• New system will certify renewable generation in the West
• Intertribal COUP receives 'World Clean Energy Award for Courage'
• Colorado, DOE team up for geothermal forum
• Anaheim Public Utilities' customer service receives national acclaim
• Transformer manufacturer endorses DOE's proposed efficiency standard

The California Energy Commission recently launched the Western Renewable Energy Generation Information System, a renewable energy registry and tracking system for electricity generation.

The largest of its kind in the world, the system covers the western United States, western Canada, and a small portion of Mexico. States and provinces within the Western Interconnection transmission area will use the system to meet renewable portfolio standard requirements and other renewable energy policies. The transmission area includes Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming; the Canadian provinces of British Columbia and Alberta; and the northern portion of Baja California in Mexico.

The voluntary WREGIS system was developed in response to policies set by the California legislature and the Western Governors' Association. WREGIS will track renewable generation to help verify the "green" value of renewable electricity. WREGIS's independent, verifiable and reliable data will make it easier to implement renewable policies and achieve renewable energy goals. That data includes megawatt-hours produced, fuel source, facility location and all state, provincial and voluntary renewable energy program qualifications.

One WREGIS certificate is issued for each megawatt-hour of renewable energy produced and deposited on the grid. To prevent double counting, each WREGIS certificate has its own unique serial number.

WREGIS will help the WGA to track its progress on a goal set in 2004 to develop an additional 30,000 megawatts of "clean" energy by 2015, drawing on both traditional and renewable resources. According to a progress report released on June 10th, the Western states are well on their way to that goal, with more than 4,000 megawatts of new renewable generation added in 2005 and 2006 and 3,432 megawatts of new renewable generation projected for 2007.

Intertribal COUP receives 'World Clean Energy Award for Courage'

The Intertribal Council on Utility Policy was among nine winners of the first World Clean Energy Awards, presented June 15 at the traditional "Faktor 4-Festival" in Basel, Switzerland. These international "renewable energy Oscars" honor the world's premiere projects promoting the large-scale use of renewable energies.

The high-profile jury of experts selected Intertribal COUP from 70 nominated projects for the "Special Award for Courage." Intertribal COUP President Patrick Spears and Secretary Robert Gough accepted the award on behalf of their organization.

The award recognized the tribes' innovative Tribal Wind Power Demonstration Project Plan to build utility-scale tribal wind projects on reservations in the northern Great Plains. The COUP Plan calls for up to 3,000 Megawatts of utility-scale wind power across reservations in the northern Great Plains by 2015, beginning with the short-term goal of 80-240 MW of tribally-owned wind projects.

Since 1995, more than a dozen tribes have worked toward a joint assessment and build-out of tribally-owned, utility-scale wind projects in North and South Dakota, Nebraska and across the west. Collected data indicates that the total tribal wind potential in America is 535 billion kilowatt-hours per year.

This intertribal collaboration represents an unprecedented effort to develop the first large-scale Native-owned and -operated wind farms in the country. The project's success would generate clean energy, create local jobs and build healthy, sustainable economies based upon renewable energy. The effort emerged from the four year success of COUP's flagship 750-kW single turbine on the Rosebud Sioux Reservation.

Member tribes of Intertribal COUP include Cheyenne River; Flandreau Santee; Lower Brule; Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara; Omaha; Rosebud; Sisseton; Spirit Lake; Pine Ridge and the Standing Rock Sioux Tribes. In August 2005, Intertribal COUP acquired a majority ownership interest in NativeEnergy on behalf of its member tribes, marking another significant step in the Great Plains tribes' historic effort to power America with Native wind.

Colorado, DOE team up for geothermal forum

In support of the GeoPowering the West initiative, the U.S. Department of Energy, Colorado Governor's Energy Office and Delta-Montrose Energy Association are hosting a Geothermal Investors' Forum in Montrose, Colo., Oct. 19.

The forum will focus on harnessing Colorado's untapped geothermal resources to help meet the state's recently doubled renewable portfolio standard. However, anyone interested in learning more about opportunities in geothermal electric generation, as well as direct use applications and ground-source heat pumps will benefit from presentations by industry experts. Investors will have a chance to meet with qualified landowners and project developers seeking financing for direct use and generation projects.

For attendees who arrive early, a tour of Ouray, Colo., is planned on Oct. 18. Known as the Switzerland of America, Ouray is surrounded by some of Colorado's most promising geothermal resources. The full-day tour will include presentations on the history of geothermal use in the city and a chance to relax at Ouray Hot Springs Pool, a direct use application.

Contact DMEA at 970-240-1273 for more information or to register.

Anaheim Public Utilities' customer service receives national acclaim

Anaheim Public Utilities is the 2007 recipient of the American Public Power Association's E.F. Scattergood System Achievement Award, one of the electric industry's most prestigious accolades.

Presented at the recent APPA National Conference in San Antonio, Texas, the award is the highest honor APPA bestows on member systems. It honors achievement or sustained performance that was widely recognized in the public power field; served to enhance APPA's and public power's national prestige; improved service to customer-owners; and represented an earnest, coordinated effort on the part of the system.

The Orange County, Calif., municipal utility received the 2007 award primarily for developing and building the widely acclaimed Park Substation. The major electric distribution substation is built into the side of a hill in a developed residential area and covered with a park. Recognition also was given for the utility's role in helping make the Tiger Woods Learning Center one of the most energy-efficient educational facilities in the nation. The building incorporates solar electric generating panels on the roof, and a unique transparent solar curtain wall encloses the lobby of facility's auditorium.

Transformer manufacturer endorses DOE's proposed efficiency standard

A consortium of electric utilities and environmental and energy efficiency organizations applauded transformer manufacturer ABB's endorsement of new efficiency standards the consortium is proposing for the nation's 41 million electric distribution transformers.

Distribution transformers are the metal boxes and cylinders on utility poles that reduce electricity voltage for safe consumer use. The U.S. Department of Energy is evaluating the efficiency standards for transformers because even a slight improvement would save significant electricity before it ever reaches customers, thereby reducing emissions from electric generating plants. The endorsement by a large manufacturer like the Norwalk, Conn.-based ABB gives a significant boost to DOE's effort to increase the efficiency standards.

The Edison Electric Institute and the American Public Power Association proposed the new efficiency standards to DOE this past February. Other members of the consortium supporting increased transformer efficiency standards include the Natural Resources Defense Council, American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, Alliance to Save Energy, Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships and Appliance Standards Awareness Project.

The National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners also has endorsed the proposed standards. DOE is expected to issue its final decision on the new standards by September.

The proposal for higher efficiency standards for distribution transformers marks the first-ever agreement on appliance standards from America's investor-owned and public-power electric utilities and major energy efficiency and environmental groups.