Thanks Robert. I had tried similar syntax changes like you mention but still have no luck, no data gets returned.
Here is the URL (part of it) that with the modification you mention:
query?f=json&where=STRU_NAME%20like%20'wind'%25&returnGeometry=false
This is the original (=, returns data on exact match).
query?f=json&where=STRU_NAME%20%3D%20'wind'&returnGeometry=false
Looks good to me, not sure where the hangup is.