Consumer Support and Willingness to Pay for Electricity from Solar, Wind, and Cow Manure in the United States: Evidence from a Survey in Vermont

Qingbin Wang, Laurel Valchuis, Ethan Thompson, David Conner and Robert Parsons
Additional contact information
Qingbin Wang: Department of Community Development and Applied Economics, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05405, USA
Laurel Valchuis: Department of Community Development and Applied Economics, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05405, USA
Ethan Thompson: Department of Community Development and Applied Economics, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05405, USA
David Conner: Department of Community Development and Applied Economics, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05405, USA
Robert Parsons: Department of Community Development and Applied Economics, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05405, USA

Energies, 2019, vol. 12, issue 23, 1-13

Abstract: Information on public support and willingness to pay (WTP) for renewable energy from alternative sources is critically important for the development and evaluation of renewable energy policies and programs. This study assesses consumer support and WTP for electricity from solar panels, wind turbines, and on-farm anaerobic digester systems (ADS) in the United States, using data collected from a household survey in the state of Vermont. Empirical results suggest that solar power was the respondents’ top choice for public investment, and cow power (electricity generated from ADS) was the least-favored choice. Also, the variations in the likelihood of being willing to pay a premium for each renewable electricity across respondents were closely associated with factors such as education, political affiliation, homeownership, and local agricultural engagement. The relatively low level of public support and WTP for cow power is likely the result of unfamiliarity with this renewable source of electricity, and more educational efforts are highly needed to promote this renewable energy with many environmental benefits for a dairy state.

Keywords: renewable energy; consumer preferences and willingness to pay; anaerobic digester systems; solar power; wind power; cow power; energy policy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/12/23/4467/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/12/23/4467/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jeners:v:12:y:2019:i:23:p:4467-:d:290302

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().