What money can’t buy: Company experience and community resistance to renewable energy infrastructure

Renewable energy has grown exponentially, but projects and associated infrastructure increasingly provoke local resistance. Although investment offers opportunities, conflict is often driven by deeper social, cultural, and political dynamics. We argue that renewable energy conflict arises from what money alone cannot buy: local context. Companies frequently operate with incomplete information about communities’ capacity for collective mobilization, particularly in the remote areas most suitable for large-scale renewable energy deployment. When companies underestimate a community’s capacity for collective mobilization, projects are more likely to escalate into conflict. Drawing on qualitative evidence from La Guajira, Colombia, we show how companies’ experiences re-shape local resistance. Interviews with 30 stakeholders – including project developers, community members, and government officials – reveal that early project developers misjudged the potential for community mobilization, while later entrants adjusted their compensation schemes, benefit-sharing arrangements, and community engagement strategies accordingly. These findings underscore the critical role of local context, learning, and uncertainty in shaping community responses to renewable energy infrastructure.