NREL gives green light to feed-in tariffs February 16, 2010

A recent report from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory found that feed-in tariffs established by states to promote the use of renewable energy are legal under certain conditions, clearing the way for the programs that aim to level the pricing playing field.

The long-awaited NREL report points out that that the feed-in tariffs can be lawful under the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act (or PURPA), if they are voluntarily offered by utilities, or based on “avoided cost” and paid with renewable energy credits, subsidies, or tax credits.

Oregon is one of four states that have established feed-in tariff programs. Oregon’s was started last year as pilot program under House Bill 3039. The legislation did not establish the incentive rate or rules for the pilot program and the Public Utilities Commission must adopt rules and approve the rate for the incentive payment by April 1.

Portland Business Journal – http://portland.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2010/02/15/daily13.html

Consultants’ study touts benefits of Antekope Ridge wind farm plan

The company hoping to build a second wind farm in Union County says annual revenues to local governments from both facilities would range between $2.7 and $6 million.

Not only that, the two winds farms combined will account for more than 300 construction jobs and more than 90 direct, indirect and induced jobs.

But not everybody is buying it.

Horizon Wind Energy opened the 101-megawatt Elkhorn Valley wind farm at Telocaset in 2007. The company has applied to the Oregon Department of Energy to build a 300-megawatt facility, the Antelope Ridge Wind Farm, near Union in 2011.

Citing a study done recently by the economic consulting firms Pareto Global and ECONorthwest, Horizon said the two facilities combined will have significant long-term benefits to the local economy.

“Our modeling showed that wind farms have a positive economic impact, create job growth and increase revenue to local governments,” said Jules Bailey, the principal consultant for Pareto Global.

The study estimated that Elkhorn Valley created 150 construction jobs, and says that 15 people are employed at the facility now.

The work of maintaining and operating the facility has indirectly created another 24 jobs, the study says.

Also according to the study, revenue impact to  Union County and other local governments from Elkhorn Valley is estimated at $664,000 a year.

The study says Antelope Ridge would create about 165 construction jobs and 20 full-time jobs at the facility after construction.

In addition, the study claims the facility will indirectly create 32 more jobs and that revenue impact from the wind farm itself and resulting economic activity to governments will be about $2 million.

The proposed Antelope Ridge facility has stirred much controversy in the county. Some individuals and at least one local government — the City of Union — have expressed concerns about possible effects on real estate values, scenery, tourism, wildlife and more.

Dennis Wilkinson, head of the local effort to stop construction of Antelope Ridge, sharply disputed claims made in the study.

In a letter to Horizon, Wilkinson said a release about the study sent to news outlets was “full of spin and incorrect information.” He accused Horizon of having a policy of not providing facts.

Among other things, Wilkinson asked Horizon to document its claims about job creation and revenue impacts.

“These quotes of dollar revenue and job claims are exaggerated to put it mildly and it continues to be the policy of Horizon to attempt to fool the public about the wind projects,” he said.

“It is a proven fact by hundreds of reports that wind farms are inefficient and would not be built if not for the subsidy and all the tax write-off.”

Horizon consultant Bob Applegate said Monday that the study’s conclusions are based on economic models.

He said the amount of money Horizon spends on construction, operation and maintenance is the primary factor. Outside of direct employment, the Pareto study did not pinpoint employment at local companies.

Applegate said that direct jobs are jobs held by workers at a facility. Indirect jobs are jobs at businesses that support operation and maintenance, and induced jobs are those created at businesses like restaurants and retail stores.

“It is a fair thing to say that absent the wind farm, there would be fewer jobs,” he said.

Applegate said that Horizon employs two full-time workers at Elkhorn, with plans to add a third. He said turbine manufacturer Vestas employs 12 people at Elkhorn.

Applegate also said that the study’s estimate of revenue impacts to governments is broad because those impacts depend on what agreements are worked out.

He said that if Horizon reaches a Strategic Investment Program agreement with Union County, the smaller figure would apply.

“I think it’s fair to say that the revenue impact to the county would be at least $2.7 million,” he said.

He said Horizon and Union County are currently in negotiations regarding an SIP agreement.

Bill Rautenstrauch, The Observer – http://www.lagrandeobserver.com/News/Local-News/Consultants-study-touts-benefits-of-wind-farm-plan

‘Cow Power To Horsepower’ Researched In Bellingham

When you think of what federal economic stimulus money has paid for, the first things that come to mind might be highway paving, energy retrofits or high–speed trains. Now here’s one of the most unconventional stimulus projects we’ve heard of. An institute at Western Washington University is getting half a million dollars to examine how to convert cow poop into horsepower.

