AWEA reaches out to utilities at WINDPOWER 2008

A key event of WINDPOWER 2008 was the poster presentation displays. Attendees were able to review more than 160 posters covering a wide variety of wind energy topics on display throughout the show.  (Photo by American Wind Energy Association)

Many at WINDPOWER 2008 agreed that it will take teamwork to reach the scenario presented in the Department of Energy's recently-published report, 20 Percent Wind Energy by 2030, and the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) wants to ensure that utilities are on the team.

Opening session highlights U.S. wind boom

The conference took place June 1-4 in Houston, Texas, a city most associate with fossil fuels, even though the state is No. 1 for installed wind power capacity. The city of Houston has saved $26 million in electricity costs, thanks to wind purchases, Mayor Bill White noted in his remarks at the opening session. White, Texas Governor Rick Perry and other opening speakers repeatedly sounded the theme that wind is now a mainstream energy source.

Supporting that thesis, AWEA Executive Director Randall Swisher told the opening-day crowd that the United States put 5,249 MW of wind power in the ground last year. That represents 35 percent of the new electric capacity installed in the nation in 2007. 

In his address, U.S. Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Andy Karsner emphasized the Bush administration's support for extending the production tax credit. Reaching 20 percent wind can be done, he added, with a policy that is technology-neutral, durable and predictable. 

In Kansas, policy, leadership and public support are combining to put the ambitious goal of 20 percent by 2020 within reach. Kansas Governor Kathleen Sibelius used her presentation to tell how her state had tripled its wind capacity in recent years.

Focus on utility issues

The growth of the wind industry was also evident in the record-breaking attendance. More than 13,000 registrants and 770 exhibitors gathered at the George R. Brown Convention Center to network, share success stories and talk about how to move wind power forward.

Those numbers included utility professionals drawn by the conference's expanded utility track. Western supported the track with a consumer-owned utility wind panel session and an entry in the poster session entitled "The Strategic Value of Wind in Utility Resource Portfolios."

"Utilities are increasingly looking to wind energy to supply part of their power supply mix – bringing clean, inexhaustible and domestically-sourced energy to their customers," remarked Jeff Anthony, AWEA manager for Utility Programs. "That is why we formed the AWEA Utility Working Group – to enable utilities to learn from other utilities how successful implementation of wind power is working for different types of utilities in different parts of the country."

Reasons for acquiring wind power

"Delivering 20 Percent Wind to Customers—The Critical Role of Electric Utilities" kicked off the utility track June 3 with a look at the reasons why utilities are acquiring more wind power. Customer interest, state renewable portfolio goals and anticipation of future carbon regulations were among the reasons cited by presenting utilities CPS Energy and We Energies.

CPS, a municipal utility in San Antonio, Texas, leads municipal utilities for delivering wind power. Its Windtricity green power program purchased 501 MW in 2007. Mike Kotara, CPS executive vice president of energy development, talked about the challenges of scheduling and forecasting an intermittent resource, and coping with strains on the transmission system.

Investor-owned We Energies in Wisconsin recently completed construction on the 145-MW Blue Sky Green Field wind farm in Fond du Lac County, Wis. Wind Farm Project Manager Andy Hesselbach said We Energies did not intend to own its own facility but determined that it was ultimately cheaper for the utility and its customers.

Offering tips and lessons for building community support, Hesselbach strongly advised forewarning residents about messy roads, heavy vehicle traffic and muddy fields associated with construction. During the public outreach process, We Energies did everything from conducting the usual landowner meetings to hosting community barbecues.

The session included a report by Galen Barbose of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory on a study the lab conducted on how 15 utilities in the West valued wind power as a hedge against carbon regulatory risk. The issue of carbon taxes has emerged relatively recently, so utilities vary widely in how they value renewable energy's contribution to emissions reduction. The study concluded that assigning wind power projects their full value as protection against the financial risks of carbon regulation could stimulate greater development.

Wind farm development options

Cooperatives and municipal utilities took center stage in the afternoon session, "Consumer-Owned Utilities Making Wind Part of the Solution." Robert Putnam of CH2M Hill organized and chaired the panel on behalf of Western and the U.S. DOE Wind Powering America Program. Presenters included Western customers Basin Electric Power Cooperative and Great River Energy.

Basin plans to add another 300 MW of wind to the 136 MW the co-op currently owns or purchases. Alternative Technologies Manager Ron Rebenitsch asserted that economics drive development, noting that after the production tax credit, the Great Plains can produce wind power for as low as $.04/kWh. Along with many other speakers, he expressed concern about the affect of the rising cost of turbine components on wind development.

Mark Rathbun, key account representative for Great River, praised Minnesota for an aggressive state energy policy that supports community-based energy development. The G&T currently purchases 218 MW from five Minnesota wind farms, including the landowner-developed Trimont Wind Farm. Rathbun said that the state will be releasing a dispersed generation study this summer, and a renewable energy standard transmission study later this year.

Illinois Rural Electric Cooperative (IREC) and White Creek Wind LLC offered different takes on small utilities developing wind facilities. With a USDA Section 9006 grant and funding from the Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation, IREC installed the state's first utility-scale, 1.65-MW wind turbine owned by an electric cooperative.

Spurred by the voter-enacted Energy Independence Act, four Washington state utilities partnered to build the 206-MW White Creek Wind Farm. The participation of two large county public utilities districts, Cowlitz and Klickitat, enabled the tiny Lakeview Light & Power and Tanner Electric Cooperative to become part owners of the wind farm.

Survey to get utility perspective

Those success stories notwithstanding, AWEA believes that the utility viewpoint on meeting the DOE's 20 percent wind energy scenario needs to be further explored. At the utility working group luncheon, Anthony announced plans to launch a study to examine the strategies and business models utilities are using to add wind power to their power supply mix. The study will also look at the impact of those additions on operational and asset management issues within the utility.   

Energy Insights, a consultancy that specializes in marketing and customer service issues in the energy industry, will conduct the study. The goal of the study is to identify utilities which are already adding significant amounts of wind energy to their system today, learn from their experiences and share lessons learned with other utilities. AWEA plans to make the results available only to utilities that are members of AWEA and are paying for the study.

Over the next six months, the consultants will interview 12 to 15 utilities to collect information on acquisition approaches, business models and integration strategies. Some topics the study will cover include power purchase agreements versus ownership, PTC issues, transmission, Clean Renewable Energy Bonds and other operation issues.

The final report is expected to address such key concerns as workforce development, operations best practices, equipment longevity, tradable credits and much more. "We are looking for any innovative approaches or evolving business models that are allowing utilities to work with wind developers and other organizations to 'mainstream' wind power in their system operations," Anthony told the group gathered at the meeting.

Many utilities have strong opinions about the assumptions in the DOE report, noted Western Renewable Resource Program Manager Randy Manion. He hopes the study will stimulate the discussion needed to address their concerns. "The 20 percent scenario is ambitious, and it can only be reached if the utilities are on board," he said. "If the utilities are behind it, anything is possible, including 20 percent wind energy by 2030," he said.

Resources

WINDPOWER 2008

20 Percent Wind Energy by 2030

American Wind Energy Association

CPS Energy

We Energies

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

CH2M Hill

Basin Electric Power Cooperative

Great River Energy

Resources (cont.)

Illinois Rural Electric Cooperative

White Creek Wind LLC

USDA Section 9006 Farm Bill

Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation

Cowlitz Public Utility District

Klickitat Public Utility District

Lakeview Light & Power

Tanner Electric Cooperative

Energy Insights

People

Jeff Anthony

Randy Manion

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