Citing the economic, environmental, and national security challenges associated with U.S. energy needs, Nobel Peace Prize recipient and former Vice President Al Gore introduced an aggressive proposal to obtain 100% of U.S. electricity from clean, renewable energy within the next ten years.

In a July 17 speech in Washington, D.C., Gore began by asking “What if we could use fuels that are not expensive, don’t cause pollution and are abundantly available right here at home? We have such fuels . . . . Enough wind power blows through the Midwest corridor every day to also meet 100% of U.S. electricity demand.”

Gore went on to list many of the benefits of renewables that wind industry advocates frequently point out. Renewables, he noted, not only help to reduce the environmental effects of fossil fuels and combat climate change; they also produce jobs and avoid utility cost increases resulting from rises in fossil fuel prices. Moreover, renewables strengthen the nation’s energy security, given that they are domestic and inexhaustible sources of energy.

Gore acknowledged the many challenges and obstacles associated with reaching the goal of 100% renewable electricity within 10 years, outlining several different major areas that need to be aggressively tackled. Again echoing a central policy mantra of the wind industry, Gore underscored the need to expand and transform the country’s electricity transmission grid. “[We need] a unified national grid that is sufficiently advanced to link the areas where the sun shines and the wind blows to the cities in the East and the West that need the electricity,” he said. “Our national electric grid is critical infrastructure, as vital to the health and security of our economy as our highways and telecommunication networks.”

Gore also put the mass production of plug-in electric cars high on his list of priorities, stating that “an electric vehicle fleet would sharply reduce the cost of driving a car, reduce pollution, and increase the flexibility of our electricity grid.” Plug-in hybrid vehicles and electric vehicles are particularly compatible with wind energy, both in terms of providing increased grid flexibility and because wind can provide the vehicles with power at times when electricity demand is low and wind output is high.

Gore stressed the importance of strong, long-term federal policies to support the renewable energy industry. He strongly endorsed instituting a carbon tax as well as the notion that the U.S. must become a more aggressive leader in the international effort to collectively address climate change. With bold, forward-looking action from policymakers to spur the growth of renewable energy, he predicted that the cost of renewable technologies would plummet.

“This goal [of 100% clean renewable energy within 10 years] is achievable, affordable and transformative,” said Gore. “It represents a challenge to all Americans—in every walk of life: to our political leaders, entrepreneurs, innovators, engineers, and to every citizen. Our success depends on our willingness as a people to undertake this journey.”

The U.S. Department of Energy concluded this year that achieving 20% wind by 2030 is feasible; AWEA believes the associated timetable can be accelerated, as long as the nation makes the right policy choices and spending decisions. What’s most important and urgent at this stage, according to AWEA, is that the U.S. adopt long-term policies to promote renewable energy development. The primary incentives for wind and other renewables are set to expire at the end of the year, placing billions in investment and thousands of jobs at risk. A rapid extension of these credits is urgently needed, as well as longer-term policies such as a national renewable electricity standard, effective climate change legislation, and planning for transmission to tap the nation’s vast renewable resources, AWEA said.

The Gore speech came just a week after Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens unveiled an energy plan that consists of tapping the U.S.’s own energy resources including wind in order to lessen dependence on foreign oil (see Wind Energy Weekly #1297). The “Pickens Plan,” as it has been dubbed, would do that by substantially increasing the use of wind energy for electricity generation and using the natural gas saved from the electricity sector as a transportation fuel. Under the model, a significant portion of the U.S. vehicle fleet would convert to natural gas.

“Within little more than a week’s time, both a leading Texas oilman and a former vice president/Nobel Prize recipient have sent a loud-and-clear message concerning America’s approach to energy: business as usual is not an option,” said AWEA Executive Director Randall Swisher. “T. Boone Pickens and Vice President Al Gore know that it’s time for dramatic change in the way America takes on its energy challenges. While these two leaders’ plans do differ, they have one central commonality: wind power. The clean, renewable energy source is at the very heart of both of their perspectives—and, to be sure, it must lie at the heart of any sound energy policy.”

