Business Meeting #24

NWCC Transmission and RTO Activity Plan Update

November 29, 2000

The NWCC Transmission Workgroup recommends that the Transmission and RTO Activity Plan recommended and approved at the March, 2000 meeting in Lakewood, CO be updated to focus on the following activities, listed in order of priority:

1. Conduct a wind transmission workshop among wind interested parties in the Midwest region in March, 2001. There are numerous studies that are underway or that have been recently conducted on this and related topics. It is time to get all the players together to understand the current status of the studies. With this understanding in place, we hope to effect a positive influence on expansion of transmission in the region and on the evolution of the RTO/ISO/TRANSCO development process from a wind perspective (and develop a plan on how to further effect this influence). The primary concerns are that transmission expansion issues are addressed in a multi-stakeholder, consensus building process and that wind generation be treated fairly in the new developing markets, rather than being disadvantaged because of it's unique characteristics: being new, intermittent, and remote.

We focus on the Midwest region because of its large wind resource, the distance of the wind resource from the major markets, and the transmission constraints in the region. The workshop will help focus discussion of national wind transmission issues in a specific region, and should serve as a concrete vehicle for developing further clarity on the issues and approaches to their resolution that we hope will be useful in other regions of the country. The workshop will be followed by another in the summer or fall of 2001 that will invite participation from a broader audience with a more diverse range of interests. The final objectives are:

i) to inform the NWCC through its Transmission Workgroup about the studies underway and completed on transmission and transmission-related issues in the upper Midwest, leading toward understanding of how the NWCC should proceed to address wind transmission issues in the region in the future.

ii) to educate the decision makers in transmission planning and operating organizations and the developing ISOs in the region regarding the unique characteristics of wind generation and its need for fair treatment in the new energy and transmission markets being created.

iii) to create dialogue among the diverse interests that have concerns and hold a stake in the expansion of transmission in the region, and to provide a process that can help search for feasible solutions to a difficult problem that lead to provision of adequate transmission consistent with stakeholder interests and concerns.

iv) to develop materials, methods, and approaches to problem identification and resolution that will be applicable in other regions.

Budget: Baseline activity of the NWCC

2. Prepare topical Issue Briefs on issues critical to the fair treatment of wind generation in the evolving energy markets. These briefs will help continue the self education process of the members of the NWCC and provide a basis for education and outreach efforts among the constituencies of the NWCC members and the general public. The Briefs would be produced in stages to make the project manageable. They would include: