Energy professionals share expertise, network at upcoming forum
Western is urging all its customers to save the dates of May 5 to 7, 2004, to attend the 24th annual Utility Energy Forum at the Granlibakken Conference Center in Tahoe City, Calif.
"Energy Efficiency & Renewables: The First Response Strategy" will provide participants with a high-quality, low-key opportunity to exchange information and learn from the experts about current and emerging industry issues. Utility and energy professionals, marketing managers, key account representatives and anyone interested in the latest trends in the re-regulated utility industry can benefit from the workshops, panel discussions and expert speakers. The Forum anticipates 150 to 170 attendees this year representing more than three dozen utilities.
This year's conference focuses on how utilities, government officials and product and service providers can help consumers meet their energy needs through energy efficiency, renewables and customer service. Guest speakers include David Goldstein, Natural Resources Defense Council energy program co-director, and California Public Utilities Commissioner Susan Kennedy.
Representatives from more than 30 utilities will discuss programs that are working, those that aren't and what strategies are next. Attendees will learn what key customers expect from their power providers and what new technologies are available to enhance customer service. Everyone participates in all panel discussions, meals and social events, providing many opportunities to forge new and valuable professional relationships.
The registration fee of $550 includes two nights' lodging, all meals, materials, tax and tips. The May 5 pre-conference workshop is an additional $50 fee. Contact Guy or Linda Nelson to register or visit the Utility Energy Forum Web site for more information. The Utility Energy Forum is a non-profit consortium of utility sponsors including Western Area Power Administration.
New Web sites cover state, national wind development issues
The Environmental Assessment Division of Argonne National Laboratory launched the Wind Energy Development Programmatic EIS Information Center for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.
This Web site provides an online public information and involvement center for the Wind Energy Development Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement. BLM prepared the Programmatic EIS to evaluate issues associated with wind energy development on BLM-administered western public lands, excluding Alaska.
Visitors will find information and services on the Programmatic EIS Information Center Web site designed to help the public get involved in the EIS process. The site offers information about wind energy development, the programmatic EIS, public meetings and Native American consultation. Other resources include documents, a list of frequently asked questions and news updates. Users may subscribe to its e-mail service, which notifies the public of open meetings and other EIS-related news and events by e-mail.
Wind in Montana, a Web site developed by the state Department of Environmental Quality, gives wind developers in that state a new resource for state-specific information.
Permitting, incentives and metering regulations are only a few of the issues that differ from state to state, so state-based Web sites are great gateways. Montana's site includes the latest on legislation, wind working group activities, list of key developers and contacts, state maps, state lands development and permitting documents, small wind and net metering information, fact sheets and more.
State and national Web sites providing information on wind and other forms of renewable energy respond to the residential and commercial sectors' growing interest. Utilities can support the industry and their customers by including links to these sites on their own Web sites.
California cities begin taking output of state's largest wind farm
At the beginning of September, the California cities of Anaheim, Azusa, Colton, Glendale and Pasadena began taking output from what they said was the state's largest wind plant, the High Winds Energy Center in Solano County.
The five cities operate municipally owned electric utilities and are members of the Southern California Public Power Authority. Through SCPPA, the cities jointly negotiated contracts with PPM Energy, Inc., totaling 30 MW, or 20 percent of the project's output. By working with their neighboring utilities, the cities enjoy wind energy at a price based on a larger quantity, which means savings to their customers.
PPM, ScottishPower's competitive U.S. energy business, purchases the entire output of the High Winds facility. Owned and operated by FPL Energy, the 162-MW wind farm has 81 turbines online and an expansion slated for completion by the end of the year.
Blackout a wake-up call to energy decision makers, think tank says
Officials at the Rocky Mountain Institute, a prominent energy think tank in Colorado, say the August 14 power outages show the need for distributed generation.
In a statement released the week after the blackout, RMI warned that U.S. energy policy makers should fundamentally change how the nation designs its electricity system to make it more reliable and more resilient. The existing system, RMI said, was based on 100 years' worth of heavily centralized generation and distribution policies. The institute recommended that America look instead to distributed, diverse and resilient clean technologies to power its industries, homes and communities.
As far back as 1982, RMI cofounder Amory Lovins described the electrical grid as a disaster waiting to happen. The solution, according to RMI Managing Director Kyle Datta, is distributed generation architecture—placing smaller, modular, diverse and redundant electrical devices across the grid close to the load they serve. Energy sources such as fuel cells, solar panels and micro turbines can provide power at lower cost and greater reliability than the centralized power grid, he said.
New housing community to run on solar power
Residents of Greenwood Ranch Estates in northern Arizona won't have to worry about power outages because their community is not connected to the electrical power grid.
Genesis Homes, a member of the Building Systems Council is using modular technology to produce 487 homes isolated from electrical sources. Marketing for the community will emphasize self-sufficiency, a strong selling point in light of the blackout in the Northeast and a gasoline shortage in Phoenix.
Designed to take advantage of the area's annual average of 320 sunny days, each 1,165-sq. ft. home is equipped with a 1.65 kW PV system capable of producing enough electricity to power the average vacation home. The community's full-time residents can get optional larger solar packages.
The energy efficiency of modular construction will help to maximize the amount of electricity that the homes produce. Trucked in propane and an optional backup generator will supply additional power for heat and hot water.
It is not surprising that Arizona will boast what is thought to be the nation's first non-interconnected community. The state is home to 70 solar companies, including Kyocera, the world's third largest photovoltaic manufacturer.