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Wind advocates applauded the Public Utility Commission of Texas’s (PUCT’s) July 17 approval of a $4.9 billion plan to build more than 2,300 miles of new 345-kV transmission lines that will link vast and largely untapped wind energy resources in northern and western Texas with the state’s hungry electricity load centers.

In a 2-1 vote the PUCT opted to go with the Electric Reliability Council of Texas’s (ERCOT’s) “Scenario 2,” the middle option in terms of transmission build-out aggressiveness for the state to implement its “competitive renewable energy zones” (CREZs). Scenario 2 will add enough transmission capacity for over 11,550 MW of wind, in addition to the approximately 5,500-plus MW currently online; therefore, the new transmission allows for an 18,000-MW wind regime in the state.

CREZs are Texas’s designation, for transmission planning purposes, of suitable land possessing a renewable resource. The CREZ process is considered a model for other regions in the country to solve the “chicken-or-the-egg” dilemma in which developers will not build wind farms in wind-rich areas lacking transmission, while transmission does not get built to areas that lack generation.

The estimated cost for the new transmission is about $4.9 billion, but, according to ERCOT numbers, reductions in fuel needs would bring an annual wholesale power cost savings of $3.4 billion. According to the PUCT, Scenario 2 is expected to cost about $4 per month per residential customer.

“The wind industry applauds the PUC for a hearing process that was open to all views in determining the right level of investment in transmission capacity to carry power from West Texas wind farms to more populated regions of the state,” Paul Sadler, executive director of the Texas-based Wind Coalition, said in a statement. “Our state leadership has been visionary in its approach to growing this clean, renewable energy source. With the eyes of the nation watching Texas, we have developed a process that will serve as a model for the country as we look to diversify our energy fuel mix.”

Added Sadler: “Wind energy is clean, cost-competitive and completely renewable. Today’s historic decision will not only greatly increase wind production in Texas, it will reduce the total carbon output of the power industry and apply downward pressure to electric rates. This multi-billion dollar investment in transmission lines will generate thousands of new jobs, $18 billion in fuel savings over ten years, and billions of dollars in additional revenue for rural West Texas communities.”

The two commissioners voting in favor of the plan, Commissioner Paul Hudson and Chairman Barry Smitherman, said that the more modest “Scenario 1b,” which the PUCT staff in June said it was backing, would leave little room for further wind power growth.

"In my opinion, the central objective of the statutory change contemplated by SB 20 [i.e., the legislation concerning the renewable energy standard and CREZs] was to plan ahead of transmission capacity needs," Hudson said in a July 17 memo. "Given the record evidence in this proceeding, it is my opinion that S1b will fall considerably short in planning ahead for expected capacity and, falling short on that measure alone, is fatally flawed."

Governor Rick Perry (R), a long-time champion of wind power, welcomed the news. “I want Texas to be the epicenter of energy development — wind, solar, clean coal, obviously natural gas, nuclear and biofuels," he said. Perry underscored one important reason for policy to be long-term, stable, and forward-thinking: “You've got to send the message to those people that are going to invest and to the public that's going to pay for it,” he said.

AWEA Executive Director Randall Swisher, meanwhile, issued the following statement in response to the preliminary approval by the PUCT:

“With its decision to approve new, large investments in transmission lines for renewable energy, Texas is not only ensuring that consumers will reap the benefits of more wind power, it is also showing the way forward for the nation.

“We need to improve the way the nation plans for transmission lines, both to increase electric system reliability and to tap our vast wind resource. Texas is pioneering a way to that by establishing ‘Competitive Renewable Energy Zones’ that identify corridors where transmission can be built and ways in which the lines will be funded.

“The state’s leaders, from Governor Perry, to the legislature, to the Public Utility Commissioners, are to be commended for taking on a complex issue and crafting an innovative solution. Their achievement, a culmination of six years of hard work, can serve as a national model for how to cut the Gordian knot of transmission planning today,” Swisher said.

Legislation has been introduced by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Representative Jay Inslee (D-Wash.) to create National Renewable Energy Zones, which would bring vast amounts of low-cost renewable resources to consumers and increase grid reliability. In addition, Senator John Thune (R-S.D.) added a transmission-related energy corridors amendment to a Senate energy bill last year.

