Informing and advancing an affordable energy system for all
Community & Regional Impacts
We research the positive and negative impacts of energy development on communities, as well as approaches to social engagement and planning for new facilities.
Energy development has a myriad impacts on communities and regions, both positive and negative. Further, impacts that are perceived as beneficial to one community may not be for others. Even the definition of community can differ depending on whether one is referring to a “community of place” or a “community of practice.” EMP’s research examines these themes through a multi-disciplinary approach using qualitative and quantitative methods.
Selected Projects
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Recent Publications
Hoen, Ben, James Diffendorfer, Joseph Rand, Louisa Kramer, Chris Garrity, and Hannah Hunt."US Wind Turbine Database Files."
(2026). DOI
Hoen, Ben, Eric Brunner, and David Schwegman."Uplifting winds: The surprisingly positive community-wide impact of wind energy installations on property values."Energy Research & Social Science
127 (2025) 104331. DOI
Nilson, Robi, Joseph Rand, Ben Hoen, and Salma Elmallah."Halfway up the ladder: Developer practices and perspectives on community engagement for utility-scale renewable energy in the United States."Energy Research & Social Science
117 (2024). DOI
Brunner, Eric, Ben Hoen, Joseph Rand, and David Schwegman."Commercial Wind Turbines and Residential Home Values: New Evidence from the Universe of Land-Based Wind Projects in the United States."Energy Policy
(2023). DOI
Ball, Jason, Sydney Forrester, Alexandra Grayson, and Andrew Satchwell."Electric Vehicle Program Designs and Strategies to Enhance Equitable Deployment."
(2023).
Bessette, Doug, Joseph Rand, Ben Hoen, Karl Hoesch, Jake White, Sarah Mills, and Robi Nilson."Community Centered Solar Development (CCSD) Study Interviews."
(2023).
Hoen, Ben, Ryan Darlow, Ryan Haac, Joseph Rand, and Ken Kaliski."Effects of land-based wind turbine upsizing on community sound levels and power and energy density."Applied Energy
15 (2023). DOI
Elmallah, Salma, Ben Hoen, K Sydny Fujita, Dana Robson, and Eric Brunner."Shedding light on large-scale solar impacts: An analysis of property values and proximity to photovoltaics across six U.S. states."Energy Policy
(2023). DOI
Luo, Qian, Fernando Garcia-Menendez, Haozhe Yang, Ranjit Deshmukh, Gang He, Jiang Lin, and Jeremiah X Johnson."The Health and Climate Benefits of Economic Dispatch in China’s Power System."Environmental Science & Technology
57.7 (2023) 2898–2906. DOI
O'Shaughnessy, Eric, Ryan H Wiser, Ben Hoen, Joseph Rand, and Salma Elmallah."Drivers and energy justice implications of renewable energy project siting in the United States."Journal of Environmental Policy & Planning
(2022). DOI
National Survey of Attitudes of Wind Power Project Neighbors