Five years ago, dairy farmer Darryl Vander Haak flipped the switch on the first poop–to–power generator in Washington State. Officially, the facility near Lynden, Washington is known as a methane digester. Manure from around a 1000 cows goes in one end. Then controlled decomposition yields methane gas. It’s burned like natural gas in an electric generator.

The rub is, electricity sales haven’t been very profitable, or profitable at all says dairyman Vander Haak.

Vander Haak: “We’re looking for alternative ways. The Northwest has too much hydropower to compete with. It would be easier to compete with the gas companies, I guess.”

That’s why Vander Haak was open minded when the director of the Vehicle Research Institute at Western Washington University came calling from down the road in Bellingham. Eric Leonhardt says he’s long had his eye on the dairy herd as a source of transportation fuel.

Leonhardt: “The problem is when the gas comes off the digester, it has not only methane in it — 60 percent — it also has carbon dioxide — forty percent, roughly. And it has a trace of hydrogen sulfide.”

Leonhardt says the challenge is to remove those engine–wrecking impurities cost–effectively. Other than that, powering vehicles with natural gas is not new. Generating the fuel from renewable sources has been done before too, for example at landfills. The U.S. Department of Energy gave the $500,000 grant to improve the fuel refining process and then demonstrate whether biogas could be cost–competitive. At lot depends on the price of fossil fuels.

Leonhardt: “At $6 a gallon, the payoff period isn’t very long.”

Banse: “So $6 a gallon for petroleum fuel?”

Leonhardt: “Yes. If you start at $3 a gallon, it’s a push. It is right on the edge of being possible.”

This spring, the Vehicle Research Institute plans to retrofit a donated airporter shuttle bus. It will take a few months of road testing to confirm Leonhardt’s cost estimates. The researcher has already calculated that the cows from just two large dairies could fuel all the public buses in his home of Whatcom County.

I’m Tom Banse in Bellingham, Washington.

Tom Banse, KUOW – http://kuow.org/program.php?id=19447

Senator Tester Spends Presidents’ Day in the Flathead Valley February 15, 2010

Senator Jon Tester talks jobs and renewable energy in the Flathead Valley.

The Senator started his day at F.H. Stoltze Lumber in Columbia Falls. The mission? To learn more about a biomass energy project the mill is hoping to push forward.

It’s called the Woody Biomass Combined Heat and Power Project. It’s basically a facility that would us leftover wood projects to generate clean, renewable electric power for the Northwest.

Stoltze’s Vice President says it would create 13 new jobs, but also hold on to about 200 current jobs in the forest industry.

The lumber company needs about $54 million dollars to build the facility, but managers say the end results outweigh the initial investment. County Commissioners were there to back up the project.

“This is an instance where I would be wiling to take some risks, because I do think the economic vitality of the forest industry, which is vital for Flathead County, whether people know it, for lots of reasons depends on innovative thinking and use of the biomass that’s out there,” Flathead County Commissioner Joe Brenneman said.

After Stoltze, Senator Tester went on to the Flathead County Landfill to talk more renewable energy. He toured the Flathead Electric site that turns methane gas from the landfill into electric energy. As the trash rots, it produces gas containing methane. The methane is then captured, and used to generate renewable energy. Right now, the landfill’s “Gas-to-Energy Plant” creates enough power for about 900 homes, with the ability to expand.

“This may not be the first in the country, but it’s the first in Montana and I think that if people come here and look at this,it’s really impressive and we’re getting something from a resource that was a liability and make it into an asset,” Senator Tester said. “And that’s really what’s important and I think it’s one of those things that, if we can create a few jobs and make this country more energy independent, it’s a win win deal.”

While in the Flathead, Tester also met with Kalispell Mayor Tammi Fisher and spoke with the Kalispell Chamber of Commerce.

Maritsa Georgiou, KECI (TV) – http://www.keci.com/Senator-Tester-Spends-Presidents–Day-in-the-Flath/6365577

Wind tunnel breezes onto Portland State’s campus

A new wind tunnel at Portland State University could bolster the city’s green cache by bringing top-level researchers to the city.

The custom-designed wind tunnel is being constructed in Wisconsin and will be shipped to PSU in March. It will be installed in a first-floor lab of the school’s new engineering building, 1930 S.W. Fourth Ave.

