PERCEIVED RISK AND RESPONSE TO THE WIND TURBINE ICE THROW HAZARD: COMPARING COMMUNITY STAKEHOLDERS AND OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE PERSONNEL IN TWO REGIONS OF TEXAS by Greg Klaus, B.S., M.A.G. A dissertation submitted to the Graduate Council of Texas State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy with a major in Environmental Geography May 2017 Committee Members: Denise Blanchard-Boehm, Chair Richard Dixon Richard Earl Todd Moore COPYRIGHT by Greg Klaus 2017 FAIR USE AND AUTHOR’S PERMISSION STATEMENT Fair Use This work is protected by the Copyright Laws of the United States (Public Law 94-553, section 107). Consistent with fair use as defined in the Copyright Laws, brief quotations from this material are allowed with proper acknowledgment. Use of this material for financial gain without the author’s express written permission is not allowed. Duplication Permission As the copyright holder of this work I, Greg Klaus, authorize duplication of this work, in whole or in part, for educational or scholarly purposes only. DEDICATION The author would like to dedicate this dissertation to the men and women who work in the wind energy industry who at times put themselves in harm’s way in order to provide for their families and also supply this great nation with a clean, renewable source of electricity. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The author would like to thank his committee chair Dr. Denise Blanchard for all of her support and guidance throughout the dissertation process; as well as thank committee members Dr. Richard Dixon, Dr. Richard Earl, and Dr. Todd Moore for the direction and focus they brought to this study. The author would also like to thank Mr. John Franklin, Vice President of E.ON Climate & Renewables North America, for encouraging wind farm operations and maintenance personnel to participate in the surveying process; and Mr. Greg Wortham, Executive Director of the Texas Wind Energy Clearinghouse, for facilitating and encouraging wind farm community surveying. A final acknowledgement and thank you to Mr. Matthew Castillo a graduate assistant at Lamar University Department of Social Sciences for his support and guidance with the statistical analyses presented in this study. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................................v LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................ ix LIST OF FIGURES .............................................................................................................x ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................... xii CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................1 Problem Statement: The Ice Throw Hazard .................................................5 Purpose of Study and Theoretical Framework .............................................8 Research Design...........................................................................................9 Questions that Guided this Study ...............................................................11 Propositions................................................................................................13 Importance of the Study: Contribution to the Research Literature ............14 Scope of the Study .....................................................................................15 2. PREVIOUS APPLIED RESEARCH, EFFORTS AT QUANTIFYING OBJECTIVE RISK, AND SOCIAL CONTEXT OF THE ICE THROW HAZARD ...................................................................................17 Quantifying Objective Risk toward the Ice Throw Hazard ......................18 Turbine Icing Safety Program Development .............................................27 3. LITERATURE REVIEW ...............................................................................30 Research on Individual Risk Perception, Interpretation, and Behavior .....31 vi The Theory of Acceptable Risk .................................................................31 Research on Perception of Risk ................................................................33 Technology and Perceptions/Interpretations of Risk .................................35 The Development of Prospect Theory .......................................................39 Wind Turbines and Ice Throw as a Technological Hazard ........................40 The Effect of “Framing” Risk on Risk Perception ....................................55 Holistic Views of Hazard/Risk Management ............................................57 Theory Guiding This Research: The Protective Action Decision Model ..59 4. RESEARCH DESIGN .....................................................................................63 Propositions................................................................................................66 Study Areas ................................................................................................67 Sample Selection and Data Collection .......................................................70 Approach to Data Processing and Analysis ...............................................72 5. EXPLORATORY DATA ANALYSIS ...........................................................74 Part 1. Descriptive Analysis for Each Stakeholder Group .........................74 Part 2. Descriptive Data that Point to Relationships between the Two Stakeholder Groups .....................................................................97 6. MULTIVARIATE ANALYSIS.....................................................................107 Part1. Tests of Association on Categorical Variables ..............................107 Part 2. Tests on Ratio/Interval Data Comparing Groups .........................111 vii Part 3. Defining a Model of Community and OMP Respondents’ Perceptions of Community Risk and Community Response: Regression Analysis ...........................................................................115 7. CONCLUSION ..............................................................................................119 Importance of Study: Application for Future Research ...........................125 APPENDIX SECTION ....................................................................................................127 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................144 viii LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1.1 Top Five States for Wind Energy Generation, 2014................................................1 4.1 Large Wind Farms in Texas ...................................................................................68 6.1 Chi-Square Test Results with Variable Names and Significance Levels ............107 6.2 Descriptive Statistics Supporting Chi-Square Tests ............................................112 6.3 Mann-Whitney U Tests with Variable Names and Significance Levels by Survey Type ..............................................................................................113 6.4 Descriptive Statistics Supporting Mann-Whitney U Tests ..................................114 6.5 Summary of Regression Analyses for Variables Predicting Perceived Community Risk (Citizen Risk) and Perceived Personal Risk (Ice Throw) Incident ......................................................................................118 ix LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1.1 Locations of wind energy farms across the United States and estimated amounts of megawatt energy produced since 2011 ...........................................3 2.1 Wind turbine components ......................................................................................19 2.2 Ice forming on the leading edge of a wind turbine blade ......................................24 2.3 Ice fragment thrown from a wind turbine ..............................................................29 3.1 The Protective Action Decision Model (revised) ..................................................61 4.1 Texas wind farm locations .....................................................................................67 5.1 Numbers of ice throw incidents witnessed by operator and maintenance personnel by region ..........................................................................................75 5.2 Average numbers of ice throw incidents witnessed by operator and maintenance personnel by region .....................................................................76 5.3 Perceived risk levels of operator and maintenance personnel ...............................79 5.4 Perceived level of safety of wind turbine operations by operator and maintenance personnel .....................................................................................80 5.5 Perceived effectiveness of safety procedures for workers and perceived levels of safety for the surrounding community by operations and maintenance personnel .....................................................................................82 5.6 Levels of trust in safety representatives by operator and maintenance personnel ..........................................................................................................84 5.7 Age groups of operations and maintenance personnel ..........................................85 5.8 Levels of education of operation and maintenance personnel ...............................86