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NATIONAL WIND
COORDINATING COLLABORATIVE

HIGHLIGHTS

June 1, 2007

DATES TO REMEMBER
Mitigation Toolbox Online! – The NWCC mitigation toolbox is now complete and available online here. The toolbox provides guidance and direction for future wind development by describing various mitigation measures or tools that can be used in the decision-making process. This toolbox provides information about existing mitigation policies and guidelines, as well as on whether strategies are based on sound scientific research. The toolbox is intended to be a “living” document, updated periodically based on new research and tools. We hope you find this resource useful and informative.

2nd Implementing Wind Energy & Transmission in the West newsletter available! – The second quarterly Implementing Wind Energy & Transmission in the West newsletter is now available. Featured items include FERC’s approval of the CAISO petition for a third category of transmission assets, DOE issuing a draft transmission corridor in the southwest, FERC issuing Order 890, new renewable energy legislation in Colorado and New Mexico, and more! Check it out on the NWCC website, www.nationalwind.org.

Visit the NWCC Booth at WINDPOWER 2007 – NWCC will once again have a booth at the annual WINDPOWER meeting, this year held June 3 -7 in Los Angeles. Please stop by and say hello to us at booth 130!

Save the Dates: Fall Wildlife Workgroup and Risk Assessment Meetings (Nov 13-14) – A workshop on applicability of risk assessment methods to wind power planning is set for the morning of Tuesday, November 13th. The fall Wildlife Workgroup Meeting will begin that afternoon and will continue though Wednesday, November 14th. Venue and hotel information will follow.

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 Ft. Collins, CO. Additional information on both events will be available in the coming months on the NWCC website.

NWCC CONFERENCE CALLS

Steering Committee Call
June 28 @ 1:00 pm ET

Wildlife Workgroup Call
July 11 @ 2:30 pm ET

Transmission Workgroup Call
July 17 @ 2:00 pm ET

Working Groups

Western Transmission Leadership Group Call
June 1 @ 3:00 pm ET

South Dakota Transmission Meeting Planning Call
June 12 @ 3:00 pm ET

GS3C Subgroup Call
June 18 @ 11:00 am ET

SPP Transmission Planning Committee Call
June 21 @ 2:00 pm 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

NWCC Wildlife Workgroup Fall Meeting
November 13, 2007 - Denver, CO

NWCC Risk Assessment Workshop
November 14, 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 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 before being submitted for technical editing.

Mitigation Toolbox – The final version of the Mitigation Toolbox is now available on the NWCC website. It indicates the effectiveness of various methods of avoiding, minimizing, or compensating for direct and indirect impacts on wildlife caused by wind power facilities and illustrates gaps and overlaps between existing policies or guidelines and current research. Members of the Wildlife Workgroup are discussing an approach for periodically updating the toolbox. To get involved in the discussion, contact Taylor Kennedy at tkennedy@resolv.org.

Nocturnal Methods and Metrics – Dr. Tom Kunz and his team of authors are finalizing the Nocturnal Method & Metrics manuscript and will submit the document to the Journal of Wildlife Management for publication. Having completed its objective to develop a nocturnal methods and metrics document, the subgroup will now come to a close.

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 conduct another meeting on November 14th in Denver to continue the discussion about developing a framework for assessing risk to wildlife from wind development. NWCC staff is drafting a workshop agenda for review and discussion by the risk assessment planning committee.

Briefing on NAS Wind and Wildlife Report – On May 7th David Policansky, National Academy of Sciences, provided a brief overview of the NRC report entitled Environmental Impacts of Wind Energy Projects. A summary of the briefing call is under review by Mr. Policansky and will be posted on the NWCC website shortly. For more information, contact Taylor Kennedy at tkennedy@resolv.org.

The next Wildlife Workgroup call is scheduled for July 11, 2007 at 2:30pm ET. Please mark your calendars.
TRANSMISSION:

West – The location of the Increasing Renewable Energy in the Western Grid Summit on September 27 – 28 has been changed to Ft. Collins, CO. The Geothermal Energy Association will now co-sponsor the event with the Western Governors’ Association and NWCC. The summit draft agenda is online; venue details and registration are coming soon.

The second issue of NWCC’s Implementing Wind Energy & Transmission in the West quarterly newsletter is now available online. The next issue is due out in August. To join the newsletter mailing list or to contribute an article idea, please contact Katie Kalinowski, kkalinowski@resolv.org.

Midwest – The Midwest transmission planning committee has split into two groups, one planning a November meeting in South Dakota and another working on an Indiana meeting in January 2008. The South Dakota group has held two conference calls and is editing the meeting agenda. The South Dakota event is tentatively scheduled for November 30th in Sioux Falls, SD. Planning for the Indiana meeting will begin in June.

SPP – A draft agenda for SPP Transmission Workshop III on August 22nd in Dallas is now online here. More details will be coming soon as the meeting venue and other details are secured. Workshop registration will open in June.

Transmission Updates – June 19th is the next Transmission Update call at 1 pm ET. Speakers are still being confirmed, but some of the new approaches for transmission planning will be featured, such as the California ISO third transmission rate category. More information will be distributed shortly; to join the Transmission Update listserv, please contact Katie Kalinowski, kkalinowski@resolv.org.

Workgroup Call - The next Transmission Workgroup call is scheduled for Tuesday, July 17th at 2 pm ET and the next Transmission Update call is scheduled for June 19th at 1 pm ET.