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Online workshops walk utilities through renewables issues

The webcast series highlighting the Guidebook to Expanding the Role of Renewables in a Power Supply Portfolio concluded on April 4 with a number of power industry professionals in attendance.

Western co-sponsored the free, six-part series with the American Public Power Association's Demonstration of Energy-Efficient Developments program, the U.S. Department of Energy's GeoPowering the West program and the U.S. DOE Wind Powering America program.

On the first Monday of each month from November to April, industry experts offered downloadable presentations and discussions focusing on the issues covered in the reference guide. "When Western's Renewable Resource Program originally conceived the renewable guidebook project, it was evident we needed a mechanism to communicate how to use the final product,” said Western Renewable Resource Program Manager Randy Manion. “The webcast series served that purpose wonderfully.”

Larry Barrett, who developed the guidebook and led the sessions with co-author Brian Walshe, was impressed with the turnout. “We asked callers to identify themselves, and in some cases there were too many in the room to proceed that way,” Barrett recalled.

According to Barrett, the participation level was at least partly due to the convenience and economy of the webcast format. Instead of directions to a meeting facility, registrants received conference call dial-up instructions and the URL where workshop materials were posted. Connected to the workshop by phone and Internet, participants never had to leave their desks. “Since the webcasts were scheduled at 11 a.m., Mountain time many people just used their lunch hour,” said Barrett.

Participants have different agendas
About 20 different utilities participated, including many outside Western’s service territory. Several participants joined most or all of the webcasts, while others picked one topic with a specific goal in mind.

Resource Planning Engineer Mark Harris of the Nevada Public Utilities Commission signed up only for the Mar. 7 session, Analyzing Renewable Energy Costs and Risks. “Renewable energy developers in Nevada have had tremendous difficulty getting financing,” he explained. “We wanted to get some ideas for incentive programs that would help more projects get off the ground.”

Plumas-Sierra Rural Electric Cooperative is designing its own voluntary green power program and Member Services Representative Jessica Nelson was seeking guidance on pricing. “I appreciated the broad overview of renewable energy program design the series offered,” she said.

Some agencies, like Basin Electric Power Cooperative, came to the webcast with several years’ experience in developing, purchasing and marketing green power. To Randy Bush, Basin Electric distributed energy coordinator, the webcasts were an opportunity to catch up on the latest happenings in the renewable energy industry. “Attending events like the webcasts keeps us from getting blind-sided by looming issues,” he said.

Sponsors find feedback useful
Each seminar covered a chapter from the guidebook and allowed for questions and discussion among the participants and presenters. Barrett suspected that the webcast format might not have encouraged as much discussion as would have occurred in a classroom setting. Even so, “we had a good sampling of different perspectives,” he noted.

Barrett thought that future webcast discussions might be improved by reminding participants to view slides before the session and prepare questions ahead of time. The Public Renewables Partnership made the PowerPoint slides available on its home page before and after the webcasts.

The accessibility and quality of handouts and speaker presentations drew praise from several participants. “The discussions were easy to page through,” noted Basin Electric Member Marketing Coordinator Jeremy Woeste.

“One of the presentations was full of wind technology resources, so I downloaded and saved it,” added Bush.

Nelson found the case studies interesting, and expects to use the project planning and public participation strategies in refining Plumas-Sierra’s program. As Plumas-Sierra’s program evolves, she added, she hoped to see webcasts addressing the same issues in more depth.

Sponsors have taken comments from Nelson and other participants into account in planning future webcasts. “The next webcast series will address wind power technologies,” said Manion. “It begins Aug. 11, 2005, and runs the second Thursday of every other month for four months.”

Public power providers face unique challenges in making alternative resources part of their power mix. Western and its partners will continue to offer tools like the guidebook and the webcast series to help them reach their goals.

The Guidebook to Expanding the Role of Renewables in a Power Supply Portfolio is available through the APPA product store.