25%

IL, 75, 25%

NE, 44, 

14%

RM West, 

37, 12%

VA, 26, 9%

PA, 23, 

8%

NC, 14, 5%

WV, 4 ME, 2 AL, 1 FL, 1 NY, 1

Industry 

Members, 78, 

26%

Advocates, 56, 

18%

Elected 

Officials, 35, 

11%

Environmental 

NGO/Specialis

t, 34, 11%

Landowners, 

31, 10%

Regulator/ 

Govt Agency 

Officials, 54, 

18%

Power Sector 

(Not wind), 

17, 6%
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Primary Takeaways

7

• Stakeholders are difficult to generalize... even within specific 

groups, opinions often vary widely.

• Recognizing diversity between and within groups requires attention to local 

context (e.g., Kansas). 

• A pre-development stakeholder assessment is likely to be valuable. 

• The most important issues to individuals were benefits (e.g., 

economic development, energy security), but the challenges 

resulting from perceptions of noise, aesthetics, and wildlife impacts 

cannot be dismissed.

• A substantial minority expect these issues to limit development to some degree.

• A gap exists between the priority/important issues for the industry 

and advocates and those of landowners, project neighbors, and land 

managers.

• Landowners and neighbors are much more concerned with aesthetics, noise, and 

wildlife.

• Increased emphasis on developing and adhering to best practices may be 

merited.

• Economic development is clearly valued by all stakeholders. 

• Projects must find ways to ensure that local host communities realize substantive 

economic development from projects.
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Midwest Results: Force Ranking by Importance

8

On average: Midwest respondents 

tend to think cost of electricity is 

most important.

Primary Responding Groups

Industry Members 29%

Advocates 17%

Elected Officials 12%

Environmental

NGOs/Specialists 10%

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Cost of 

electricity

Local 

economic 

impacts

Emissions 

reductions 

and water 

savings

Energy 

security

Electricity 

reliability

Human 

health and 

safety

Wildlife 

impacts

Land use Aesthetics 

and 

property 

values

Noise and 

property 

values

Ranking of Importance

Mean

Median

More Important Less Important
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Midwest Results: Relative Importance of 

Commonly Cited Social Acceptance Issues

9

• 20% to 40% feel that these issues are likely to limit development in specific areas.

• Despite relatively low ranking in terms of personal importance, these issues are 

noted to be important for the long-term success of the industry. 

•A notable majority (50% to 70%) see them as industry challenges.

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

Aesthetics Noise Wildlife Impacts

Respondents with a Given Position

Non-issue

Issue Limited to Poorly Sited Projects

Challenging but Not Insurmontable

Likely to Limit Development in Specific Regions

Without Resolution Likely to Preclude 20% Wind
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Mid-Atlantic Results: Force Ranking by Importance

10

Primary Respondents

Advocates 31%

Industry Members 27%

Environmental

NGOs/Specialists 19%

On average: Emissions reductions and 

water savings are personally important.

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Emissions 

reductions 

and water 

savings

Energy 

security

Local 

economic 

impacts

Cost of 

electricity

Human 

health and 

safety

Wildlife 

impacts

Electricity 

reliability

Land use Aesthetics 

and 

property 

values

Noise and 

property 

values

Ranking of Importance

Mean

Median

More Important Less Important
NATIONAL RENEWABLE ENERGY LABORATORY

Mid-Atlantic Results: Relative Importance of 

Commonly Cited Social Acceptance Issues

11

• This sample contains fewer extreme views but consistently demonstrates that 

a large minority (30% to 40%) are concerned about aesthetic and wildlife 

impacts. 

• Noise is generally characterized as a problem limited to “a small percentage 

of poorly sited projects,” but nearly 50% think it’s a challenge.

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

Aesthetics Noise Wildlife Impacts

Respondents with a Given Position

Non-issue

Issue Limited to Poorly Sited Projects

Challenging but Not Insurmontable

Likely to Limit Development in Specific Regions

Without Resolution Likely to Preclude 20% Wind
NATIONAL RENEWABLE ENERGY LABORATORY

Elected Officials’ Opinions on Aesthetics, 

Noise, and Wildlife

12

• Wildlife impacts are seen as a formidable challenge for the industry.

• Aesthetics and noise are expected to limit deployment (20% to 25% of 

respondents).

• Elected officials tend to view economic development and electricity costs as 

most important.

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

Aesthetics Noise Wildlife Impacts

Respondents with a Given Position

Non-issue

Issue Limited to Poorly Sited Projects

Challenging but Not Insurmontable

Likely to Limit Development in Specific Regions

Without Resolution Likely to Preclude 20% Wind
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Federal Land Management Officials’ Priorities

13

• Wildlife and land use are of much greater importance for these 

individuals.

• Data indicate that local impacts are high priorities among land 

managers, more so than among most other groups.

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Wildlife 

impacts

Land use Aesthetics 

and 

property 

values

Human 

health and 

safety

Emissions 

reductions 

and water 

savings

Local 

economic 

impacts

Electricity 

reliability

Noise and 

property 

values

Energy 

security

Cost of 

electricity

Mean

Median

More Important Less Important
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Landowner and Neighbor Perspectives

14

• This pivotal stakeholder group sees these issues as of fundamentally greater value 

than any other group.

• 30% to 40% see that these issues could prevent the industry from achieving 20% wind by 

2030.

• Common industry level drivers (e.g., energy security, economic development, 

electricity costs) are also relatively important for individuals in this group.

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

Aesthetics Noise Wildlife Impacts

Non-issue

Issue Limited to Poorly Sited Projects

Challenging but Not Insurmontable

Likely to Limit Development in Specific Regions

Without Resolution Likely to Preclude 20% Wind
NATIONAL RENEWABLE ENERGY LABORATORY 15

Eric Lantz

Research Analyst

Strategic Energy Analysis Center

National Renewable Energy Laboratory

http://www.nrel.gov/analysis/

http://www.windpoweringamerica.gov/

1617 Cole Blvd.

Golden, CO 80401-3393

P: (303) 384-7418

E-mail: Eric.Lantz@nrel.gov

Questions

NREL is a national laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, operated by the Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC.

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s analysis of Stakeholder 

Priorities was funded by the Wind Powering America Initiative within the 

Wind and Water Power Program, Office of Energy Efficiency and 

Renewable Energy, U.S. Department of Energy.