With reference to Social Cognitive Theory, this study contributes to the debate on large-scale energy projects that can be classified as NIMBY developments and their implementation in order to better understand drivers to public acceptance. Public acceptance is essential for the development of typical NIMBY facilities. This study draws on Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) to investigate the determinants of public acceptance of a NIMBY facility in Wuhan City, China, to explore how the trade-off between the perceived benefit and risk affected public acceptance. Guanshan power substation was selected as the case study, and a questionnaire was presented to 450 local residents. Using a structural equation model, this study revealed that the perceived benefit-risk was positively related to public acceptance. Self-efficacy positively affected public acceptance via the perceived benefit-risk. Furthermore, the social environment exerted a significant positive effect on public acceptance, self-efficacy and perceived benefit-risk. These findings highlight the importance of improving the social environment and taking perceived benefit-risk into account during the decision-making process for similar developments.