The tunnel is generating excitement in Portland design circles. Sustainability advocates expect the $500,000 tunnel to encourage high-level research into wind energy.

Having a research-grade piece of equipment in Portland will be immensely helpful to architects and engineers, said John Breshears, associate partner with Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Architects.

ZGF designed rooftop wind turbines for downtown Portland’s Twelve|West office-and-apartment project for Gerding Edlen Development Co. The four wind turbines installed in 2009 were among the first to be placed in an urban setting in the U.S.

For that project, ZGF and its partners did their research at Oregon State University’s two wind tunnels. Bringing precision research equipment to Portland will encourage similar innovation.

“I don’t know that many universities or cities that have that level of research. It will enable us to do more of the kinds of research we need to do,” said Breshears, who said the firm is interested in researching wind patterns so it can install turbines at its other projects.

ZGF also is interested in using it to study green roofs, an increasingly popular feature in sustainable design. Little is known about how they interact with the environment.

NASA and the National Science Foundation are providing the initial funding to operate the equipment and direct research, though the school is looking for additional partners and projects.

Raúl Bayoán Cal, an assistant professor in PSU’s Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, leads the wind-tunnel project.

The effort is getting an assist from Oregon BEST, which has pledged to match any grants he secures and is linking him with industry, said David Kenney, president and executive director. The 2007 Legislature created the Oregon Built Environment & Sustainable Technologies Center to develop and promote Oregon’s green industry cluster.

Kenney said that as the North American home to wind energy leaders such as turbine manufacture Vestas-American Wind Technology Inc. and wind power provider Iberdrola Renewables, it’s important for Portland to gird its favorite new business sector with solid research capabilities.

“It’s a great connection,” he said.

The wind tunnel channels carefully controlled wind through a five-meter chamber where researchers duplicate the conditions they’re trying to study — temperature, pressure, ground configuration and so forth.

Lasers record how the air moves through the chamber.

Doctoral candidates will use it for high-level research, but it is also a teaching and recruitment tool to attract undergraduates and high school students to the hard sciences by giving them a hands-on experience.

“There’s nothing cooler than that,” he said.

It already has helped attract talent to Portland.

Max Gibson, a Ph.D. candidate studying under Cal, came to Portland from Mississippi by way of Canada. The wind tunnel, he said, is hugely attractive to students.

“This is going to put us on the map,” he said.

Wendy Culverwell, Portland Business Journal – http://portland.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2010/02/15/story7.html?b=1266210000^2877541

Plan for Shelton, WA biomass plant is great news for region

Plans are under way to build a $250 million biomass plant near the Shelton Airport with an objective of turning 600,000 tons of wood debris into enough electricity to power 40,000 homes.

A joint venture of Duke Energy and a global energy firm called Areva has a long, long way to go to get the plant off the ground, but it’s exciting to think about the potential to turn mounds of leftover logging debris — stumps and tree limbs — into electrical energy.

We’re a little surprised that company officials rolled out the project without firm contracts with timber companies for the woody debris or contracts with electrical companies to purchase the power generated from the biomass plant. But make no mistake, we’re excited at the possibility of a new source of alternative energy in South Sound.

Today, after a logging company moves through a stand of trees, the remaining woody debris is generally pushed into huge piles that are burned. So-called slash burns pollute the air and pose a serious health risk for individuals suffering from breathing problems. Slash burns are a terrible waste of natural resources. There’s increased pressure from regulatory agencies to reduce slash burning to protect air quality.

State lawmakers and Peter Goldmark, commissioner of public lands, recognized that fact, and are proceeding with a handful of pilot projects to turn logging debris into energy. The state is proceeding with those test projects, but the joint venture involved in the Shelton project is proceeding on its own and is not part of the Department of Natural Resources pilot project.

At the launch announcement in Olympia recently, officials said they hope to break ground by late this year on the power plant on Port of Shelton property near the airport.

The first order of business is to lock up contracts with suppliers of woody debris. “We’re contacting all the major landowners within 50 miles of the plant site,” said Reed Wills, president of the energy startup firm, Adage LLC.

One of the major timber companies in the Shelton area — Green Diamond Resource Co. — is in talks with Adage about supplying feedstock for the plant. “We’re very interested in a biomass plant in our community,” said Patti Case, public affairs manager for Green Diamond, which traces its linage to Simpson Timber Co., founded in 1890 by Solomon Simpson in the tiny town of Matlock.

Adage officials said the power plant would be built to produce 55 megawatts of electricity.

