Welcome to the Community Wind Toolbox.

The Community Wind Handbook offers high-quality practical information for farmers and rural landowners looking to develop commercial-scale wind projects.

Community wind is a growing sector of wind development that promises to increase local energy independence and prosperity without contributing to global warming.

You can download the Community Wind Toolbox as PDF documents.

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If you would like to print out certain chapters ahead of time, please click on the links to the specific chapter below.

PDF Version
This section focuses on project management and planning, two elements that are essential to a successful 2-50 MW community wind project. Topics covered in this section include putting together a reliable project team and understanding risks and ways to mitigate them. The section also provides resources for creating a realistic project plan and timeline, as well as tips from experienced community wind developers.

PDF Version
Wind energy development is expanding rapidly, creating many opportunities for communities to participate in wind development. Windy acreage, once cursed for losing top soil, is now seen as a potential goldmine. Many farmers and landowners are clamoring to get in on the action. Wind energy offers many financial, environmental, and social benefits to the communities and individuals who choose to get involved with its development.

Minnesota’s original (2005) Community-Based Energy Development (C-BED) legislation offers some important benefits to community wind projects, but understanding how it works can be a little challenging. This article will try to explain the major aspects of the C-BED program and illustrate how community projects are helped with a simple example.

A Survey of State Support for Community Wind Power Development by Mark Bolinger of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, published March 2004.