Why municipalities reject wind power: A study on municipal acceptance and rejection of wind power instalments in Sweden

Abstract

This article explores municipal acceptance of wind power in Sweden and draws conclusions on the basis of semi-structured interviews with municipal decision-makers, together with analysis of documents and statistical data. In line with previous research, it demonstrates that wind power opposition is more complex than just a NIMBY effect. The attitudes of local residents influence municipal decision-makers, but may also act to augment and mobilize opposition. Perceptions of distributional injustice, generated by the lack of local economic benefits and the geographically uneven deployment of wind and hydropower, are also relevant in explaining community and municipal acceptance. Moreover, municipal acceptance depends on national political discourses, economic aspects, institutional settings, regulations and sociopolitical factors. To overcome acceptance barriers, the article argues for the need of some kind of formal compensation schemes, directed to both local communities and the municipality. The authority of the municipality to levy taxes on wind power could potentially rectify perceptions of energy injustice between different geographic regions, stimulate higher approval rates, and motivate municipalities to assume a role as an intermediary, accommodating different, and sometimes conflicting, local, national, and global interests.