Business Meeting #26

Meeting Summary

October 4, 2001
Big Sky Resort
1 Lone Mountain Trail
Big Sky, MT 59716
(800) 548-4486

Purpose of Meeting:
– Review status of NWCC projects and provide direction for next steps
– Exchange information on current events in various sectors
– Discuss NWCC Schedule for 2001-2002

WIND PARTNER UPDATES

• Industry Report, Tom Gray, (AWEA)

• AWEA expects 1,400 MW of additional installed capacity by the end of 2001, bringing the US capacity to 4,00 MW. Wind will represent 0.03% of US generating capacity, providing 9-10 billion kw hours of electricity, enough to power 1 million homes.
• In 2002 we can expect an additional 1,00 to 1,500 MW to be installed regardless of whether the $0.017 production tax credit (PTC) is extended past December 31, 2001. The industry is on track to meet DOE’s 1st Wind Powering America milestone of 16 states with 20 MW or more of wind power.
• WindPower 2002 in Portland, OR will triple the exhibitor space which is already 50% subscribed.
• The 1st global wind power conference is being planned for April 2002 jointly sponsored by AWEA and the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA).
• The California Power Authority (CPA) is moving toward purchasing 1,000 MW of wind.
• AWEA is focusing on utility integration and transmission and is glad UWIG is studying this issue.
• Support is growing for extending the PTC for a longer term which is important to the industry for sustained growth.

Questions:

• Has rising gas prices contributed to this year’s wind expansion?
  • Tom responded that utility executives are keenly aware of gas prices.
• What does AWEA think about monitoring sales of green tags to consumers as green power that are required under state mandates.
  • Tom responded that the only reason to buy green tags at a premium is to increase the amount of renewable energy on the grid. That is key.

State/Congressional Legislation Update, Troy Gagliano, (NCSL)
[Refer to Mr. Gagliano’s slides for complete details.]

• Eleven states have passed renewable policy legislation since May, 2001.
• Oregon passed legislation to ease wind siting.
• Montana passed tax incentives for wind.
• New Hampshire passed a resolution in favor of renewables.

Wind on the Wires (WOW) Update, Ron Lehr, (NARUC)

• The WOW initiative has just under 2 FTE staff and in the process of developing a work plan for a meeting in the Fall. The program will try to strike a balance between short-term issues like relieving transmission problems from the Buffalo Ridge wind resource area, and longer term issues like RTO development and achieving a level playing field for wind.

Plains Organization for Wind Energy Resources (POWER) Update, Brad Stephens, Energy and Environment Resource Center (EERC)

• With a grant from DOE, EERC has developed their POWER program around outreach and education efforts and resource assessment to boost wind development in the Upper Midwest and Great Plains.
• More recently EERC is evaluating the merits of forming a regional wind energy collaborative as part of the POWER program. With assistance from RESOLVE Brad Stevens and Gabe Petlin recently completed a Feasibility Assessment Memorandum on Forming a Regional Wind Energy Collaborative.
• Those interviewed agree that the central and upper Great Plains would be well served by an organization serving as a regional focal point supporting the development of the region’s wind resources provided that a compelling and focused set of issues are on the agenda, efforts of other organizations are not duplicated, and POWER can demonstrate results that benefit the region as a whole. Further process recommendations are contained in the memorandum.
• EERC is determining what next steps they may pursue in the future to advance the idea.

Discussion

• One member looks forward to seeing if this is a model for regional collaboration on wind power and hopes it succeeds. He suggested that outreach to schools would be popular.

DOE and NREL Wind Program and Wind Powering America Updates, Brian Parsons/Larry Flowers, (NREL)
Brian Parson’s Comments

• Brian Parsons expects the possible of level funding for DOE Wind Programs, but the new emphasis on national security raises the possibility of across the board budget cuts.
• NREL and DOE continue to support wind deployment barrier reduction activities by keeping programs like the NWCC running.
• On transmission the National and Western Governor’s Associations are looking at how to get transmission built. The UWIG study on system impacts is very important to this mission and is all the more important, because of the 1000 MW BPA Wind RfP.

Larry Flowers’ Comments

• Wind Powering America Staff are satisfied with proposed NWCC dates without locations. Wind Powering America has target locations in mind and will communicate to NWCC preferred states for consideration of co-scheduling opportunities. These include for next year: OK, MT, ID, UT, AZ, NM, Dakotas.
• Pa’s goal is to jump start discussions on wind in key states by forming workgroups after large outreach forums.

