Public and Local Policymaker Preferences for Large-Scale Energy Project Characteristics

Abstract

Rapidly building utility-scale energy infrastructure requires not only public support, but also political will across levels of government. This research explores determinants of opposition and support for large-scale energy projects among residents and local elected officials in Pennsylvania—a key transition state due its high solar potential, and where siting authority rests at the local level. This work extends prior research by using a conjoint to compare many project characteristics simultaneously, expanding the set of characteristics typically considered, sampling both the public and elected officials in a key transition state, and assessing the accuracy of public officials’ perceptions of their constituents. Using a conjoint experiment, we assess support for different characteristics of energy projects among a demographically representative sample of residents (n = 894) and a sample of local elected officials (n = 206). Key findings include that creation of permanent, union-wage jobs and cooperative community ownership increases support for energy projects and that solar projects are preferred over wind, nuclear, and natural gas power plants with carbon capture and storage. Support among both the public and local elected officials is lower when projects are owned by foreign companies. Strikingly, we find limited partisan differences in preferences for large scale renewable energy project characteristics, suggesting a promising path towards building bipartisan support for such projects. We also find, however, that local elected officials misperceive the preferences of their constituents, underestimating support for renewable energy and the importance of job creation. Given the role of local elected officials as key decision-makers regarding energy infrastructure development, their preferences and how they perceive their constituents’ preferences may dictate what types of energy projects are approved and what benefits they deliver to local communities.