Valuing the Visual Disamenity of Offshore Wind Power Projects at Varying Distances from the Shore: An Application on the Delaware Shoreline

Abstract

Several offshore wind power projects are under consideration in the United States. A concern with any such project is the visual disamenity it may create. Using a stated preference choice model, we estimated the external costs to residents of the state of Delaware for offshore wind turbines located at different distances from the coast. The annual costs to inland residents was $19, $9, $1, and $0 (2006 dollars) per household for turbines located at 0.9, 3.6, 6, and 9 miles offshore. The cost to residents living near the ocean was $80, $69, $35, and $27 per household for the same increments. (JEL Q42, Q51)