“Investing in new transmission for renewable energy not only increases our electricity supply, it reduces carbon emissions from power generation and applies downward pressure on electricity costs,” said Swisher. “Based on a study by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, a transmission investment of $1 billion per year is expected to lower overall payments by customers to power generators by more than $3 billion per year – an overall savings of about $2 billion per year. At the national level, benefits would also far outweigh the costs, making investment in transmission a clear win for our economy, environment, and energy security.

“The leadership that Texas has established in wind power is paying economic dividends in several areas. In addition to meeting its growing electricity demand with clean power, Texas is building a major new industry and creating thousands of jobs in wind farm construction and maintenance, manufacturing, transportation, and services.”

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Construction has begun on the 99-MW Elm Creek Wind Power Project in southwestern Minnesota, Iberdrola Renewables and Great River Energy announced.

Elm Creek will feature 66 GE 1.5-MW turbines, which are also used at the nearby Trimont Area Wind Farm; that facility has been in operation since November 2005. Iberdrola developed and will build and operate the new wind farm. The Elm Creek facility, expected to be commercially operating by the end of the year, will provide enough energy for 29,000 homes each year, the companies said.

“We are happy to announce a second wind power project using the same innovative model for landowner revenue participation as our original Trimont Area Wind Farm,” said Neal Von Ohlen, chief manager of the Trimont Area Wind Farm and a local landowner. “Trimont has been such a success we wanted to do another one as soon as possible.”

The Elm Creek and Trimont wind projects provide more benefits to landowners than the typical wind project, according to the companies, with landowners benefitting from revenue participation as well as from traditional easement payments.

“Property taxes from the Trimont wind farm and now the Elm Creek project benefit county programs and schools,” said Jackson County Commissioner Roger Ringkob. “The wind projects are not only a good fit with agriculture in rural Minnesota. They also bring in business to our local hotels, restaurants and campgrounds.”

“With the addition of the output from Elm Creek Wind Farm, Great River Energy will have more than 300 MW of wind capacity under contract,” said Mark Rathbun, renewable energy project leader for Great River Energy, a generation and transmission cooperative. “That gives us a great start toward meeting the state of Minnesota's renewable energy standard.”

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Driven by consumer concerns over climate change and rising electricity prices, the U.S. small wind turbine market grew 14% and deployed 9.7 MW of new power generating capacity in 2007, AWEA said in its annual small wind turbine market report.

Small wind systems, which have rated capacities ranging from less than 1 kW up to 100 kW, are used for a broad range of applications, from charging batteries on sailboats and recreational vehicles to powering individual homes, farms, and small businesses.

In 2007 over 9,000 small wind turbine units were sold, with total sales value of $42 million, according to the report. Total small wind generating capacity in the U.S. is now 55-60 MW. About 50 companies manufacture or plan to manufacture small wind systems in the U.S., the world’s largest market for the smaller-scale renewable technology. Exports account for about 40% of U.S. small wind system manufacturers’ sales.

“Consumers are eager for clean energy solutions, and a small wind system is one of the most productive ways to generate clean, reliable, fuel-free electricity,” said AWEA Executive Director Randall Swisher. “To fully meet growing customer demand we need policies that make it easier and less costly to invest in small wind systems.”

AWEA and small wind system advocates are calling for a 30% federal investment tax credit (ITC). Such a credit could lead to an estimated 40%-50% annual growth, similar to the growth in the solar photovoltaic (PV) market following the adoption of a federal ITC for that renewable technology in 2005. Currently, there are no federal incentives in place for small wind systems. Several states have incentives for small wind, and, not surprisingly, they are also the states with the largest small wind system markets. Impractical and prohibitive zoning practices, as well as balkanized grid interconnection standards, pose additional barriers to growth.

Small wind systems in the U.S. displace an estimated 60,000 tons of carbon dioxide annually, the equivalent of taking 10,000 cars off the road, according to the AWEA report.

For the full report, go to www.awea.org/smallwind/pdf/2008_AWEA_Small_Wind_Turbine

_Global_Market_Study.pdf . More information about small wind systems is available at http://www.awea.org/smallwind/ .

To receive AWEA’s monthly small wind e-newsletter, contact Ron Stimmel, small-wind Advocate at rstimmel@awea.org .

