Do Wind Turbines Affect Property Values?
From: University
of Guelph
EDITOR’S
NOTE: During Charlestown’s long battle over the Whalerock commercial wind farm
proposal, property value losses due to wind turbines were one of the few
non-health related issues raised by local NIMBYs.
Wind turbine developments have no effect on property values of
nearby homes and farms, according to new research from the University of
Guelph.
It was conducted by Richard Vyn, a professor in
the Department of Food, Agricultural and Resource Economics, and Ryan
McCullough, a former U of G graduate student and now a policy analyst for
Health Canada.
They analyzed more than 7,000 home and farm sales in Melancthon
Township and 10 surrounding townships in Dufferin, Grey, Simcoe and Wellington
counties. Melancthon, located about 100 kilometres northwest of Toronto, is
home to one of Ontario’s first and largest wind farms; 133 wind turbines were
erected between 2005 and 2008.
The study included sales data over an eight-year period – from
2002 to 2010 – to capture property values before, during and after the wind
farm’s development. During that period, more than 1,000 homes and farms were
resold — some multiple times, which allowed for repeat sales analysis.
Using a method common in real estate studies, the researchers
created six models accounting for the impact on property values of proximity to
the wind farm development and turbine visibility, as well as a combination of
these two factors.
In every case, they found wind farms had “no statistically
significant effect” on property values.
The researchers had expected to find a negative correlation,
especially for residential properties.
“This may help address the controversy that exists in Ontario
regarding the impact of wind turbines on property values,” Vyn said.
A current court battle in Ontario about wind energy developments
involves families in Huron County and the K2 Wind Energy Power Project.
Across the province, residents have called on the government to
delay wind farm development until the impacts are better understood.
Such public opposition is what prompted the research, Vyn said.
“It’s been in the news for a while now, and it seems to be
generating more and more concerns among local residents. I wanted to see
whether the stories people are telling and the concerns that they are
expressing show up in the sales data.”
Before now, no scientific study in Ontario had focused on wind
turbines and property values, and few studies anywhere used actual sales data,
which “gives you a much more accurate picture of what’s going on,” Vyn said.
Continue reading at the University of
Guelph.
