Poster #60 - Offshore Wind on Their Minds: Examining Open-Ended Survey Responses about Offshore Wind

• In Event: Saturday Poster Luncheon

Abstract

Offshore wind (OSW) development is occurring rapidly around the globe, highlighting the technology’s role in energy transitions. Despite recent federal challenges to OSW development in the US, many states and developers have pushed for projects to continue. While federal scrutiny, state policy, and developer input contribute to project outcomes, community perceptions can also play an important role. Positive perceptions can support successful development, while negative perceptions can contribute to protests, delays, and cancellations. Existing literature has explored social and community perceptions of renewable energy, including targeted examinations of OSW perceptions. However, few studies have considered the complex cognitive and affective contexts that help shape these perceptions. Our study investigates how survey respondents who answered an open-ended response question think and feel about OSW and how the perspectives of these more vocal respondents may be unique. Our paper utilizes data collected as part of an attitudinal survey focused on the energy justice of OSW development. The survey was administered by the research team in the US Mid-Atlantic states of Delaware, Maryland, and New Jersey. We analyzed 193 responses to the survey’s open-ended response question to better examine the breadth of respondent experiences and perceptions than would have been possible through standard survey questions alone. We utilized an iterative thematic coding approach paired with descriptive statistics to examine which respondents answer the open-response question and what their perceptions are. Respondents to the open-ended question did not substantially differ from other survey respondents. Both groups tended to identify as 65 or older, male, well-educated, homeowners, retirees, and white. We found that respondents were more likely to express opposition (11% of responses) or anti-wind ideas (32%) than support (5%), acceptance (3%), or pro-wind ideas (13%) in the open-ended responses question. However, the majority of respondents did not expressly state their position nor if they were anti-wind or pro-wind. Respondents who were anti-wind tended to use language aimed at shutting down discussion or discrediting OSW, and both anti-wind and pro-wind respondents often utilized cognitive and affective language in their responses. Anti-wind respondents addressed issues of fairness and justice in their responses slightly more frequently than those who were pro-wind. Understanding the perceptions of people affected by OSW can help researchers, decision-makers, and developers better accommodate them within the energy planning and development process. Doing so can support project outcomes and policies that are sensitive to community contexts and priorities, which may help reduce negative perceptions and the potential consequences associated with them. Accommodating community perceptions can further help address energy justice challenges associated with OSW development, such as the distributive, procedural, and recognition justice concerns raised by some of our respondents. With the importance of community perceptions in mind, we include several policy recommendations for future OSW development. Additional research should be conducted to improve understanding of community perceptions and the factors that shape them, as well as ways to better include community priorities in policy.

Author

• Zoe Lynn Ketola, University of Delaware
  Presenting Author