NWCC NATIONAL WIND COORDINATING COLLABORATIVE

HIGHLIGHTS

April 1, 2007

DATES TO REMEMBER

Draft California Statewide Guidelines: Webcast Summary Now Online – On February 28, 2007, California Energy Commission staff briefed the NWCC Wildlife Workgroup on the current status of the Draft California Statewide Guidelines for Reducing Impacts to Birds and Bats from Wind Energy Development. A summary from the webcast is now available online.

Great Lakes Region Wind Coordination Group Scoping Session – On May 1st, NWCC is bringing together a cross-section of stakeholders from the 8 Great Lakes states and Ontario to discuss interest in forming a group to address wind power topics at a regional level. For more information on this initial scoping session, please contact Katie Kalinowski at kkalinowski@resolv.org.

NWCC CONFERENCE CALLS

Steering Committee Call
April 26 @ 1:00 pm ET

Working Groups

Western Transmission Leadership Group Call
April 9 @ Noon ET

GS3C Call
April 9 @ 11:00 am ET

SPP Transmission Planning Committee Call
April 11 @ 2:00 pm ET

NWCC EVENTS

Business Meeting #38
April 24, 2007 - Lansing, MI

WPA/NWCC Wind Energy & Economic Development Forum
April 24, 2007 - Lansing, MI

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

NWCC WORKGROUP UPDATES

Recent Wildlife Workgroup subgroup activities include:

Gaps Subgroup – This subgroup is on hold until the results of current national research efforts are available.

Grassland and Shrub Steppe Species Collaborative (GS3C) – The grassland songbirds monitoring protocol has been finalized within the GS3C; it will be made available as a resource on the NWCC website in the near future after final approval.

The Ornithological Council is currently finalizing the GS3C literature review based on feedback from the literature review advisors of the GS3C. A final version is expected for release in April.

The Kansas State University research team investigating the potential impact of wind power on prairie chickens submitted its first annual report which was sent to GS3C Oversight Committee members for review.

Mitigation Toolbox – The Mitigation Toolbox is currently receiving a final technical edit. The final version will be sent to the Wildlife Workgroup Core Group for approval in early April.

Nocturnal Methods and Metrics – Subgroup members have submitted comments on the 2nd draft of the Nocturnal Methods and Metrics document. Tom Kunz and his team of authors are incorporating the comments into a final version. Options for peer review and publication of the manuscript will be presented to the Wildlife Workgroup Core Group for approval.

Risk Assessment – On their last call, the subgroup discussed an outline for a workshop to explore the application of a risk assessment framework to wind development. NWCC staff is revising the workshop outline, based on subgroup comments, and beginning to solicit potential workshop participants.

Revisions have been made to the Draft Ecological Risk Assessment White Paper and the new version will be posted on the NWCC website once the Core Group gives its approval.

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

The next Wildlife Workgroup call is scheduled for May 9, 2007 at 2:30pm ET. Please mark your calendars.

West – The Western Transmission Leadership Group (WTLG) is reaching out to speakers for a September summit on integrating renewable energy into the western grid. Members of the geothermal and solar communities have been invited to help with the summit planning process. As speakers are confirmed and a meeting venue secured, the meeting dates and other information will be announced and made available on the NWCC website.

The first issue of NWCC’s Implementing Wind Energy & Transmission in the West newsletter was distributed in February and is available here. The newsletter covers recent developments such as California ISO work on removing barriers to wind power, release of the final rule on Competitive Renewable Energy Zones (CREZ) in Texas, and more. The newsletter will be released quarterly in cooperation with the Western Governors’ Association (WGA). The next newsletter is due out in May.

Midwest – The Midwest transmission planning committee is talking through several meeting concepts. Integrating large amounts of wind into the eastern interconnection and making transmission more accessible in the Dakotas are two of the potential meeting topics. As these concepts are fleshed out, further details will be made available.

SPP – The SPP transmission planning committee is looking at doing a one-day workshop in August, likely in Dallas. The planning committee convened on March 26th to continue putting together a draft workshop agenda. The committee meets again on April 11th to further outline workshop plans.

Transmission Updates – On March 27th, the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC), Western Governors’ Association (WGA), and NWCC co-hosted a webcast on FERC Order 890 and what it means for the West. A webcast summary is under development and will be posted on the NWCC website once completed.

Workgroup Call - The next Transmission Workgroup call is scheduled for Tuesday, May 22nd at 2 pm ET and the next Transmission Update call is scheduled for June 19th at 1 pm ET.