NWCC Logo NWCC
NATIONAL WIND
COORDINATING COLLABORATIVE

HIGHLIGHTS

May 1, 2007

DATES TO REMEMBER
NWCC welcomes new Associate Taylor Kennedy - The NWCC team has been joined by a new Associate, Taylor Kennedy. Taylor comes to RESOLVE from Dutko Worldwide, a political consulting firm, where she worked in the Sustainability and Affordable Housing practices. Taylor will assist with the Wildlife Workgroup and other NWCC activities. Program Associate Madeleine West is supporting this transition prior to her move to Colorado this summer. Please direct all Wildlife Workgroup and Subgroup inquiries Taylor can be reached at (202) 965-6392 or tkennedy@resolv.org.

Presentations online from WPA / NWCC Wind Energy & Economic Development Forum – All presentations delivered at the April 24th WPA / NWCC forum on April 24th in Lansing, MI are now online here. A brief summarizing the presentations is under development; notice will be posted in this update when the summary is available online.

Announcing briefing on NAS Wind and Wildlife Report – On May 7 at 3 pm ET David Polanski from the National Academy of Sciences will offer a brief overview of their new report entitled Environmental Impacts of Wind Energy Projects. Call-in information will be sent to the Wildlife Workgroup. For more information, contact Taylor Kennedy at tkennedy@resolv.org.

Save the Dates: Upcoming Transmission Workshops – The next NWCC workshop in the Southwest Power Pool Region has been scheduled for Wednesday, August 22 in Dallas, TX. The Western Governors’ Association and NWCC are holding a summit on integrating renewable energy into the western grid on September 27-28 in Denver, CO. Additional information on both events will be available in the coming months on the NWCC website.

Draft California Statewide Guidelines, Comment Period Extended to May 14 – On April 5 California Energy Commission published a revised version of the Draft California Statewide Guidelines for Reducing Impacts to Birds and Bats from Wind Energy Development. CEC is accepting comments on this second draft and has extended the comment period to May 14. In February, CEC staff briefed NWCC Wildlife Workgroup members on comments that had been received on the past version of the guidelines. A summary from the February webcast is available online.

NWCC CONFERENCE CALLS

Wildlife Workgroup Briefing: NAS Report on Environmental Impacts of Wind Energy Projects
May 7 @ 3:00 pm ET

Wildlife Workgroup Call
May 9 @ 2:30 pm ET

Transmission Workgroup Call
May 22 @ 2:00 pm ET

Steering Committee Call
May 31 @ 1:00 pm ET

Working Groups

SPP Transmission Planning Committee Call
May 10 @ 2:00 pm ET

Midwest Transmission Planning Committee Call
May 16 @ Noon ET

NWCC EVENTS

NWCC SPP Transmission Workshop
August 22, 2007 - Dallas, TX

WGA / NWCC Increasing Renewable Energy in the Western Grid Summit
Sept. 27-28, 2007 - Denver, CO

MAGIC MOMENTS

Updated Calendar of Events: click here

NWCC STAFF CONTACTS

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

Taylor Kennedy
Program Associate
(202) 965-6392
tkennedy@resolv.org

NWCC WORKGROUP UPDATES
WILDLIFE:

Recent Wildlife Workgroup subgroup activities include:

Grassland and Shrub Steppe Species Collaborative (GS3C) – The Kansas State University research team investigating the potential impact of wind power on prairie chickens has been awarded a matching grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) for approximately $150,000. KSU researchers are in the middle of the 2007 field season, and have submitted their first annual report to the GS3C Oversight Committee. Please click here for an overview of the GS3C, including project supporters and Oversight Committee members.

The grassland songbirds monitoring protocol has been finalized within the GS3C and approved by the Core Group. It will be made available as a resource on the NWCC website in the near future.

The Ornithological Council has finalized the GS3C literature review. The draft is currently under review by literature review advisors of the GS3C. A final version is expected for release later this month.

Mitigation Toolbox – The final version of the Mitigation Toolbox was approved by the Wildlife Workgroup Core Group and will be available on the NWCC website shortly.

Nocturnal Methods and Metrics – Dr. Tom Kunz and his team of authors are finalizing the Nocturnal Method & Metrics manuscript and incorporating Core Group comments into a final version that will be submitted to the Journal of Wildlife Management for publication.

Research Priorities Subgroup – The Core Group decided to move ahead on revising the Research Priorities White Paper which was last discussed in November 2006. NWCC staff is preparing process suggestions on this revision for the Core Group’s consideration.

Risk Assessment – The subgroup will propose to the Core Group that another meeting be conducted to continue the discussion about developing a framework for assessing risk to wildlife from wind development.

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

West – The Western Governors’ Association and NWCC will once again co-host a meeting on transmission in the Western U.S., focused this year on integrating renewable energy including wind, solar, and geothermal. The Integrating Renewable Energy in the Western Grid Summit is scheduled for September 27 – 28 in Denver, CO. The Western Transmission Leadership Group (WTLG) has been joined by representatives from the solar and geothermal communities to plan the summit. The summit agenda, location information, and other details are forthcoming.

The second issue of NWCC’s Implementing Wind Energy & Transmission in the West quarterly newsletter is due out in May. The first issue was distributed in February and is available here. The February 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.

Midwest – The Midwest transmission planning committee is setting the groundwork for leadership forum on wind power and transmission in South Dakota for November 2007, as well as a wind and transmission workshop in Indiana during January 2008. The planning committee will work on a draft agenda during its next call on May 16th at noon ET.

SPP – The SPP transmission planning committee is moving forward with August 22nd in Dallas for the 3rd NWCC SPP Transmission workshop. The planning committee is confirming speakers and will have a draft agenda available soon on the NWCC website.

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. The webcast summary is being finalized with the speakers 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.