Community Benefits and Impacts from Energy Development:
The Case of Offshore Wind
Energy development projects can create both opportunities and challenges for host communities. New infrastructure may bring jobs, investment, and funding for local priorities while also raising concerns related to environmental change, existing industries, cultural resources, and local participation in decision making.
This project examines how communities, developers, policymakers, and supporting organizations address questions of local impacts and community benefits associated with large-scale energy development. Offshore wind development serves as a case study for understanding how benefit arrangements emerge, how negotiations unfold, and how communities navigate complex energy infrastructure siting processes across U.S. coastal regions.
Emerging Insights
Research across study locations highlights several recurring themes shaping how communities experience large-scale energy development:
TBD
Full findings and supporting analysis are available in project reports and research publications below
Research Locations
Brookings, Oregon
Coos Bay, Oregon
Eureka, California
Searsport, Maine
Yarmouth, Maine
Westport/Grayland Washington
Research activities included interviews, surveys, document analysis, and engagement with community members, local leaders, developers, nonprofit organizations, and policy makers.
Reports and Research Outputs
Get list from DOE reports and add what we’re working on, links when available
Additional materials will be added as they become available.
Project Team
Hilary Boudet, Professor, School of Public Policy, Oregon State University
Shawn Hazboun, Assistant Professor, School of Public Policy, Oregon State University
Jeremy Firestone, Professor, School of Marine Science and Policy, University of Delaware
Shana Hirsch, Co-Director, Pacific Marine Energy Center, University of Washington
Arne Jacobson, Director, Schatz Energy Research Center, Cal Poly Humboldt
Teresa Johnson, Associate Professor, School of Marine Sciences, University of Maine
Caroline Noblet, Associate Professor, School of Economics, University of Maine
Technical Advisory Committee (TAC)
Project Locations: Gulf of Maine, Pacific (Northern California, Southern Oregon, Washington)
