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
New England Aqua Ventus Maine Monhegan Island Formal agreement Non-financial Offshore wind energy project 1 11 Not yet built
Developed, Owned, or Operated by University of Maine / Maine Aqua Ventus

  • Through a community benefit agreement with the island community of Monhegan, ME, Maine Aqua Ventus will provide at at least $2.43 million in upfront funding and technical assistance for Monhegan to plan, design, and construct its own energy system. This would allow Monhegan Island to be independent of a mainland cable connection, as well as providing additional support for operations and maintenance. The agreement allocates $100,000 for a community broadband project, which would expand Internet access on the island, and $40,000 per year in a separate municipal fund. The University of Maine will help contribute to supporting other community priorities, such as energy efficiency, water systems, housing, transportation, and job training. Monhegan residents voted in favor of this benefit package.

  • Maine Aqua Ventus and the University of Maine covered the expense of hiring technical experts and legal counsel to assist the community with the benefit agreement.

Source

Verified by WINDExchange on Aug. 1, 2024
Oakfield Maine Aroostook County Formal agreement Land-based wind energy project 48 148 2015
Developed, Owned, or Operated by First Wind / Onward Energy

  • Through a community benefit agreement with the town of Oakfield, First Wind committed to providing $12 million in community benefit payments over the first 20 years of the project's life (2014-2033). First Wind made the first payment of $600,000 in 2014, six months after construction began; each subsequent annual payment would also be $600,000 ($5,000 per MW of generating capacity installed in the town). The town agreed to use 90% of each annual payment to provide tax relief for residents. Town residents voted to approve the benefit agreement in 2011. This is in addition to tax revenues from the project.

Sources

Verified by WINDExchange on Aug. 1, 2024
Passadumkeag Maine Penobscot County Formal agreement Non-financial Land-based wind energy project 13 42.9 2016
Developed, Owned, or Operated by Southern Power

  • Through a community benefit agreement with Penobscot County, Passadumkeag Wind provides about $200,000 annually. The agreement was approved by the county in 2012, and it is in addition to any tax revenues or tax agreements for the project. The agreement also includes tuition payments and other benefits to county residents.

  • Project construction involved reconstruction of eight miles of existing electric infrastructure, enhancing system reliability and reducing power outages for residents of the area.

Sources

Verified by WINDExchange on Aug. 1, 2024
Record Hill Maine Oxford County Other Land-based wind energy project 22 50.6 2011
Developed, Owned, or Operated by Independence Wind / Wagner Forest Management

  • Through the Power to the People program, Record Hill provides energy assistance to Roxbury residents by paying for the first 500 kilowatt hours of their electricity generation charges each month for 20 years or the lifetime of the project.

Sources

Verified by WINDExchange on Aug. 1, 2024
Spruce Mountain Maine Oxford County Fund Non-financial Land-based wind energy project 10 20 2011
Developed, Owned, or Operated by Patriot Renewables

  • Around 2009, Patriot Renewables offered a benefits package to the town of Woodstock, including an annual payment of $20,000 into a town-administered community benefit fund for 20 years; this would be in addition to any tax revenues or tax agreements for the project. The package also included an $80,000 one-time payment to Woodstock for local land conservation. It is unclear if this benefits package was accepted and/or modified.

  • Patriot Renewables also committed to putting at least 1,000 acres of the project area into conservation for public use, including hiking and hunting, and offered use of the Spruce Mountain project's snowcat to the local fire department for emergency response.

Sources

Verified by WINDExchange on Aug. 1, 2024
Stetson Maine Washington County Fund Donation/support to local cause Land-based wind energy project 38 57 2009
Developed, Owned, or Operated by First Wind / Terraform Power / Brookfield Renewable Partners

  • In 2009, First Wind and the Forest Society of Maine established an outdoor recreation fund called the Stetson Mountain Fund; First Wind donated $100,000 to the society to establish the fund. The $100,000 fund provides grants to local groups and communities to support and improve access to recreational opportunities in the Baskahegan Stream watershed, with grants ranging from $1,000 to $3,000.