Credit Trading Workgroup

• Members present endorsed concept of Credit Trading Demonstration Distribution Project after discussion. Work group has approval to develop detailed work plan and RFP for $20,000 in consultant contract support. Questions on associated problems such as double counting, voluntary vs. regulatory credit trading, and impact of RPS mandates on credit trading markets need to be addressed in the next draft of the work plan, as well as the feasibility of obtaining credits.
• Ron Lehr presented a 3 page summary of the larger credit trading report that will be used to announce the paper.
• October 18th 4:00 PM is the next conference call to further develop work plan and RFP.

[Subsequent to the call The Credit Trading Workgroup decided to take a step back from the Credit Trading Distribution and Demonstration work plan and to first ask Energy and Environmental Regulators what they know about credit trading issues and what kinds of outreach and education activities that the NWCC could offer would be useful. The workgroup is looking into finding a consultant who can interview 15-20 key Energy and Environmental Regulators, write up their responses, and draft a short memo to the work group recommending an outreach and education project that is actionable by the NWCC.

Transmission Workgroup

• An initial draft of the NWCC Transmission Workshop Agenda planned for winter 2002 presented and discussed. The possible co-scheduling with North Dakota Wind Conference III, February 22, 2002 was discussed. This needs to be further discussed by the workgroup and with midwest stakeholders.
• A grant from DOE to National Governor’s Association (NGA) to address transmission issues was discussed: NGA’s Center for Best Practices: “How to Break the Transmission Siting Log Jam.” Details at: www.nga.org

Montana Forum October 3, 2001
Highlights of the forum include:

• State leadership needs further education on wind, but the participants are encouraged that MT’s Secretary of State delivered the key note address.
• Renewables mandates do not appear to be in strong favor among policy makers in Mt, but several people pointed out that Montana Power Company’s large wind RfP has the potential to significantly diversify the energy resource portfolio of the state.
• Transmission is the prime issue for wind in Mt. Several pointed out that there is no available transmission.

Siting Workgroup

• The Siting Workgroup is holding a working session in Boston October 22-23 to revise the NWCC document, Siting Wind Facilities: A Permitting Handbook.
• The NWCC is sponsoring a New England Wind Siting Workshop in Boston October 24. Information is available at www.nationalwind.org

Economic Development Workgroup

• The NWCC Guidelines on Wind Energy Economic Development Assessment Studies is out for NWCC consensus review. Comments are due by October 15 to Philip Chou at RESOLVE: pchou@resolv.org. NWCC members present can live with the draft. [Subsequent to the summary no objections have been received.]
• NWCC will initiate a contract for economic development case studies to Northwest Economic Associates, in October 2001.

Avian Workgroup

• The Avian Fact Sheet is nearly complete and is needed as an educational piece at wind forums scheduled this fall.
• The Avian Perspectives Paper was released on the NWCC website in the summer and is being printed.
• A workshop on Energy Infrastructure Impacts to Raptors is being held in Billings, Montana October 24. NWCC will send copies of the Avian Perspectives Paper and it was suggested that NWCC inquire whether Wally Erickson of WEST, Inc could present the paper.

NWCC Meeting Schedule 2001-2002

• Synergy opportunities with smaller wind meetings such as AWEA board meetings and UWIG meetings will be investigated.
• NWCC staff will propose to members a firm 2002 calendar in November for discussion at December’s meeting.

New Potential NWCC Project Ideas

• Several new project ideas were identified in part a response to discussions at the Montana Wind Forum on October 3. These are preliminary ideas and would need to be further vetted and developed at the respective work group level. A target timeframe for next steps is November when staff will be preparing the updated NWCC Blueprint for 2002 and beyond for review at the December 6 Business Meeting. Here are the ideas discussed and possible workgroups assignments:
• Net Metering study on what’s working and what is contentious. (Distributed Workgroup)
• Public Lands and the Permitting Process: how to strike a balance between enabling wind development to proceed and necessary environmental protection. (Siting Workgroup)
• Credit Trading for Small Wind and Coops. (Credit Trading Workgroup)
• Study exploring issues in wind integration with hydro, coal, gas, and other resources.
• Paper exploring how much wind can be put on the distribution network in states like Montana along the lines of the Tom Wind Iowa case study. (Distributed Workgroup)
• Study comparing net economic development benefits of wind, coal and other resources. (Economic Development)