Siting
Significantly increasing the production of renewable energy requires a sound understanding of the considerations involved in siting wind energy facilities. The NWCC provides a forum for the discussion of siting and permitting considerations associated with potential impacts to the environment, community, and existing resources or infrastructure.
The NWCC periodically hosts technical siting seminars at which experts share state-of-the-art research on the most critical issues for siting wind facilities and the technologies to address these issues. Meeting proceedings are published as reference documents containing research literature, lessons learned, and best practices for siting wind facilities. These summaries guide decision makers as they develop permitting and zoning policies to balance national energy needs with local considerations.
NWCC News
Dr. Maureen Cropper gave a presentation on the National Research Council's report, "Hidden Costs of Energy: Unpriced Consequences of Energy Production and Use," as a special NWCC Briefing on August 24.
Mason Emnett gave a presentation on FERC's Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Transmission Planning and Cost Allocation for the NWCC's August 17 Transmission Briefing.
The NWCC Grassland/Shrub Steppe Species Sage-grouse Research Collaborative (GS3C-SGC) Oversight Committee has extended the submittal deadline from September 2, 2010 to October 1, 2010 for the “Protocols for Assessing Impacts of Wind Energy Development on Greater Sage-grouse Request for Proposals”.
On June 17, 2010, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved Southwest Power Pool’s (SPP) transmission cost allocation plan, known as a “Highway/Byway” proposal.
We are pleased to announce the release of the NWCC fact sheet, “Wind Turbine Interactions with Birds, Bats, and their Habitats: A Summary of Research Results and Priority Questions.”
Wind Powering America honored the NWCC at the May 28 State Summit in Dallas, TX, with the Wind Powering America Outstanding Partner Award.
The NWCC was featured in the display hall at AWEA’s annual WINDPOWER Conference in Dallas, Texas. The NWCC booth featured an entirely new display as well as many recent NWCC publications.
After a three day meeting on March 2-4, the Wind Turbine Guidelines Federal Advisory Committee reached consensus on draft wind turbine guideline recommendations on minimizing the impacts of land-based wind farms on wildlife and habitat. Click the link to read the complete U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service press release.