Governing the Wind Energy Commons: Renewable Energy and Community Development (Rural Studies)

205 Pages·2019·1.345 MB·English

by  Keith Taylor (author)

governing the wind energy commons
volume five
Rural Studies Series
Sponsored by the Rural Sociological Society
Edited by Spencer D. Wood, Kansas State University
volume one
Rural America in a Globalizing World: Problems and Prospects for the 2010s
Edited by Conner Bailey, Leif Jensen, and Elizabeth Ransom
volume two
California Dreaming: Boosterism, Memory, and Rural Suburbs in the Golden State
Paul J. P. Sandul
volume three
Community Eff ects of Leadership Development Education:
Citizen Empowerment for Civic Engagement
Kenneth Pigg, Stephen Gasteyer, Kenneth Martin, Godwin Apaliyah,
and Kari Keating
volume four
The Contradictions of Neoliberal Agri-Food:
Corporations, Resistance, and Disasters in Japan
Kae Sekine and Alessandro Bonanno
governing the wind
energy commons
Renewable Energy
and Community Development
Keith A. Taylor
West Virginia UniVersity Press | MorgantoWn 2019
Copyright © 2019 by West Virginia University Press
All rights reserved
First edition published 2019 by West Virginia University Press
Printed in the United States of America
ISBN
Cloth 978-1-946684-84-4
Paper 978-1-946684-85-1
Ebook 978-1-946684-86-8
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
is available from the Library of Congress
Cover design by Than Saffel / WVU Press
To Rebecca, for your unending tenacity, love, and
enduring support for changing the world. To my
mom and grandma Betty, for shaping me to be
the person I am today. To my closest friends, Josh
Bright, Chris Lempa, and Jacqueline Hannah. And
to my heroes, all of those who strive simply to have
a meaningful, fulfilling life.

co ntents
ix Acknowledgments
1 introdUction
15 one
Community Development and Institutional Fit
46 tWo
Case Study — The Investor-Owned Wind Farm
77 three
Case Study — The Cooperative-Owned Wind Farm
122 FoUr
Comparing Investor- and Cooperative-Owned Firms
154 FiVe
Why Not Policy from Below?
169 Abbreviations
171 Notes
177 References
191 Index

Acknowledgments
The book you have in your hands could not have become a reality were in not for
a wonderful supporting cast of great characters working with me and supporting
my work.
I would like to acknowledge first and foremost the editorial staff with West
Virginia University Press’s Rural Studies Series. The team has remained incredi-
bly helpful and patient throughout the entire process. I have learned a great deal
through this process through the communiques with the press team. I cannot thank
you all enough for your patience.
I would like to express my gratitude to the Rural Sociological Society, which
recognized my work as a meaningful and worthy contribution, not to mention the
many wonderful peer reviewers who provided input throughout the process.
Additionally, I would like to thank my team of advisers at the University of Il-
linois and the University of Kentucky, Stephen Gasteyer, William Sullivan, Gale
Summerfield, and Patrick Mooney, who shepherded through an earlier version of
this work.