NWCC NATIONAL WIND COORDINATING COLLABORATIVE

HIGHLIGHTS

May 15, 2008

DATES TO REMEMBER

ONLY SIX WEEKS LEFT FOR Wind Wildlife Research Meeting VII ABSTRACTS! - Abstracts for proposed Wind Wildlife Research Meeting VII presentations are due on June 30th! The call for abstracts is available on the meeting website.

Transmission Financing Briefing - Curious about cost allocation and transmission expansion costs? Then join us for the next NWCC Transmission Update call on May 20th. Our speakers will be Gregory Ioanidis, ITC; Julie Voeck, ATC; and Jay Caspary, Southwest Power Pool. A full description and call-in info are posted in the News box on the NWCC homepage.

DOE 20% Wind Report Released - On May 12th, the U.S. Department of Energy released "20 Percent Wind Energy by 2030", a report examining the technical feasibility of meeting 20% of domestic energy demand with wind energy by 2030. The report is available for free download at the website http://www.20percentwind.org/.

NWCC CONFERENCE CALLS

Transmission Update call
May 20, 1:00 pm ET

Transmission Update call
June 17, 1:00 pm ET

NWCC Steering Committee
June 26, 1:00pm ET

Working Groups

Midwest Transmission call
May23, 11:00am ET

NWCC WORKGROUP UPDATES

Outreach Audit - The Outreach Audit team proposed an improved approach to Wildlife Workgroup outreach on the May 14th Wildlife Workgroup call. Wildlife Workgroup Core Group feedback will be incorporated into the proposal to be shared with the NWCC Steering Committee.

Grassland Shrub Steppe Species Collaborative (GS3C) - Kansas State University researchers briefed the subgroup on its first quarterly report of 2008 on KSU’s study of potential impacts to prairie chickens from wind development. The GS3C also discussed whether to pursue activities relating to sage grouse; further exploration of this idea will continue in upcoming calls and at a GS3C meeting.

Habitat Subgroup - The Habitat subgroup has approved the abstract review panelists for the Wind Wildlife Research Meeting VII session on Cumulative Impacts and Impacts to Wildlife Habitat and Behavior. The subgroup will soon begin planning its next webcast on wind and wildlife habitat interaction.

Key Research Topics Subgroup - The Wildlife Workgroup’s Summary of Key Research Topics is undergoing a few final touches and will soon be submitted to the Wildlife Workgroup for approval and publication.

Mitigation Toolbox - The Mitigation Toolbox is currently undergoing its first, bi-annual update process. Stay tuned for notice of the finalized, updated version.

Wind Wildlife Research Meeting VII - Volunteers planners participated in a May 5th call to begin developing an agenda for Wind and Wildlife 101, the optional introductory workshop to be held October 27th, prior to the Wind Wildlife Research Meeting VII plenary on October 28 & 29. Both meetings will be hosted by We Energies in Milwaukee, WI. The plenary will be sponsored by NWCC, BP Alternative Energy, Horizon Wind Energy (new!), NREL, Audubon Society, Union of Concerned Scientists, and AES Wind Generation, Inc. A call for abstracts of proposed presentations is now available on the meeting website. Abstracts are due on June 30th.

Wind/Wildlife Activities & Events Table - The NWCC wind power/wildlife studies, activities, and events table is available online. Please send information on wind-wildlife meetings, studies, or publications to Taylor Kennedy at tkennedy@resolv.org for inclusion in this table and the NWCC calendar.

Midwest - NWCC and the Midwestern Governors Association thank the following organizations for signing on as co-sponsors for the meeting Midwestern Wind Energy: Moving It to Markets: CapX 2020, Western Area Power Administration, the American Wind Energy Association, Otter Tail Power Company, the Great Lakes Wind Collaborative, the National Conference of State Legislatures, NextEnergy, and the National Association of State Energy Officials. Other parties interested in co-sponsorship are encouraged to contact Katie Kalinowski at kkalinowski@resolv.org. The meeting on July 31 – August 1 in Dearborn, Michigan, will focus on implementation of the MGA energy security and climate stewardship platform and planning for attaining 20% wind power in the region and nationwide. An optional Wind Power and Transmission 101 workshop will be held on July 30th for those new to these topics. Registration for the plenary and workshop will open in June.

SPP - SPP stakeholders conveyed to the NWCC Transmission Workgroup that significant developments are happening in the region to facilitate greater wind integration. Workgroup members discussed suspending NWCC activities in the SPP region for the time being with periodic updates from regional leaders on workgroup calls. This proposal will be discussed with the NWCC Steering Committee at its May 22nd business meeting.

West - The Western Transmission Leadership Group Spoke together on May 1st about regional activities and how NWCC might add value. The group decided to reconvene in early June, after the Western Governors’ Association holds its first meeting of its Western Renewable Energy Zones (WREZ) effort, so that the WREZ timeline and activities could help inform the NWCC’s planning.

The 6^th volume of NWCC’s Implementing Wind Energy & Transmission in the West quarterly newsletter is due out in June. If you have article suggestions or would like to make a submission, please contact Katie Kalinowski at kkalinowski@resolv.org.

Layperson’s Guide to Wind Integration - The guide’s first draft is expected in time for the NWCC Business Meeting on May 22^nd.

Transmission Updates - The May 20^th Transmission Update call will explore transmission financing. Gregory Ioanidis of ITC and Julie Voeck of ATC will discuss FERC’s approval of their petitions related to cost allocation for interconnecting large generators. Then Southwest Power Pool’s Jay Caspary will provide a progress report on whether SPP will develop a portfolio of transmission projects that can create benefits to all members and is beneficial to SPP as a whole, which would mean that the costs of transmission expansion, if developed, could be allocated to all load in the Southwest Power Pool. Call-in info will be distributed to the Transmission Update listserv and posted on the NWCC website.

A summary of the recent California ISO and Midwest ISO Transmission Update is being reviewed by the speakers and should be distributed soon.