NWCC NATIONAL WIND COORDINATING COMMITTEE

HIGHLIGHTS

July 1, 2006

DATES TO REMEMBER

Register to receive Advance Materials! July 18-19, 2006, NWCC Western Transmission Workshop in Denver – The Western Governors’ Association is now co-hosting this leadership forum on implementing transmission recommendations in the West. Make your plans now to join regional and national leaders in this opportunity to move wind transmission forward in the West. Register here; the draft agenda and logistics are available on the same site. Only registered participants will receive the advance materials—sign up today!

Wind Power & Radar Issue Forum & NWCC Business Meeting, July 27 in Reno, NV – Participate in person or via webcast as NWCC hosts presentations from experts about the interactions between wind power and radar. NWCC’s 37th business meeting will be held after the forum to begin planning activities for 2007. Find registration, webcast details, and other information online.

NWCC CONFERENCE CALLS

Wildlife Workgroup Call
July 12 @ 1:00 pm ET

Working Groups

Midwest Transmission Planning Call
July 6 @ 1:00 pm ET

Western Transmission Planning Call
July 6 @ 4:00 pm ET

NWCC MEETINGS

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

Issue Forum on Wind Power and Radar Interaction & Business Meeting #37
July 27, 2006 - Reno, NV

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

6th NWCC Wildlife-Wind Research Meeting – Sign up now for this event on Nov 14-16, 2006 in San Antonio, Texas. 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.

Interested presenters were asked to submit an abstract by June 20th. Review committees headed by session chairs are reviewing the abstracts to select speakers. For more information about this event, contact Madeleine West at mwest@resolv.org.

On June 20-21, the NWCC Wildlife Workgroup Core Group met in Boulder, CO and began to develop a white paper that prioritizes research gaps in the wind/wildlife dialogue. The draft white paper will be presented for discussion at the NWCC Wildlife Research Meeting VI this Fall in San Antonio. Following the November meeting, the Workgroup will continue to refine the white paper and would like to finalize it in 2007 as a consensus on research gaps.

Recent Wildlife Workgroup subgroup activities include:

Grassland and Shrub Steppe Species Collaborative (GS3C) – Terry Sexson, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service representative on the GS3C retired and John Hughes from FWS in Texas is replacing him on the Oversight Committee.

Not as many prairie chickens were captured and tagged as outlined in the research plan submitted by KSU researchers. Researchers are on track to begin full-force research next year, but 2006 will be considered a pilot year due to the low number of birds tracked and the lack of a control site.

The GS3C discussed options for revising the draft grassland songbirds monitoring protocol and these options are being weighed by the protocol authors prior to making revisions.

A first draft of the literature review on avian grassland/shrub steppe species and wind projects is due from Ellen Paul and her team by June 30th.

Nocturnal Methods and Metrics – The Core Group decided in Boulder to use a two-step process to review the primer on nocturnal methods and metrics for studying wind interaction with birds and bats currently under development. The first draft will undergo review by the Nocturnal Subgroup and a few additional experts; once comments are incorporated by Dr. Kunz and his team, a second draft will be reviewed by the Core Group, with final approval by the NWCC Steering Committee.

Mitigation Toolbox - The Energy Foundation is providing funds to support a summer intern candidate to research and assemble a “toolbox” of possible mitigation options. A contract for this support and the intern’s workplan are being finalized. The subgroup is also developing a panel on mitigation for the November wildlife research conference. For more information or to become involved, contact Madeleine West at mwest@resolv.org.

Risk Assessment – At the last Workgroup meeting the Core Group members agreed to reconvene the Risk Assessment Subgroup to resume work on this important topic. Core Group members noted the need to expand the discussion to differentiate impacts and risk, as well as add the benefit side of the equation of wind power development. How to accomplish this aim will be a topic of discussion for the future.

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 July 12th, 1 pm ET. Please mark your calendars.

On the last Siting Workgroup call, the group discussed interest in creating a web-based tool on siting of wind facilities and received reports from AWEA and Wind Powering America on siting-related activities.

The state siting guidelines fact sheets are available for free download. Hard copies are now available by request. For information about this project, please contact Madeleine West at mwest@resolv.org.

The next Siting Workgroup call is scheduled for August 23, 1 pm ET. Please mark your calendars.

Check out the draft agenda for the NWCC / WGA Leadership Forum: Implementing Transmission Recommendations in the West. An impressive number of co-sponsors have signed up, including BPA, EERC, Interwest Energy Alliance, NARUC, NASEO, NCSL, National Grid, Trans-Elect, and WestConnect. At the forum, leaders from the Western region and national level are coming together to develop action plans for implementing the CDEAC and Western Governors’ wind and transmission recommendations, as well as obtain commitments from regional and national leaders on their roles in implementing the action plans. For more information, contact Katie Kalinowski, kkalinowski@resolv.org.

Draft action plans are being finalized and will be sent with other advance materials to registered participants. Register online at the NWCC website, if you have not already.

The next Midwest Transmission planning committee call was rescheduled for Thursday, July 6 at 1 pm ET. The workshop will be held December 4-5 in Minneapolis, MN.

The last Transmission Update call featured Daniel Hedberg from FERC addressing FERC’s NOPR to update Order 888. A written brief is under development. To join this listserve, contact Katie Kalinowski at kkalinowski@resolv.org.

The next Transmission Workgroup call is scheduled for August 22, 2 pm ET and the next Transmission Update call will be August 1, 1 pm ET. Please mark your calendars.