NWCC NATIONAL WIND COORDINATING COMMITTEE

HIGHLIGHTS

July 15, 2006

DATES TO REMEMBER

Registration open! Wind Power & Radar Issue Forum & NWCC Business Meeting, July 27 in Reno, NV – Join us by webcast or in Reno for an issue forum about the interactions between wind power and radar. Speakers include representatives from FAA, DOD, DOE and Idaho National Laboratory. NWCC’s 37th business meeting will be held after the forum to begin planning activities for 2007. The agenda, webcast logistics, and other details are online.

July 18-19, 2006, NWCC Western Transmission Workshop in Denver – The NWCC and Western Governors Association hosted a leadership forum featuring federal, state, regional, and local leaders from across the western US who discussed how to implement the WGA CDEAC recommendations on wind and transmission. The meeting included over 120 participants, including Wyoming Governor Dave Freudenthal. The leaders agreed to form an implementing team who would carry out the draft Action Plans implementing CDEAC recommendations for moving wind and transmission forward. Watch the NWCC web site for a “next steps” memo and meeting summary.

NWCC CONFERENCE CALLS

Transmission Workgroup Call
August 22 @ 2:00 pm ET

Siting Workgroup Call
August 23 @ 1:00 pm ET

Steering Committee Call
August 24 @ 1:00 pm ET

Wildlife Workgroup Call
September 13 @ 2:30 pm ET

Working Groups

Midwest Transmission Planning Call
August 10 @ 1:00 pm ET

GS3C Call
August 14 @ 2:00 pm ET

NWCC MEETINGS

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 – Registration is open for this meeting, scheduled for 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.

The deadline for abstracts has been extended to September 15!
For more information about this event, contact Madeleine West at mwest@resolv.org.

Drafting of the white paper on research gaps prioritized at the June Core Group meeting continues within the newly-formed Gaps Subgroup. The draft white paper will be presented for discussion at the NWCC Wildlife Research Meeting VI this November in San Antonio. Following the meeting, the Wildlife 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) – The first quarterly report on the research investigating potential impacts of wind energy on prairie chickens is due in August. GS3C members provided input on the reporting format.

The first draft of the literature review on avian grassland/shrub steppe species and wind projects has been submitted and sent to the subgroup for review and comment.

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.

Nocturnal Methods and Metrics – The Core Group decided in June 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 and comments will be incorporated by Dr. Kunz and his team. The second draft will undergo an independent review by a small group of reviewers. The Core Group will comment on the draft after the independent review occurs, and final approval will come from the NWCC Steering Committee.

Mitigation Toolbox - An intern began work this month to research and assemble a “toolbox” of possible mitigation options. Support for the intern is provided by a grant from the Energy Foundation. The Mitigation 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 Core Group meeting, the 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 future discussion for subgroup.

A panel on risk assessment is being planned for the November 2006 NWCC Wildlife Research VI meeting. For the NWCC draft white paper on ecological risk assessment, click here.

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 September 13, 2:30pm ET (note a change from the usual call time). 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.

Watch for next steps and the meeting summary from the NWCC / WGA Leadership Forum: Implementing Transmission Recommendations in the West on July 18-19 in Denver. Forum participants agreed to create a Leadership Implementation team and agreed on draft action plans for implementing the CDEAC and Western Governors’ wind and transmission recommendations. Co-sponsors included BPA, EERC, Interwest Energy Alliance, NARUC, NASEO, NCSL, National Grid, Trans-Elect, and WestConnect. For more information, contact Katie Kalinowski, kkalinowski@resolv.org.

Revision of the Midwest Transmission workshop agenda continues; the event is scheduled for 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.