NWCC NATIONAL WIND COORDINATING COMMITTEE

HIGHLIGHTS

September 15, 2006

DATES TO REMEMBER

6th NWCC Wildlife-Wind Research Meeting – Registration is filling fast for this meeting, scheduled for Nov 14-15, 2006 in San Antonio, Texas. Abstracts are currently being reviewed for inclusion and an updated agenda has been posted on the website. On November 16 the Wildlife Workgroup Core Group will meet to discuss workgroup updates and activities. Register online for both events here.

NWCC Business Meeting #37 Summary Available – A summary of the July 27th NWCC Business Meeting #37 is available online. Items for the Business Meeting included discussion of the 2007 Workgroup blueprints.

Wind Power & Radar Presentations Available – Presentations from the July 27 NWCC Issue Forum on wind power and radar interaction are online. A written brief based on the forum is under development and will be posted on the same webpage.

**Advancing Renewable Energy Conference**
DOE and USDA are hosting the Advancing Renewable Energy Conference October 10-12 in St. Louis, MO. The goal of the conference is to help build necessary partnerships and strategies for hastening the commercialization of viable renewable energy industries. For more information and to register go to: www.technologyforums.com/6EN/index.asp.

NWCC CONFERENCE CALLS

Transmission Workgroup Call
September 19 @ 2:00 pm ET

Siting Workgroup Call
September 21 @ 1:00 pm ET

Steering Committee Call
September 28 @ 1:00 pm ET

Wildlife Workgroup Call
November 8 @ 2:30 pm ET

Working Groups

Midwest Transmission Planning Call
September 25 @ 1:00 pm ET

GS3C Call
October 16 @ 2:00 pm ET

Risk Assessment Call
October 20 @ 2:00 pm ET

NWCC MEETINGS

Wildlife Interaction with Wind Developments: Research Meeting VI
November 14-15, 2006 -
San Antonio, TX

Wildlife Workgroup Core Group Meeting
November 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 14-15, 2006 in San Antonio, Texas. On November 16 the Wildlife Workgroup Core Group will meet to discuss workgroup updates and activities. Register online. 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.

Reserve your hotel room now! The room block at the Radisson Hotel – Downtown Market Square expires October 31.
For more information about this event, contact Madeleine West at mwest@resolv.org.

Recent Wildlife Workgroup subgroup activities include:

The new Gaps Subgroup is providing feedback on a draft white paper on research gaps as prioritized at the June Core Group meeting. An updated version of the white paper will be presented in draft form 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.

Grassland and Shrub Steppe Species Collaborative (GS3C) – On August 14th the GS3C had its bimonthly call. The researchers investigating the potential impacts of wind energy on prairie chickens talked about the quarterly report they submitted in July. Photos from the Spring 2006 season can be viewed at www.k-state.edu/bsanderc/wind/.

Comments on the first draft of the literature review on avian grassland/shrub steppe species and wind projects have been compiled and sent to the authors for consideration. The second draft of the literature review is due by early October.

The draft grassland songbirds monitoring protocol is being revised by a protocol author and will be sent out for review in the coming weeks.

Nocturnal Methods and Metrics – The first draft of the primer on nocturnal methods and metrics for studying wind interaction with birds and bats is anticipated in early November. A subgroup conference call will be scheduled that month to review the draft primer.

Mitigation Toolbox - The toolbox intern is making good progress on researching and assembling a “toolbox” of possible mitigation options related to wind project impacts on wildlife. Subgroup members have reviewed the deliverables and provided comments for future work. The toolbox will be presented at the Wildlife Research Meeting VI in November. 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 meeting. For more information or to become involved, contact Madeleine West at mwest@resolv.org.

Risk Assessment – The Risk Assessment Subgroup has been reconvened. A conference call is being scheduled for October 20, 2:00 pm ET to discuss a future workplan. To become involved, contact Madeleine West, mwest@resolv.org.

A panel on risk assessment is being planned for the November wildlife research 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 November 8, 2:30pm ET. Please mark your calendars.

On the next Siting Workgroup call, participants will be asked for feedback on the draft workgroup blueprint presented at the NWCC business meeting on July 27th.

Copies of the state siting guidelines fact sheets were distributed to fact sheet contributors and a mailing with the fact sheet link went out to legislative librarians. The fact sheets are available for free download. For information about this project, please contact Madeleine West at mwest@resolv.org.

The next Siting Workgroup has been scheduled for September 21, 1 pm ET. Please update your calendars.

NWCC Midwest Transmission Workshop VI is scheduled for December 4-5, 2006 in Bloomington, MN (Twin Cities). This event provides an opportunity to:

• Discuss policy and market drivers for building transmission (RPS, transmission authorities, REOs, etc) and their implications for wind energy in the Midwest
• Provide updates on regional and state transmission activities
• Review progress to date on transmission planning for wind energy in the Midwest and identify issues that remain to be addressed

The draft agenda, logistics, and online registration for this workshop are online.

The Midwest Transmission subgroup held a call on August 10th to continue revising the agenda for the Midwest workshop. Speaker invitations have gone out. The next planning call is scheduled for Monday, Sept 25th at 1 pm ET.

Next steps, presentations, and the final participants list from the NWCC / WGA Leadership Forum: Implementing Transmission Recommendations in the West are online.

Participants agreed to create a Leadership Implementation team and to further update the draft action plans for implementing the CDEAC and Western Governors’ wind and transmission recommendations; an action plan for the leadership team is under development; meanwhile leadersa re working on implementing Action. A summary of the leadership forum is under review by presenters and will be available later this month. For more information on Western transmission activities, contact Katie Kalinowski, kkalinowski@resolv.org.

The August 1 Transmission Update call featured David Withrow from the California ISO and Larry Chaset from California PUC discussing transmission related statues and policies in their state. The brief from August call is under development. To join the Transmission Update listserve, contact Katie Kalinowski at kkalinowski@resolv.org.

The next Transmission Workgroup call is scheduled for September 19, 2 pm ET and the next Transmission Update call will be October 10, 1 pm ET. Please mark your calendars.