Western governors map out region's renewable energy future

Imagine a Great Divide with abundant renewable energy resources on one side; a clean, diversified and secure energy supply on the other and a mountain range of issues in between. Navigating through those peaks is the task the Western Governors' Association set for itself when it launched its Clean and Diversified Energy Initiative two years ago.

WGA, a nonprofit organization of governors from 18 states and three U.S.-flag Pacific islands, develops policies and programs to address regional issues. Its key areas of focus include natural resources, the environment, human services, economic development, international relations and state governance. Spanning several of those categories, renewable energy development is a natural concern for the group.

The governors adopted a resolution in June 2004 to explore opportunities to capitalize on the West’s immense energy resources. The goals of the Clean and Diversified Energy Initiative include developing 30,000 MW of clean energy in the West by 2015, and increasing the efficiency of energy use by 20 percent by 2020. The project also is examining the region's generation and transmission needs over the next 25 years.

Experts enlisted to study goals

The Clean and Diversified Energy Advisory Committee was formed at WGA's 2004 winter meeting to develop recommendations to meet the initiative's goals. The CDEAC steering committee created individual task forces to study energy efficiency, transmission, solar, wind, geothermal, biomass, clean coal technologies and advanced natural gas technologies.

Members of the task forces brought different backgrounds and experience to the project. "It gave the task forces a variety of perspectives," said Robert Fullerton, power marketing advisor to Western's administrator.

Fullerton was invited to sit on the wind task force, where he provided a voice for Western customers. "It was important to assure that funding for renewable project studies would not be the responsibility of our long-term firm power customers unless they choose to participate," he said.

Each task force assessed the current state of its assigned technology, estimated costs for increasing capacity and identified risks and obstacles to development. "Task force members brought a lot of knowledge about their respective organizations to the table," recalled Fullerton. "We also researched specific states' programs, legislation and Federal information."

In fall 2005, WGA posted drafts of the task force reports on its Web site and accepted public comment for 30 days. The wind report was one of the first to be posted. "We received some comments that we incorporated in the final draft," Fullerton said. "The public response was relatively modest, with no recurrent themes or concerns."

Each task force offered a set of recommendations, which the wind group prioritized by timeliness as well as impact on initiative goals. "We identified policy priorities as well as actions that could be done quickly— what items might be completed in one year, three years and so on," Fullerton explained.

Final report combines technologies

Task force reports completed to date include advanced coal, biomass, energy efficiency, geothermal and solar. Reports on natural gas, windand transmission are expected to be completed in the coming weeks. White papers also were produced on the topics of combined heat and powerand hydropower.

CDEAC is compiling them into a comprehensive set of recommendations. The conclusions the task forces reached indicate that the initiative goal is attainable through a mix of efficiency, renewables and clean fossil fuel technology.

The optimal mix will have to be determined by the governors after CDEAC submits the final report at the WGA annual meeting in June, said attorney and economist Tom Carr. Carr is with the Western Interstate Energy Board, the energy arm of the Western Governors' Association. "Computer modeling can develop scenarios for different combinations of technologies and resources," he explained.

Whatever the WGA's final strategy is, Fullerton believes that the CDEAC report promises to be a comprehensive resource for both the power industry and policy makers. "It will provide a current, accurate picture of the West's renewable resources potential and offer a variety of policy directions that could be pursued to meet the renewable energy goals adopted by the WGA," he said.

With a clear starting point, a map of the terrain and a clear destination, that Great Divide the Western Governors' Association set out to cross is starting to look like a bridge to a clean energy future.