Community wind projects are generally owned by the communities in which they are situated. These projects can take a variety of forms. Some see communities own, operate, and receive the energy from the wind installations themselves. In this case, people can reduce their reliance on large, for profit electric utilities (who often supply dirtier energy). Other models allow a degree of community participation in selection and operation of a wind generator, or entail a transition to community ownership overtime. In many cases, grid community members will finance, own and run a wind project, but sell the energy to the wider grid. This way these projects can pay community members back for their initial investment, with any additional proceeds being reinvested in the community or more green community generators. 

Wind generation tends to take up more space than say, solar generation, so while a wind turbine might be situated in an urban area, they are often found on the peripheries. This, in turn, often means additional expenses and delays with regards to getting a grid connection. Community wind projects also face other regulatory and financial barriers. It can be difficult to raise initial funds, with lenders often being uninterested, and such projects rely on community members having the time and expertise to put such a project together. All this reduces the scalability of community wind. Nevertheless, Community wind remains an important way to transition away from fossil fuels while creating opportunities to increase equity within communities. Support at the local and national levels should help remove barriers, streamlining regulatory processes and unlocking new funding opportunities.

When you take this action:

• If you have 1–2 Society tags in this card's stack, add 1 Clean Energy token to your player board.

• If you have 3–4 Society tags in this card's stack, add 1 Clean Energy token and 1 Infrastructure Resilience token to your player board.

• If you have 5 or more Society tags in this card's stack, add 2 Clean Energy tokens and 1 Infrastructure Resilience token to your player board.

You may take this action once per round.

• Community Wind Energy (Wikipedia)

• Community Energy (World Wind Energy Association)

• Contact a local community energy project, local government, or a local community energy organization to ask about getting involved.

• Support laws that provide funding for, or otherwise support community energy projects.