(07/26/11) Wind power projects have been controversial in the North Country ever since the Maple Ridge Wind Farm started turning in Lewis County more than five years ago. One of the big questions remains: how do wind turbines affect the local economy?
Now a team of researchers at Clarkson University has some answers. Assistant professor Martin Heintzelman and PhD student Carrie Tuttle found that wind projects can depress property values by as much as 17-percent. But, they can also have a positive effect on real estate.
The researchers collected information about 10,000 property sales in three counties, including Lewis, between the years 2001 and 2009. They mapped the sales of these properties. They mapped all the wind turbines. And they considered every factor they could think of that might be a variable in the sales price: the size of the property, the house, whether it's in a village, what was happening with the general real estate market. Professor Heintzelman spoke with Julie Grant about what they found. more
