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Ownership And Regional Economic Impact: The Case Of Wind Development In Minnesota, Arne Kildegaard

Economics & Management Publications

The Upper Midwest is poised for a major investment boom in wind-powered electricity generation. Public policy currently favors corporate ownership structures for new investment in this field, but when wind development takes place under the aegis of an external corporate ownership group the local economic participation will generally be limited to a minor role. This study attempts to quantify the regional value-added and employment consequences of local- versus outside-ownership of wind-powered electricity generation. We employ a realistic pro forma model of a “flip” structure -- i.e. a local equity “community wind” group partnered with an external tax-motivated equity group -- …