Wind farms’ benefits to communities can be slow or complex, leading to opposition and misinformation

After NextEra proposed a wind farm in Greeley County, Nebraska two years ago, Robert Bernt, a dairy farm owner in the area, helped to mobilize community members against the idea.

His group held town hall meetings and ran ads on the radio, arguing the wind farm would “fragment” the community, by lowering property values and leaving “decaying blades in our landfills.”

Bernt estimated Greeley is the eighth county where he has fought a wind project. “In every case, people were upset...