Wind Farm, Wind Plant, Wind Power Plant—Not Wind Parks

January 1, 1997

By

Paul Gipe

In American and British English “park” connotes recreational enclaves or sylvan settings publicly protected from development. Arrays or clusters of multiple wind turbines are more correctly described as wind power plants. During the 1970s utilities in North America envisioned building “energy parks” of multiple nuclear reactors. Propagandists for the utilities deliberately chose the term “parks” to mislead public debate. Continued use of the term “wind park” by the wind industry may be construed as a similar attempt to deceive the public.