Mechanisms for Communities to Economically Benefit from Clean Energy - Spring

Advisor: Rachel Patterson

Team Members: Dan Cassara, Jada Johnson, Rebecca Barel, Diksha Boken, Nicholas Britton, Alan Han Chan, Cheri Chen, Alexandra Evangelopoulou, Qiushi Pan, Tianyi Wang, John Watters

This report analyzes how communities hosting renewable energy projects can receive greater economic and social benefits from the ongoing clean energy transition in the United States. Renewable energy deployment has accelerated rapidly in recent years, with substantial growth in wind, solar, and battery storage capacity. However, large-scale infrastructure projects have historically generated environmental and economic inequities, contributing to local opposition in many communities. The report investigates how benefits from renewable energy development—such as local hiring, tax revenues, community agreements, and land lease payments—can be structured to improve public acceptance and ensure that host communities share in the economic gains of the energy transition. The research focuses on understanding how state-level policy frameworks influence the distribution of these benefits.

Using desk research, literature review, and interviews with policy experts and industry stakeholders, the report develops a Community Benefits Mechanisms Framework to categorize policies and agreements that can direct economic benefits to local communities. The framework is applied to seven states—California, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, and Texas—to compare how different policy environments shape renewable energy deployment and community outcomes. Findings indicate that the most effective policies are those tailored to local political and economic conditions while incorporating mechanisms such as Community Benefit Agreements, Host Community Agreements, tax structures, and land lease payments. The report concludes that aligning renewable energy development with community economic interests is essential for sustaining deployment at scale while addressing historical environmental injustices and building long-term public support for the clean energy transition.

Learn more about the MPA-ESP Capstone projects.