Do wind turbines reduce the value of nearby properties?

The following is by Mike Barnard, who describes himself as a “Wind turbine tourist, informed amateur and lay advocate”. Mike has set up a series of questions about wind power with well researched, referenced answers on the Quora questions site. You can read the full answer here; we have just reproduced the summary.

Summary:  Four major and statistically reliable studies by different respected and independent organizations in different countries spread over a decade have found no correlation between operating wind turbines and negative property values (two found positive impacts in fact).

• The prestigious US-based Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory found no correlation.
• The respected UK-based Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors in combination with the Oxford Brookes University found no correlation.
• The US-based Renewable Energy Policy Project found positive correlations between wind turbines and property value increases.
• A University of Illinois Masters in Applied Economics thesis found statistical evidence that fear of an impending wind farm affects property values, but that operating wind farms do not, and that property values near operating wind farms increase faster.
• Fear of wind turbines impact on property values before the wind turbines are erected and shortly afterward seems to have a short-term impact on property values and sales. If so, anti-wind advocacy groups are complicit in this – arguably intentionally — by publicizing and promoting fear of property value impacts.