  • Stetson Wind has supported community organizations and events, including an annual snowmobile rally and a race across Stetson Ridge.

  • Stetson Wind has provided scholarships for high school students in the area of the wind project.

Sources

Verified by WINDExchange on Aug. 1, 2024
Weaver Maine Hancock County Payment to government outside of an agreement Land-based wind energy project 22 73 2020
Developed, Owned, or Operated by First Wind / SunEdison

  • The Weaver Wind Project in Maine, developed by SunEdison (formerly First Wind), entered into a significant agreement with the town. Voters approved a plan that will see the town receive nearly $2 million over 20 years in exchange for hosting more than a dozen industrial wind turbines. The agreement includes $1.12 million in annual payments of $56,000 ($4,000 per turbine) and $750,000 in lump sum payments. These funds will support public safety costs and an energy conservation fund for property owners to implement energy efficiency projects.

Source

Verified by WINDExchange on Aug. 1, 2024
New England Wind 1 Massachusetts Barnstable Formal agreement Offshore wind energy cable landing N/A N/A Not yet built
Developed, Owned, or Operated by Avangrid

  • Through a host community agreement with the town of Barnstable, signed in 2022 and updated in 2024, Avangrid will provide more than $24 million to the town of Barnstable. This includes a $16 million payment within sixty days of the project's financial close, $5.5 million for post-construction streetscaping, $2.4 million for sewer construction, and $500,000 for the Barnstable High School Environmental Science and Technology Lab. The agreement also includes reimbursement for any business disruptions during cable construction. The original agreement signed in 2022 included only the $16 million payment, which was to be paid over 20 years rather than at one time; the additional provisions and new payment schedule were added in 2024 through a side agreement with the town.

Source

Verified by WINDExchange on Aug. 1, 2024
Salem Offshore Wind Terminal Massachusetts Salem Formal agreement Fund Offshore wind energy port N/A N/A 2024-
Developed, Owned, or Operated by Crowley Wind Services / Massachusetts Clean Energy Center / City of Salem

  • In 2024, the city of Salem and Crowley Wind Services signed a community benefit agreement worth nearly $9 million. The agremeent has commitments in the areas of workforce and economic development, sustainability, housing and infrastructure, impacts to city services, Salem Public Schools and education, and other CBA commitments. This includes over $400,000 for scholarships, $187,500 for bilingual outreach to support local access to the offshore wind industry, $3.5 million for Salem Public Schools programs, funding for Indigenous history and cultural education, establishment of a $500,000 Climate Adaptation Fund, a commitment to port electrification by 2040, a commitment to local and diverse hiring, rental assistance for port workers, funding for Salem municipal projects and services, funding for monitoring and compliance of the CBA, reimbursement for legal and consultant expenses incurred by the city, and many other provisions.

Source

Verified by WINDExchange on Aug. 1, 2024
Vineyard Wind 1 Massachusetts Federal waters Formal agreement Fund Offshore wind energy project 62 800 Under construction as of 2024
Developed, Owned, or Operated by Vineyard Wind

  • Vineyard Wind and Vineyard Power (an electric cooperative on the island of Martha's Vineyard) signed a community benefit agreement in 2015, which includes provisions related to job creation and community engagement.

  • In 2019, Vineyard Wind partnered with Citizens Energy Corporation and Vineyard Power to establish the Resiliency and Affordability Fund. The fund will provide $1 million annually for 15 years in funding to support battery storage, solar projects, and credits to low-income ratepayers' electricity bills on Martha’s Vineyard and the Cape.

Funding for energy storage and solar projects for public buildings in communities on the island and on the mainland.
Ratepayer relief in communities hosting the Vineyard Wind project in the form of bill-credits for low-income residents.
The agreement also requires developers employ a fisheries liaison during project lifetime.

Sources

Verified by WINDExchange on Aug. 1, 2024
Display results

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.