Community Benefit Agreements
Wind Energy Community Benefits Database
This searchable database reflects community benefit agreements (CBAs), community benefit funds, donations, and other forms of benefits from land-based and offshore wind energy developments in the U.S. compiled by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) from 2022 to 2024.
If you would like to submit a CBA that is not represented in this database, please email windcommunitybenefits@nrel.gov .
For more information about how community benefits are developed and the role they play in wind energy development, please visit the Wind Energy Community Benefits Guide. Learn more about the community impacts of wind farms.What Forms of Community Benefits Does This Database Include?
Community benefits for wind energy projects can be structured in many ways, but the following categories are the most common and are the focus of this database:
Project Name
|
State
|
County
|
Form of Benefit
|
Additional Form
|
Infrastructure Type
|
Number of Turbines
|
Generating Capacity (MW)
|
Year Built
|
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Block Island | Rhode Island | Block Island | Formal agreement | Non-financial | Offshore wind energy project | 5 | 30 | 2016 |
Developed, Owned, or Operated by Deepwater Wind
SourcesVerified by WINDExchange on Aug. 1, 2024 |
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SouthCoast | Rhode Island | Portsmouth | Formal agreement | Fund | Offshore wind energy cable landing | N/A | N/A | Not yet built |
Developed, Owned, or Operated by SouthCoast Wind Energy
SourcesVerified by WINDExchange on Aug. 1, 2024 |
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Campbell County | South Dakota | Campbell County | Payment to government outside of an agreement | Land-based wind energy project | 55 | 94.3 | 2015 | |
Developed, Owned, or Operated by Fagen / Dakota Plains Energy / Con Edison
SourcesVerified by WINDExchange on Aug. 1, 2024 |
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Coyote Ridge | South Dakota | Brookings County | Donation/support to local cause | Land-based wind energy project | 39 | 97 | 2019 | |
Developed, Owned, or Operated by Avangrid / WEC Energy Group / Invenergy
SourceVerified by WINDExchange on Aug. 1, 2024 |
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Crocker | South Dakota | Clark County | Fund | Donation/support to local cause | Land-based wind energy project | 77 | 200 | 2019 |
Developed, Owned, or Operated by Geronimo Energy
SourcesVerified by WINDExchange on Aug. 1, 2024 |
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Crow Lake / Prairie Winds 1 ND & SD | South Dakota | Jerauld County, Brule County, Aurora County | Donation/support to local cause | Non-financial | Land-based wind energy project | 101 | 151.5 | 2010, 2011 |
Developed, Owned, or Operated by Basin Electric Power Cooperative
SourceVerified by WINDExchange on Aug. 1, 2024 |
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Crowned Ridge I & II | South Dakota | Grant County, Codington County, Deuel County | Donation/support to local cause | Non-financial | Land-based wind energy project | 175 | 400 | 2019, 2020 |
Developed, Owned, or Operated by NextEra Energy Resources / Northern States Power Company / Xcel Energy
SourcesVerified by WINDExchange on Aug. 1, 2024 |
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Dakota Range I and II | South Dakota | Codington County, Grant County | Donation/support to local cause | Land-based wind energy project | 72 | 304 | 2022 | |
Developed, Owned, or Operated by Apex Clean Energy / Northern States Power Company / Xcel Energy
SourceVerified by WINDExchange on Aug. 1, 2024 |
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Dakota Range III | South Dakota | Roberts County, Grant County | Donation/support to local cause | Land-based wind energy project | 32 | 151 | 2021 | |
Developed, Owned, or Operated by Apex Clean Energy / ENGIE
SourceVerified by WINDExchange on Aug. 1, 2024 |
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Deuel Harvest North | South Dakota | Deuel County | Fund | Donation/support to local cause | Land-based wind energy project | 109 | 301 | 2021 |
Developed, Owned, or Operated by Invenergy / Southern Power
SourcesVerified by WINDExchange on Aug. 1, 2024 |
What Forms of Community Benefits Are Not Included in This Database?
CBAs and related forms of community benefits may be provided alongside other agreements or economic impacts that serve different purposes, such as:
- Land lease payments to landowners that host wind turbines.
- Project labor agreements for construction of wind energy projects.
- Taxes or tax agreements like payment in lieu of taxes (PILOTs).
- Direct compensation to impacted stakeholders, such as commercial fishermen.
This database does not include these other types of wind energy benefits, as they differ from CBAs and related benefit mechanisms in several key ways; namely, the community benefits included in this database are unrelated to taxation, are intended to provide benefits to the community as a whole rather than a specific group of people, like landowners, and are separate from impact mitigation measures required by permitting agencies.