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:
Developers and representatives of a government or community may sign an agreement stating the benefits that will be provided from a project and detailing the mechanisms and timelines for delivering benefits. Terminology may vary, depending on factors like the type of infrastructure or who the signatories are. Common names or types include community benefit agreement, host community agreement, good neighbor agreement, and tribal benefit agreement.
Developers may provide payments, donations, or other financial benefits to a local or Tribal government outside of the bounds of a formal agreement; these are often one-time payments.
Developers may establish funds that distribute funding to different causes or recipients in the community over time, often through the form of grants. Terminology and structure may vary, with common names or types including community benefit fund, community fund, or scholarship fund.
Developers may directly donate or contribute to local organizations, programs, or causes in the community (e.g., schools, fire departments, community service organizations).
291 results Download
Project Name
State
County
Form of Benefit
Additional Form
Infrastructure Type
Number of Turbines
Generating Capacity (MW)
Year Built
Turkey Track Texas Nolan County Non-financial Land-based wind energy project 113 169.5 2008
Developed, Owned, or Operated by Invenergy

  • In 2018, the Turkey Track wind project participated in a local Adopt-a-Highway program.

Source

Verified by WINDExchange on Aug. 1, 2024
Wake Texas Floyd County, Crosby County Donation/support to local cause Land-based wind energy project 150 257.5 2016
Developed, Owned, or Operated by Invenergy / Southern Company

  • Invenergy has supported the Military Order of the Purple Heart (MOPH) Chapter 0900 throughout the Wake project's lifetime. In 2021, MOPH Chapter 0900 presented the Wake team with "A Purple Heart Business" proclamation and an award plaque.

Source

Verified by WINDExchange on Aug. 1, 2024
Western Trail Texas Baylor County, Wilbarger County Donation/support to local cause Land-based wind energy project 130 367 2021
Developed, Owned, or Operated by Ørsted

  • Western Trail Wind has supported local organizations and events, including the Baylor County Junior Livestock Show Networking Event.

Verified by WINDExchange on Aug. 1, 2024
Willow Springs Texas Haskell County Donation/support to local cause Land-based wind energy project 100 250 2017
Developed, Owned, or Operated by Lincoln Clean Energy / Ørsted

  • Willow Springs has donated to local organizations, including Haskell County Jr. Livestock and the Angel Tree Program.

Verified by WINDExchange on Aug. 1, 2024
Windthorst Texas Archer County Donation/support to local cause Land-based wind energy project 28 64 2014
Developed, Owned, or Operated by Horn Wind / Own Energy / EDF Renewables

  • In 2020, EDF donated $10,000 ($5,000 for its two wind projects in the community) to the county to help programs that were impacted by COVID-19. The county decided to distributed $2,000 each to three school districts and two service centers.

  • Since the Windthorst project was under construction, Horn Wind and Own Energy have collaborated to provide $10,000 annually in scholarships for Archer City High School graduating seniors. The scholarship fund is administered by the Wichita Falls Area Community Foundation.

Sources

Verified by WINDExchange on Aug. 1, 2024
Young Texas Young County Donation/support to local cause Land-based wind energy project 177 500 2022
Developed, Owned, or Operated by Apex Clean Energy

  • In December 2022, Apex Clean Energy’s Conservation Grant Program awarded a $200,000 conservation grant on behalf of the El Sauz and Young wind projects. The grant went to Bat Conservation International, which will work with Texas Parks and Wildlife and the Texas Department of Criminal Justice to restore or relocate a colony of nearly one million Mexican free-tailed bats from a critical historic bat roost in an old cotton warehouse in Huntsville, Texas. Additionally, the grant will support bat education, outreach, and research at the site. Through Apex Clean Energy’s Conservation Grant Program, each renewable energy project commercialized by Apex contributes a sum of money, proportional to the size of the project, to support local or regional wildlife conservation, reforestation and flora restoration, protection of sensitive habitats such as grassland or wetlands, and other environmental conservation initiatives in or near project communities.

Source

Verified by WINDExchange on Aug. 1, 2024
Latigo Utah San Juan County Donation/support to local cause Land-based wind energy project 27 60 2016
Developed, Owned, or Operated by Wasatch Wind / sPower / AES

  • In 2015, sPower donated $250,000 to the Four Corners School of Outdoor Education. This partnership enables the school to incorporate renewable energy, aeronautics, and physics into their exhibits and curricula.

Sources

Verified by WINDExchange on Aug. 1, 2024
Milford I & II Utah Beaver County, Millard County Fund Donation/support to local cause Land-based wind energy project 165 306 2009
Developed, Owned, or Operated by First Wind / SunEdison

  • For some of the project's lifetime, First Wind annually funded the Milford Fourth of July fireworks.

  • In 2009, First Wind started a scholarship program in Utah, where the company is building a 230-megawatt facility called the Milford Wind Corridor. The program, called First Wind Scholars, focused on high school seniors in Utah interested in studies involving the environment, energy, and the sciences. The first $3,000 one-time scholarship was specifically intended for students in Beaver and Millard counties in Utah.

Sources

Verified by WINDExchange on Aug. 1, 2024
Kingdom Community Wind Vermont Orleans County Payment to government outside of an agreement Land-based wind energy project 21 63 2012
Developed, Owned, or Operated by Green Mountain Power

  • Green Mountain Power established a Good Neighbor Fund of approximately $180,000 annually (for the first ten years of the wind project's operation) to provide benefits to the towns that are within five miles of the wind project but don't receive tax revenues like the host town (Lowell) does. Total annual payment is determined based on power generation at the wind project, and each town's portion is determined by how much of the town's area is in the wind project's five-mile radius. In 2016, Eden received $77,420, Albany received $69,885, Craftsbury received $33,851, and Westfield and Irasburg each received $10,000. The towns determine how to use these funds, including for investments in infrastructure and facilities; for example, Craftsbury residents voted to use the funds to invest in a solar energy system to help cover municipal electric needs.

Sources

Verified by WINDExchange on Aug. 1, 2024
Sheffield Vermont Caledonia County Donation/support to local cause Land-based wind energy project 16 40 2011
Developed, Owned, or Operated by First Wind / Terraform Power

  • In 2014, First Wind funded a project request from Lyndon Town Elementary School in Lyndonville. The request was for inquiry-based kits and materials to conduct experiments to learn about renewable and non-renewable sources of energy.

Source

Verified by WINDExchange on Aug. 1, 2024
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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.