The Impact of Wind Power Projects on Residential Property Values ...

all very small communities with little to no services. Much <strong>of</strong> the area to the North and South <strong>of</strong>
the ridge, and outside <strong>of</strong> the urban areas, is farmland, with homes situated on small parcels
adjoining larger agricultural tracts.
Data Collection and Summary
Data for this study area were collected from a myriad <strong>of</strong> sources. For Benton County, sales and
home characteristic data and GIS parcel shapefiles were collected with the assistance <strong>of</strong> county
<strong>of</strong>ficials Eric Beswick, Harriet Mercer, and Florinda Paez, while state <strong>of</strong>ficial Deb Mandeville
(Washington Department <strong>of</strong> State) provided information on the validity <strong>of</strong> the sales. In Walla
Walla County, county <strong>of</strong>ficials Bill Vollendorff and Tiffany Laposi provided sales, house
characteristic, and GIS data. In Umatilla County, county <strong>of</strong>ficials Jason Nielsen, Tracie Diehl,
and Tim McElrath provided sales, house characteristic, and GIS data.
Based on the data collection, more than 8,500 homes are found to have sold within ten miles <strong>of</strong>
the wind turbines in this study area from January 1996 to June 2007. Completing field visits to
this number <strong>of</strong> homes would have been overly burdensome; as a result, only a sample <strong>of</strong> these
home sales was used for the study. Specifically, all valid sales within three miles <strong>of</strong> the nearest
turbine are used, and a random sample <strong>of</strong> those homes outside <strong>of</strong> three miles but inside <strong>of</strong> five
miles in Benton County and inside ten miles in Walla Walla and Umatilla Counties. This
approach resulted in a total <strong>of</strong> 790 sales, with prices that ranged from $25,000 to $647,500, and a
mean <strong>of</strong> $134,244. Of those 790 sales, 519 occurred after wind facility construction commenced,
and 110 could see the turbines at the time <strong>of</strong> sale, though all but four <strong>of</strong> these homes had MINOR
views. No homes within this sample were located within one mile <strong>of</strong> the nearest wind turbine,
with the majority occurring outside <strong>of</strong> three miles.
Area Statistics
Study Period
Begin
Study Period
End
Number <strong>of</strong>
Sales
Median
Price
Mean
Price
Minimum
Price
Maximum
Price
1/23/1996 6/29/2007 790 $ 125,803 $ 134,244 $ 25,000 $ 647,500
Facility Statistics
Facility Name
Number <strong>of</strong>
MW
Number <strong>of</strong>
Turbines
Announce
Date
Construction
Begin Date
Completion
Date
Turbine
Maker
Hub Height
(Meters)
Vansycle Ridge 25 38 Aug-97 Feb-98 Aug-98 Vestas 50
Stateline <strong>Wind</strong> Project, Phase I (OR) 83 126 Jun-00 Sep-01 Dec-01 Vestas 50
Stateline <strong>Wind</strong> Project, Phase I (WA) 177 268 Jun-00 Feb-01 Dec-01 Vestas 50
Stateline <strong>Wind</strong> Project, Phase II 40 60 Jan-02 Sep-02 Dec-02 Vestas 50
Nine Canyon <strong>Wind</strong> Farm 48 37 Jun-01 Mar-02 Sep-02 Bonus 60
Combine Hills Turbine Ranch I 41 41 Apr-02 Aug-03 Dec-03 Mitsubishi 55
Nine Canyon <strong>Wind</strong> Farm II 16 12 Jun-01 Jun-03 Dec-03 Bonus 60
Source: AWEA & Ventyx Inc.
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