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AWEA regional partner Wind on the Wires (WOW) and AWEA filed comments with the Federal Regulatory Commission (FERC) supporting the general direction of interconnection queue reforms proposed by the Midwest Independent System Operator (ISO); however, the comments also emphasized that queue problems will not be solved until more transmission capacity gets built, which must be done through a process that includes proactive planning and regional cost allocation.

AWEA and WOW expressed support for changing the current “first in, first processed” approach to a milestone-based approach (i.e., a “first ready, first processed” approach. They also expressed support for the “direction” of the queue reform effort, but emphasized that the details of the interconnection process are critical to its success. Toward that end, the groups recommended that FERC approve the Midwest ISO filing, subject to it making a subsequent filing that makes the modifications requested and addresses the various concerns raised in their comments.

“The root cause of interconnection queue problems still needs to be addressed following the Interconnection Queue process changes the Midwest ISO has proposed,” the comments stated. “Interconnection backlog and delays are largely due to the need for more transmission capacity and a workable cost allocation approach to fund transmission upgrades.”

AWEA and WOW noted that the “interconnection queue process cannot cure cancer and it cannot be relied upon to address all of the needs of the grid.” The groups urged that the Midwest ISO put in place a cost allocation approach “that can be used to move projects identified in their regional transmission planning process quickly toward construction. The interconnection queue process must be designed to work with the transmission planning process and a regional cost allocation process in order to fully address the queue problems that exist today.”

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In an 86-5 vote, the Illinois House on July 16 passed an amended version of a Senate bill that would effectively double the megawatts required under the state’s renewable electricity standard (RES).

The vote sends the amended SB 1987 back to the Senate, which has no further legislative days scheduled until after the November general election; the chamber is expected to take up the measure after it reconvenes at that time.

The bill effectively doubles the market for renewable energy created by Illinois’ current RES by expanding that law’s renewable energy requirement to include all competitive (or “unbundled”) customer classes—that is, those customer classes that have been declared competitive and that take their energy from non-regulated, competitive suppliers as opposed to through regulated utility rates. Such customer classes are currently excluded from the RES.

Illinois ’ current RES of 25% by 2025 can be reasonably estimated to establish a market for about 4000 MW of new wind nameplate capacity by 2025 (assuming the exclusion of munis and coops, 0% load growth per significant efficiency programs, and wind at 75% of the total renewables market). Because approximately 50% of electric sales in Illinois in 2007 came from competitive suppliers, the anticipated new market for renewable energy created by SB 1987 would be an additional 4000 MW.

The bill also contains a separate portfolio standard for coal with carbon sequestration, as well as new language establishing “benchmarks” for renewable energy prices. The clean coal provisions, which require electric utilities to sign power purchase agreements with coal projects using carbon sequestration for 5% of electric sales by 2015 and includes a further non-binding goal of 25% by 2025 for such power, automatically bring strong legislative support to the bill in a state with coal reserves among the largest in the nation.

The requirement that the state’s “Alternative Retail Electric Suppliers” (ARES) meet the RES standard is established by language requiring that the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) grant a certificate of service authority only if the ARES is in compliance with the RES. The language also requires ARES to comply with the separate portfolio standard for qualifying coal projects with carbon sequestration.

According to Barry Matchett of the Environmental Law & Policy Center, who as a proponent for the expanded RES was actively involved in negotiating the elements of the legislation, the desire for the cost benchmarks stem from a broad perception among political leaders in the state that this year’s earlier renewable energy credit auction resulted in inflated prices. The cost benchmark language for renewable energy prices in Illinois would be a second layer of cost control on top of the existing cost cap provision, which requires that the cost of meeting the renewable energy obligations cannot cause total consumer prices to increase by more than 0.5% in any one year through 2011 or by more than 2.015% relative to 2007 for all aggregate years thereafter. The new benchmark language states that renewable energy costs cannot “exceed benchmarks based on market prices for renewable resources in the region, which shall be developed by the procurement administrator, in consultation with the [ICC] staff, [Illinois Power] Agency Staff, and the procurement monitor and shall be subject to Commission review and approval.”

