NWCC NATIONAL WIND COORDINATING COLLABORATIVE

HIGHLIGHTS

January 1, 2007

DATES TO REMEMBER

Updated Wind/Wildlife Activities and Events Table – NWCC recently updated its electronic table of wind/wildlife related research, meetings, papers, and more; check it out here. If you have a new item or update to add to this table, please contact Madeleine West, mwest@resolv.org.

NWCC CONFERENCE CALLS

Wildlife Workgroup Call
January 10 @ 2:30 pm ET

Transmission Workgroup Call
January 16 @ 2:00 pm ET

Steering Committee Call
January 25 @ 1:00 pm ET

Working Groups

Western Transmission Leadership Group Call
January 8 @ 1:00 pm ET

Mitigation Subgroup Call
January 11 @ Noon ET

NWCC MEETINGS

2007 Meetings Coming Soon

MAGIC MOMENTS

Updated Calendar of Events: click here

NWCC STAFF CONTACTS

Katie Kalinowski
Outreach Coordinator
(202) 965-6383
kkalinowski@resolv.org

Madeleine West
Program Associate
(202) 965-6216
mwest@resolv.org

Jason Peller
Executive Assistant
(202) 965-6387
jpeller@resolv.org

NWCC WORKGROUP UPDATES

Recent Wildlife Workgroup subgroup activities include:

Gaps Subgroup – The Wildlife Workgroup plans to refine the white paper as a 2007 activity.

Grassland and Shrub Steppe Species Collaborative (GS3C) – On the GS3C’s December conference call, KSU researchers provided an update on their project investigating the potential impacts of wind power on prairie chickens. Members also discussed the draft grassland songbirds monitoring protocol. Some members wished to provide additional feedback offline, which went to the protocol authors for consideration.

The GS3C literature review advisory committee thoroughly reviewed the second draft literature review on avian grassland/shrub steppe species and wind projects provided by the Ornithological Council (OC). The advisory committee sent their comments to the OC and asked the authors to respond with when and how they will address their feedback.

Mitigation Toolbox – The mitigation toolbox intern is incorporating comments and adding case studies to the toolbox. The next Subgroup call is scheduled for Thursday, January 11th at noon ET.

Nocturnal Methods and Metrics – The first draft of the primer on nocturnal methods and metrics for studying wind interaction with birds and bats is delayed. NWCC staff is working with the authors on a schedule for completion and a subgroup conference call will be scheduled when the draft is received.

Risk Assessment – A conference call is being scheduled for the Subgroup to discuss how to finalize the Ecological Risk Assessment white paper and plan for a 2007 Risk Assessment workshop. To become involved, contact Madeleine West, mwest@resolv.org. For the current draft of the NWCC white paper on ecological risk assessment, click here.

NWCC Wildlife-Wind Research Meeting VI – Presentations from this meeting are on the NWCC website here. Proceedings are being written and will be posted at this site once completed.

The next Wildlife Workgroup call is scheduled for January 10, 2007 at 2:30pm ET. Please mark your calendars.

NWCC does not have any siting-specific activities planned for 2007. The Siting Workgroup will be inactive until need arises for further siting-related work. Questions about this topic may be directed to Katie Kalinowski, kkalinowski@resolv.org.

West - The NWCC Western Transmission Leadership Group (WTLG) is planning a webinar on conditional firm and redispatch co-sponsored by Western Governors’ Association and with the support of the American Wind Energy Association. The webinar speakers and time are being finalized; mid to late January is the likely timeframe.

NWCC staff, in collaboration with WGA, is developing a newsletter to share progress made on implementation of wind energy and transmission goals in the West. If there are items you recommend highlighting, please contact Katie Kalinowski, kkalinowski@resolv.org.

The next WTLG call is scheduled for Monday, January 8, 1 pm ET. To become involved in the WTLG or for more information on Western transmission activities, contact Katie Kalinowski, kkalinowski@resolv.org.

Transmission Updates – The Transmission Update call scheduled for January 9th at 1 pm ET has been cancelled. Please look for more details on a January conditional firm and redispatch webinar.

Midwest - Slides and other materials from NWCC Midwest Transmission Workshop VI held on December 4-5, 2006 in Bloomington, MN are online. The meeting summary is under development and slated for release in January.

SPP – A call will be scheduled in the next month to check in with SPP stakeholders about how NWCC can assist the region in the coming year.

Workgroup Call - The next Transmission Workgroup call is scheduled for January 16th at 2 pm ET; please mark your calendars.