Backyard voices: How sense of place shapes views of large-scale energy transmission infrastructure

Abstract

While scholars have assessed the drivers of public views of electricity gener-ation infrastructure, attention to transmission infrastructure has been limited.Moreover, economic benefits are often wielded to garner public support in sitingdebates, but questions remain about what shapes local perceptions of economicimpacts. We examine how the symbolic content and geographic scale of placesentiments shape residents’ interpretations and evaluations of proposed trans-mission infrastructure projects as a threat or an opportunity. We draw fromin-depth interviews with public officials, residents, landowners, and stakeholdersin communities along the routes of two proposed energy transmission projects inthe American Midwest. Symbolic meanings, including but not limited to thosereflecting economic identities, inform interpretation of project impacts and eval-uations of the projects as threats or opportunities. Place meanings at the local,state, and national scales also help define the values through which respondentsevaluate the projects.