“If passed by the Senate and signed by the Governor, the expansion of the RES would yield a dramatic increase in anticipated new wind capacity in Illinois and will bring billions [of dollars] in new renewable energy investment,” said Matchett.

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A recent flurry of activity in several states promises to directly affect or have an impact on small wind:

Colorado : new rebate available from participating utilities. The Colorado Governor’s Energy Office (GEO) announced a new rebate program to help consumers afford certain grid-tied small wind systems. The GEO will partner with four utilities in a matching-funds program to provide a rebate of $2.00 per watt of the system’s installed capacity, not to exceed the lesser of 50% of the total cost of the system or $10,000; each utility, however, has authority to set the cap.

“This new incentive program will support many farmers and ranchers in Colorado” said Tony Frank, director of renewable energy development for the Rocky Mountain Farmers Union. “Not only do we now have a rebate program, Colorado also recently created high quality net metering and interconnection standards for our rural areas. It’s getting exciting; things are falling into place for small-wind development.”

For more information, go here.

Massachusetts : small-wind rebate suspended. Effective June 13, the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MTC) suspended its rebate program for small-wind turbines due to substandard performance of multiple subsidized installations.A recent MTC report found that a sample of 19 incentivized small-wind turbines in the state were producing an average of 30% of their expected output, leading the MTC to cease accepting applications for small-wind turbine rebates.According to the report, the MTC “…is now considering changes to the Small Renewables Initiative that will help MTC and its future customers identify and pursue small-wind projects that maximize social and economic benefits to the commonwealth and its ratepayers.”

Maine : state expands incentive for small wind systems. Grid-tied small wind systems installed after January 1 will be eligible to receive rebates from the state’s renewable energy incentive program. The Maine Public Utilities Commission (MPUC), however, has yet to establish rebate levels for small wind systems. The MPUC also will determine the allotment of funding in each fiscal year for rebates for wind energy, photovoltaic, and solar thermal systems, with a minimum of 20% of program funding provided to each of the three types of rebates. More information is available at the Database for State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency Web site.

New York : renewable-friendly net metering policy augmented. Considered a key state by small-wind advocates, New York expanded its net metering policy, which advocates say will further encourage the use of renewable, distributed energy technologies like small-wind systems. Net metering allows owners of small-wind turbines and other small renewables to receive fair credit from their utility for any electricity they generate that exceeds the owner’s consumption. By awarding excess generation, net metering encourages the use of larger renewable energy generators and can lower the long-term costs of equipment ownership.

The expanded policy applies differently among wind, solar, and farm waste technologies. For details, see the Database for State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency’s Web site.

To receive AWEA’s monthly small wind e-newsletter, contact Ron Stimmel, small-wind advocate at rstimmel@awea.org .

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20% Wind Energy by 2030: Changing America’s Electricity Supply

AWEA, along with Energynautics, is co-sponsoring the 2008 presentation of the comprehensive Utility Wind Integration Group (UWIG) short course, Wind Generation in Power Systems: A Short Course on the Integration and Interconnection of Wind Power Plants into Electric Power Systems, September 9-12 2008 at the La Playa Hotel, Carmel, Calif.

This course addresses issues related to interconnecting wind generation to electric utility power systems. Covered topics include wind turbine generator technology, modeling for power system analysis, and conducting planning and operating studies.

Specific highlights include:

• Costs and benefits of large scale integration of wind power
• Wind turbine design concepts
• Capacity value and cost of ancillary services
• US and European experiences with wind power integration
• Evaluation and management of the uncertainty of short-term power variations
• Wind forecasting
• Voltage control, power quality and protection issues
• Grid codes and recent US and European experiences
• High penetration issues
• Introduction to wind turbine modeling and simulation
• Wind turbine control issues
• Dynamic simulation studies related to wind power

For more information, including details on agenda, registration and accommodations, visit the UWIG web site at http://www.uwig.org/shortcourse2008.html or contact Sandy Smith, 865-218-4600, extension 6141 or e-mail sandy@uwig.org. The advance registration deadline is September 1 and registration is limited to the first 35 attendees. A block of rooms has been made available at the La Playa Hotel for $179/night plus applicable taxes for village view or $209/night plus applicable taxes for ocean/garden view. The block expires August 8.