subject: What Are The Economic Benefits To My Local Community If I Own A Wind Farm? [print this page] There are a number of ways in which local communities derive tremendous economic benefits by owning a wind farm.
Firstly, wind power endows the economy with reasonable, unlimited energy without polluting the environment. Wind power does not generate hazardous wastes or drain our natural resources.
The income generated from wind farms not only expands the local tax income base (mainly through increased property, corporate and personal taxes), but keeps energy dollars in the local community instead of spending them to pay for coal or gas produced elsewhere.
More local tax dollars earned directly translates into improvements to local community infrastructure i.e. better roads, schools, hospitals etc. Furthermore, wind farms can revive economically unhappy rural communities by boosting agriculture and producing local jobs that are sustainable.
Although wind farms occupy large swaths of land, wind turbine towers themselves take up a few square meters at their base. Therefore, the land around the turbine tower area can be utilized for several other purposes, such as ranching or agriculture. As such, a farmer or a rancher can significantly augment their income base by earning lease or royalty payments derived from establishing a wind farm on their land.
Winds farms lead to job creation at the local level which includes assembly workers, surveyors, engineers, lawyers, bankers, technicians, to name just a few.
