A Comparative Analysis of Business Structures Suitable for Farmer-Owned Wind Power Projects in the United States (November 2004) was prepared for the Wind & Hydropower Technologies Program, U.S. Department of Energy, by Mark Bolinger and Ryan Wise.
This report by Teresa Welsh of The Iowa Policy Project was published April 2005. This report highlights three analyses that compare the economic development benefits of small-scale, locally owned generation to other larger capacity ownership structures and discusses the barriers and changes necessary to aid the development of small scale, locally owned wind generation, specifically in Iowa.
This report was released by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in 2005 and provides a compilation of data from studies of the economic impacts of wind farms on rural communities.
This article from the Wind Powering America web site was designed to assist in agricultural outreach efforts and describes how wind energy can be a viable alternative income source for farmers.
This is one article in a series prepared by the Wind Powering America program to support agricultural outreach efforts. This article describes how wind energy can be a boon for rural economies.
Published by the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) in September 2004, this report examines the amount of electricity generated by U.S. wind power and prospects for its growth, the contribution of wind power to farmers' income and rural communities, the advantages and disadvantages for farmers of owning a wind power project versus leasing land for a project, and USDA's efforts to promote wind power in rural communities.
Promising New Crop, by Jill K. Cliburn, Rural Electric, November 2004. A group of 46 farmers in south-central Minnesota hope wind turbines will improve the productivity of their fields; a G&T co-op will buy all 100 megawatts. Rural Electric is the magazine of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association.
This 2003 brochure was co-produced by the Minnesota Project, Windustry and the Soutwest Regional Development Commission.
Click on the link below to view the brochure.
This 2003 publication details facts and figures demonstrating the proven potential of wind for economic development in Minnesota.
Click on the link below to view the brochure.
Job Jolt, an economic study by the Regional Economics Applications Laboratory for the Environmental Law and Policy Center, was published in November 2002. This report shows that the Midwest stands to gain significant jobs and income by switching to renewable energy and increasing energy efficiency. The report shows a real boost for the Midwest: up to 210,000 new jobs and $20 billion in additional economic output across the 10-state Midwest region by the year 2020.
