NWCC NATIONAL WIND COORDINATING COMMITTEE

HIGHLIGHTS

May 1, 2006

DATES TO REMEMBER

NWCC Steering Committee Issue Forum – On May 18 – 19, the NWCC Steering Committee is meeting in Washington, DC to hear from various speakers on major activities to develop long-term national energy strategies and their projections for wind power’s contribution to the U.S. energy picture. This event may be the precursor to subsequent meeting on this topic to inform NWCC members at large. Questions about this event may be directed to Katie Kalinowski, kkalinowski@resolv.org.

Save the Date! July 18-19, 2006, NWCC Western Transmission Workshop – – In July, NWCC will host its fourth western transmission workshop, Leadership Forum: Implementing Transmission Recommendations in the West. Participants will collaborate on an implementation action plan for moving forward with the Clean and Diversified Energy Action Committee (CDEAC) wind and transmission recommendations in the West. The latest information about meeting location, registration, etc. will be posted here as it becomes available.

NWCC CONFERENCE CALLS

Wildlife Workgroup Call
May 10 @ 1:00 pm ET

Steering Committee Call
May 25 @ 1:00 pm ET

Working Groups

Western Transmission Planning Call
May 2 @ 11:00 am ET

Midwest Transmission Planning Call
May 3 @ 12:00 pm ET

Mitigation Toolbox Subgroup Call
May 22 @ 1:00 pm ET

NWCC MEETINGS

Wildlife Workgroup Core Group: Gaps Prioritization
June 20-21, 2006 - Boulder, CO

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

Wildlife Interaction with Wind Developments: Research Meeting VI
November 14-16, 2006 -
San Antonio, TX

Midwest Transmission Workshop
December 4-5, 2006 - Minneapolis, MN

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

On June 20-21, the Wildlife Workgroup Core Group will meet in Boulder, CO to compile and prioritize a list of current research gaps in the wind/wildlife arena. The NWCC staff is conducting a phone survey this month with technical experts on wind energy and wildlife issues and the information collected will be used as a starting point for dialogue at the June meeting. In addition to the priorities exercise, meeting participants will also talk about options for peer review and publication of NWCC wildlife documents.

After the June meeting, a white paper on the priorities will be written and shared at the November Wildlife Research Meeting VI in Texas. For more information on these activities, contact Madeleine West, mwest@resolv.org.

6th NWCC Wildlife-Wind Research Meeting – This event is November 14-16, 2006 in San Antonio, Texas and topics to be covered include:

• Interaction of wind power facilities and birds pre- and post-construction;
• Interaction of wind power facilities and bats pre- and post-construction;
• Applicable methods and study designs specialized for birds, bats, and common to both;
• Assessing impacts and risk to wildlife;
• Identification of critical gaps in knowledge related to wind project decision-making. Attempt to identify what is needed to fill these gaps.

Individuals interested in presenting on any of these topics are invited to submit an abstract. Review committees headed by session chairs are being assembled to identify recommended speakers. For more information, contact Madeleine West at mwest@resolv.org.

Recent Wildlife Workgroup subgroup activities include:

Grassland and Shrub Steppe Species Collaborative (GS3C) – The press release formally announcing the research project on potential impacts of wind power on prairie chickens is under final review and will be released shortly. An overview of the GS3C and all its projects is available on the NWCC website.

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 soon.

The draft grassland songbirds monitoring protocol was sent to the Wildlife Workgroup technical advisors list for review and comment, with comments due in early May. The protocol authors will go through the technical advisors’ feedback and provide a revised version to the GS3C 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 – Panels on risk assessment are planned for the November 2006 NWCC Wildlife Research VI meeting. For the NWCC draft white paper on ecological risk assessment click here.

Nocturnal Methods and Metrics – Information on publication options for the primer on nocturnal methods and metrics for studying wind energy interaction with birds and bats is being compiled. The Nocturnal Methods and Metrics Subgroup put together a recommendation to the Core Group for review of the document which the Core Group will discuss at the June 20-21 meeting in Boulder, CO.

Mitigation Toolbox - The Mitigation Subgroup has reconvened to develop a panel on mitigation for the November wildlife research conference and to determine next steps on a mitigation toolbox workplan. The Subgroup is currently making plans to hire a summer intern to begin assembling a mitigation toolbox. For more information or to become involved, 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 May 10th, 1 pm ET. Please mark your calendars.

The state siting guidelines fact sheets have been approved by the Steering Committee as a NWCC resource document. The final version is currently being printed and is available 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.

Final proceedings from the December NWCC workshop on technical considerations for siting wind facilities are complete and available here, as are speaker presentations. Meeting participants will receive CDs with the proceedings and presentations in the mail.

The next Siting Workgroup call is scheduled for June 22, 12 pm ET. Please mark your calendars.

A written brief is under development for the last Transmission Update, which focused 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). Once complete, the brief will be sent to the transmission update listserve and posted online. To join this listserve, contact Katie Kalinowski at kkalinowski@resolv.org.

On July 18-19, NWCC is hosting Leadership Forum: Implementing Transmission Recommendations in the West in Denver. Forum attendees will discuss and reach consensus on draft action plans for implementing the CDEAC wind and transmission recommendations. The planning committee is putting together teams to create the draft action plans and revising the draft agenda. Outreach to co-sponsors and speakers is also underway.

The next Midwest Transmission Workshop is slated for December 4-5 in Minneapolis. Three meeting co-sponsors have already been identified and more stakeholders will be approached for co-sponsorship. A draft agenda continues to be built by the planning committee.

Discussion with SPP stakeholders about regional needs for a forum to discuss transmission issues continues, feeding into the drafting of a meeting concept by NWCC staff.

The next Transmission Workgroup call scheduled is scheduled for June 27th, 1 pm ET. Please mark your calendars.