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NWCC NATIONAL WIND COORDINATING COLLABORATIVE |
HIGHLIGHTS
October 1, 2007
DATES TO REMEMBER
Avian Protection Plans Webcast - October 9 at noon ET -Jim Burruss, PacifiCorp, Jim Lindsay, FPL, and Al Manville, US Fish & Wildlife Service, will brief the NWCC Wildlife Workgroup on Avian Protection Plans and the APLIC process. The presentations will be webcast on October 9 at 12pm ET and a summary will be made available shortly thereafter. To join the Wildlife Workgroup listserv and receive the webcast login info, contact Taylor Kennedy, tkennedy@resolv.org.
Governors address 200 participants at Renewable Energy Summit -Governor Ritter and Governor Freudenthal discussed the importance of renewables as part of a diverse energy portfolio during NWCC's Increasing Renewable Energy in the Western Grid summit, co-hosted by the Western Governors' Association and the Geothermal Energy Association. A link to presentations is available on the summit website and a press release issued by WGA is online here.
Western Transmission Newsletter Online -The third volume of NWCC's Implementing Wind Energy & Transmission in the West newsletter is complete and online here. Read about the WGA Clean Energy Progress Report, an Idaho PUC transmission settlement, grid operator concerns about a FERC Order 890 provision, and much more!
NWCC CONFERENCE CALLS
Steering Committee call
October 4, 1:00 pm ET
Wildlife Workgroup Avian Protection Plans Webcast
October 9, noon ET
Wildlife Workgroup Core Group AND Probability of Impact call
October 12, 2:00 pm ET
Transmission Update call
October 31, 1:00 pm ET
Working Groups
South Dakota Transmission Workshop planning call
October 1, noon ET
2008 Research Meeting planning call
October 9, 1 pm ET
GS3C call
October 29, 11:00 am ET
NWCC EVENTS
NWCC Probability of Impact Workshop
November 13, Denver, CO
NWCC Wildlife Workgroup Fall Meeting
November 14, Denver, CO
NWCC Wind Energy & Transmission: The South Dakota Landscape meeting
November 29-30, Sioux Falls, SD
MAGIC MOMENTS
Updated Calendar of Events: click here
CONTACT NWCC STAFF
Katie Kalinowski
Outreach Coordinator
(202) 965-6383
kkalinowski@resolv.org
Taylor Kennedy
Program Associate
(202) 965-6392
tkennedy@resolv.org
NWCC WORKGROUP UPDATES
Recent Wildlife Workgroup subgroup activities include:
Grassland and Shrub Steppe Species Collaborative (GS3C) - KSU researchers will provide a briefing on their latest quarterly report to the GS3C on Oct 29th.
The Ornithological Council is addressing technical editing comments prior to finalization of the literature review. GS3C members also reviewed an updated introduction to the literature review. NWCC staff will circulate an announcement and post the document online when it is complete.
Probability of Impact - This subgroup continues planning for the November 13th workshop. A new agenda has been circulated to the subgroup for comment. An updated agenda incorporating the group's feedback will be circulated to the Core Group in anticipation of the October 9th briefing on workshop plans.
Research Meeting VII Planning Committee - A number of volunteers have agreed to help plan the 7th Wildlife Workgroup Research Meeting (tentatively scheduled for Fall 2008). The first call will take place on October 9th at 1pm ET.
Research Priorities Subgroup - The subgroup is currently scheduling its first conference call to begin revisions to the research priorities white paper; it is anticipated that the task will ultimately require two or three calls. The group hopes to share a revised paper with the Core Group at the Fall Wildlife Workgroup meeting on November 14th in Boulder, CO.
RfP Oversight Subgroup - In early November, NREL will issue an announcement of intent to release the RfPs for updating the Methods & Metrics document and the Birds & Bats Factsheet. Once published in FedBizOpps, NWCC staff will circulate this announcement to the Wildlife Workgroup and other interested parties. The RfPs are likely to be released in early 2008.
Wind/Wildlife Activities & Events Table - This table tracks wind power and wildlife-related studies and meetings and is available online. Note the release of the US Forest Service guidelines, which are open to public comment until November 23, 2007.
Midwest -The next planning call for the South Dakota transmission workshop is on October 1th at noon ET. The workshop is scheduled for Nov 29-30 in Sioux Falls, SD. Invitations to speakers are going out and workshop registration will open in October.
The meeting on wind energy and transmission in the Eastern Midwest, featuring Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio, has been postponed until Spring 2008. Recruitment of planning committee members from these states and relevant sectors continues. If you would like to be involved in the planning process, please contact Katie Kalinowski at kkalinowski@resolv.org. The next planning call for this group will be scheduled for October.
SPP - Presentations from NWCC's August 22nd workshop on wind energy and transmission in the Southwest Power Pool region are available online for free download through this link. Next steps and a meeting summary are under development. NWCC plans to reconvene the workshop planning committee to discuss implementation of next steps and future activities.
West - The Sept 27-28 Increasing Renewable Energy in the Western Grid summit featured many of the West's top leaders in the renewable energy and transmission fields. Speakers' slides are being loaded online, accessible through the NWCC website. Select video footage is being prepared for the website as well. A meeting summary is under development.
The third issue of NWCC's Implementing Wind Energy & Transmission in the West quarterly newsletter is complete and available online. To join the newsletter mailing list, please contact Katie Kalinowski, kkalinowski@resolv.org.
Transmission Updates - The next Transmission Update call will be on Wednesday, October 31st at 1 pm ET. Leaders from transmission authorities in Wyoming, New Mexico, Kansas, South Dakota, and Colorado will be featured. To join the Transmission Update listserv, contact Katie Kalinowski, kkalinowski@resolv.org.
Workgroup Call - The next Transmission Update is Wednesday, October 31st, 1:00 pm ET and the next Transmission Workgroup call is November 20th at 2:00 pm ET.