Managing Stakeholder Conflicts Over Energy Infrastructure: Case Studies from New England’S Energy Transition
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Managing Stakeholder Conflicts over Energy Infrastructure: Case Studies from New England’s Energy Transition by Marian Swain B.A. International Relations and German Tufts University, 2012 Submitted to the Department of Urban Studies and Planning in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master in City Planning at the MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY June 2019 © 2019 Marian Swain. All Rights Reserved The author hereby grants to MIT the permission to reproduce and to distribute publicly paper and electronic copies of the thesis document in whole or in part in any medium now known or hereafter created. Author________________________________________________________________________ Department of Urban Studies and Planning May 21, 2019 Certified by____________________________________________________________________ Lawrence Susskind Ford Professor of Urban and Environmental Planning Thesis Supervisor Accepted by___________________________________________________________________ Ceasar McDowell Professor of the Practice Co-Chair, MCP Committee 1 2 Managing Stakeholder Conflicts over Energy Infrastructure: Case Studies from New England’s Energy Transition by Marian Swain Submitted to the Department of Urban Studies and Planning on May 21, 2019 in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master in City Planning Abstract Large-scale energy infrastructure projects often spark controversy over possible negative impacts on the environment, the local economy, or abutting properties. The transition to clean energy is exacerbating these conflicts, since it requires a substantial build-out of new energy infrastructure. In this thesis, I use a case study analysis of recent electricity transmission and offshore wind projects in New England to examine the key sources of stakeholder opposition and the impact of stakeholder conflicts on project outcomes. My four cases include both successful and failed projects: Hydro- Québec Phase I/II, Northern Pass, Cape Wind, and Vineyard Wind. Drawing on stakeholder interviews, public records, and media reports, I find that stakeholder conflicts contributed heavily to failed projects and played an important part in shaping the successful cases. The most common triggers of stakeholder opposition in these cases are visual and environmental impacts, concerns of competing industries, inter-state tensions, and efforts to exercise financial and political influence. I evaluate the factors that contribute to successful projects and offer recommendations for energy developers, policymakers, and regulators who want to make the energy facility siting process in New England more consensus-oriented, with the goal of helping the region accelerate its transition to clean energy. Keywords: siting, energy policy, public opposition, consensus-building, stakeholder engagement, electric transmission lines, offshore wind, New England Thesis supervisor: Lawrence Susskind, Ford Professor of Urban and Environmental Planning 3 Acknowledgements Thank you to my advisor, Larry Susskind, for your mentorship throughout my studies at MIT and in the process of writing this thesis. You have influenced my practice tremendously and I feel very privileged to have learned from you. Thank you to my thesis reader, Paul Joskow, for sharing your deep expertise on energy markets and for making many invaluable introductions that made this research possible. Thank you to Jonathan Raab for informal advising during this research process and for making several helpful introductions. Thank you to the Priscilla King Gray Public Service Center at MIT for supporting a summer fellowship that influenced this research and my professional goals significantly. Thank you to Ignacio Pérez-Arriaga, Carlos Batlle, Jesse Jenkins, and Scott Burger for your excellent course on electric power systems at MIT. Thank you to Professors David Hsu, Gabriella Carolini, Ari Peskoe, Jerold Kayden, and many others that made my graduate studies so rewarding. Thank you to my wonderful classmates at DUSP for feedback, commiseration, and inspiration throughout the thesis process. To everyone I interviewed, thank you for sharing your time, experiences, and reflections with me. Those interviews form the core of this thesis and have deeply influenced my understanding of these complex cases. I am also very grateful to the local journalists at outlets like the Providence Journal, ecoRI news, the New Hampshire Union Leader, New Hampshire Public Radio, and Maine Public Radio for their dedicated reporting on the local impacts of these energy projects. As I traveled to conduct this research, I was also very grateful to the many public libraries in towns around New England that offered me a comfortable place to work away from home. Finally, thank you to my wonderful family and to Nony for your patience, love, and support as I worked on this thesis. You always center me and remind me why I care about this work. 4 Table of Contents 1 Introduction: Climate change and energy infrastructure ....................................8 1.1 Case studies: Wind and wires..................................................................................... 12 2 The energy siting challenge .................................................................................15 2.1 Evolution of the siting regulatory process ................................................................... 15 2.2 Local opposition: LULU and NIMBY ........................................................................... 17 2.3 Consensus-building approaches to facility siting........................................................ 20 3 Data and Methods .................................................................................................24 3.1 Research questions .................................................................................................... 24 3.2 Case study selection .................................................................................................. 25 3.3 Data collection and analysis ....................................................................................... 27 4 Results and Analysis .............................................................................................32 4.1 Hydro-Québec Phase I/II ............................................................................................ 32 4.1.1 Visual and environmental impacts ........................................................................ 34 4.1.2 Health concerns about electromagnetic fields ..................................................... 37 4.1.3 Inter-state fairness ............................................................................................... 39 4.1.4 Culture and management of the siting process .................................................... 40 4.1.5 Summary ............................................................................................................. 42 4.2 Northern Pass ............................................................................................................. 43 4.2.1 Inter-state costs and benefits .............................................................................. 45 4.2.2 Environmental and visual impacts ........................................................................ 46 4.2.3 Technology type and alternatives......................................................................... 50 4.2.4 Competing industries ........................................................................................... 52 4.2.5 Perceptions of Process ........................................................................................ 53 4.2.6 Summary ............................................................................................................. 56 4.3 Cape Wind .................................................................................................................. 58 4.3.1 Regulatory uncertainty ......................................................................................... 60 4.3.2 Wildlife conservation ............................................................................................ 62 4.3.3 Views and competing interests in Nantucket Sound ............................................ 64 4.3.4 Financial and political influence ........................................................................... 66 4.3.5 Perceptions of the process .................................................................................. 69 4.3.6 Summary ............................................................................................................. 71 4.4 Vineyard Wind ............................................................................................................ 73 4.4.1 Technological change .......................................................................................... 75 4.4.2 Community outreach ........................................................................................... 76 5 4.4.3 Environmental concerns ...................................................................................... 79 4.4.4 Ocean planning.................................................................................................... 82 4.4.5 Commercial fishing .............................................................................................. 84 4.4.6 Perceptions of the process .................................................................................. 87 4.4.7 Summary ............................................................................................................