NWCC NATIONAL WIND COORDINATING COMMITTEE

HIGHLIGHTS

April 1, 2006

DATES TO REMEMBER

February/ March Transmission Update Online! The latest NWCC Transmission Update Brief is now available online. This brief details the wind power and transmission recommendations formulated as part of the CDEAC process and feeding into the Western Governors Association’s Clean and Diversified Energy Initiative.

NWCC CONFERENCE CALLS

Wildlife Workgroup Call
April 7 @ 1:00 pm ET

Transmission Update Call
April 24 @ 1:00 pm ET

Steering Committee Call
April 27 @ 1:00 pm ET

Transmission Workgroup Call
April 27 @ 3:00 pm ET

Working Groups

Wildlife Research Meeting VI Planning Call
April 3 @ 10:00 am ET

SPP Transmission Planning Call
April 12 @ 10:00 am ET

Mitigation Toolbox Subgroup call
April 14 @ 3:00 pm ET

Western Transmission Planning Call
April 24 @ 2:00 pm ET

Midwest Transmission Planning Call
TBD

NWCC MEETINGS

Leadership Forum: Implementing Transmission Recommendations in the West
July 18-19, 2006 - TBD

Wildlife Interaction with Wind Developments: Research Meeting VI
November 14-16, 2006 - Texas

Midwest Transmission Workshop
December 4-5, 2006 - TBD

MAGIC MOMENTS

Updated Calendar of 2006 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

The meeting summary from the Feb 27-28 Wildlife Workgroup Core Group meeting is being finalized. Meeting presentations and handouts are available online.

Recent Wildlife Workgroup subgroup activities include:

Grassland/Shrub Steppe Species (GS3) – The GS3 Subgroup has adopted operating protocols and will now be known as the Grassland/Shrub Steppe Species Collaborative (GS3C).

The GS3C Oversight Committee approved the revised prairie chicken research approach and field research is underway. A press release on this endeavor is under development.

The Ornithological Council is assembling a body of papers to include in its literature review on avian grassland/shrub steppe species and wind projects. A first draft is expected in April.

The draft grassland songbirds monitoring protocol was made available to the Core Group at their February meeting. Wildlife Workgroup technical advisors will be sent this protocol for feedback. The protocol authors will review this information and provide a revised version to the GS3 Oversight Committee for review. Finally, the songbird protocol will be made available to all Core Group members for review and possible release as a NWCC resource document.

Risk Assessment – Summaries from the ecological risk assessment and adaptive resource management presentations at the February Core Group meeting will be included in the meeting summary. Risk assessment panels are being planned for the November 2006 NWCC Wildlife Research VI meeting. Additional risk assessment activities are not planned at this time, but the draft white paper on ecological risk assessment is posted.

Nocturnal Methods and Metrics - Dr. Tom Kunz and his technical team are putting together a primer on nocturnal methods and metrics for studying wind energy interaction with birds and bats. The Nocturnal Methods and Metrics Subgroup is organizing a call to discuss alternatives for expert/peer review and publication of the document.

Mitigation Toolbox - On the next subgroup call, the group will review 2005 mitigation toolbox activities, determine how to collect additional information on mitigation of wind energy projects, and draft a group workplan to present at the November research meeting. For more information or to become involved, contact Madeleine West at mwest@resolv.org.

The 6th NWCC Wildlife-Wind Research Meeting will be November 14-16, 2006 in Texas. Revision of the draft agenda continues. For more information, contact Madeleine West at mwest@resolv.org.

Wind/Wildlife Activities and Events Electronic Table – For the latest on wind/wildlife related research, meetings, papers, and more, check out our electronic table available here. If you have a new item or update to add to this table, please contact Madeleine West, mwest@resolv.org.

The next Wildlife Workgroup call is scheduled for April 7th, 1 pm ET. Please mark your calendars.

The Steering Committee just completed its final review of the siting fact sheets for release as a NWCC / NCSL resource document. The final version is currently being formatted for publication and will be available soon for free download on the NWCC website. Hard copies, once printed, will be available by request. For information about this project, please contact Madeleine West at mwest@resolv.org.

The draft proceedings from the December NWCC workshop on technical considerations for siting wind facilities are nearing completion. The final proceedings will be made available here. Speaker presentations are already available at this site.

The Siting Workgroup call scheduled for April 12th will not be held; the next call is scheduled for June 22, 12 pm ET. Please update your calendars.

The next Transmission Update call is scheduled for April 24, 1 pm ET. This call will focus on the U.S. Department of Energy’s work on identifying transmission corridors under Sections 368 and 1221 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPACT). Speakers will include Larry Mansuetti and Julia Souder from, Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability, U.S.DOE. A brief on the last transmission update call, discussing the WGA’s CDEAC’s wind and transmission recommendations, is available here.

On July 18-19, NWCC will host its 4th Western Transmission Workshop focusing on a workplan for implementing CDEAC wind and transmission recommendations. The planning committee is working on the draft agenda and finalizing the meeting location. Planning is also ongoing for a Midwest Transmission Workshop, December 4-5 in either Minneapolis, MN or Grand Forks, ND (location being finalized). This meeting is an opportunity to discuss progress to date, as well as items that remain to be addressed. Updates on regional and state transmission activities and panels with utility leaders and transmission authorities are also planned. A draft agenda is under development with the Midwest planning committee. A SPP transmission workshop is also being considered, based on regional needs. If you would like to participate in the planning committees for any of these regions, contact Katie Kalinowski at kkalinowski@resolv.org.

The next Transmission Workgroup call scheduled for April 4th has been postponed until April 27th, 3 pm ET. Please update your calendars.