After suppliers are lined up, the next step is to garner environmental and land use approval, then enter into contracts with electrical suppliers willing to purchase the alternative power at competitive prices.

On the environmental front, Adage officials have had preliminary talks with officials at the Olympic Region Clean Air Agency that regulates emissions.

“We’ve had discussions with the company, but they haven’t applied yet for a permit,” said Fran McNair, executive director of the clean air agency. She said the equipment the company plans to use to control emissions appears to meet the agency’s emissions requirements because it is the best available technology.

Community and political leaders were quick to praise the woodwaste-to-energy plan because it’s expected to generate 700 direct and indirect jobs during the two-and-a-half year construction.

The daily operation would require about 100 employees collecting and transporting the woody debris with another couple dozen workers operating the plant.

“There’s a great labor force here — ready, willing and able to work,” said state Rep. Fred Finn, a Democrat whose district includes Mason County.

“This is part of the next chapter in the forest products industry,” said Mason County Commissioner Lynda Ring Erickson.

We would hope the energy company would have little trouble lining up contracts with public utility districts or other energy suppliers who need to add to their inventory of alternative energy sources.

Initiative 937, which was adopted by Washington voters in the 2006 general election, requires PUDs and electrical companies with more than 25,000 customers to focus on conservation and produce certain percentages of alternative energy by specific target dates. The Shelton plant will fill that requirement.

The plan to turn renewable natural resources into energy — energy that reduces both our dependence on foreign oil and reduces greenhouse gas emissions — is a real plus and should be embraced by the entire South Sound.

The Olympian – http://www.theolympian.com/opinion/story/1138259.html

Regulators seek comments on Ore. wave energy project February 13, 2010

Now’s your chance to learn more about a proposed wave energy project off Gardiner and comment about it to federal regulators.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has received a water permit application from the developers and the agency has opened a 30-day comment period. The deadline is March 10.

Reedsport OPT Wave Park has proposed constructing a 10-buoy array, with an underwater substation pod and transmission cable. Each buoy will have a 36-foot diameter, placed about 330 feet apart. They all would have about 200 gallons of hydraulic fluid, but spills are unlikely because of a double containment system.

OPT also will have a spill control and counter measure response plan.

Comments can be mailed to Merina Christoffersen, 1600 Executive Parkway, Suite 210, Eugene, OR, 97401-2156; e-mailed to 401publiccomments@deq.state.or.us, or faxed to (503) 229-6957.

The Army Corps will use comments to determine whether to hold a public hearing as well as whether to issue, modify, condition or deny a permit.

For more information, call (503) 229-6030 or toll free within Oregon at (800) 452-4011. A video demonstration of the project is available at the OPT Web site, www.oceanpowertechnologies.com/tech.htm

The World – http://www.theworldlink.com/articles/2010/02/12/news/from_staff_reports_85d.txt

Oregon House passes biomass energy bill February 11, 2010

Two energy-related bills moved from the Oregon House on Wednesday and went to the Senate.

House Bill 3674, which passed 60-0, allows some pre-1995 plants powered by biomass or municipal solid waste to be counted against Oregon’s goal of utilities obtaining 25 percent of their power from renewable sources by 2025. The bill also allows utilities to collect for steps toward development of hydrogen power stations.

The bill’s first part was a reworking of a 2009 bill vetoed by Gov. Ted Kulongoski, who said he is satisfied with the changes.

“The compromise legislation ensures this renewable energy resource continues to help the state reduce its carbon emissions while also maintaining Oregon’s aggressive renewable portfolio standard and improving the health of our forests,” he said in a statement.

House Bill 3675, which passed 59-1, makes technical changes to a 2009 state loan program for projects promoting energy efficiency, conservation and renewable energy.

Peter Wong, Statesman Journal – http://www.statesmanjournal.com/article/20100211/LEGISLATURE/2110339/1001/news

Bend Based Geothermal company ready to drill

Vulcan Power Co., a Bend-based geothermal energy company, expects to start construction on its first power plant within the year in Nevada.

The company was scheduled to start new drilling near Patua Hot Springs, east of Fernley, Nev., this week, with construction of a 60-megawatt power plant projected to begin in January, said Bob Warburton, Vulcan’s acting CEO.

Founded in 1991, Vulcan holds leases on about 170,000 acres of federal and private land in five states, giving it one of the largest portfolios of geothermal properties in the nation, according to the Geothermal Energy Association, an industry group.

A recent infusion of $108 million from Denham Capital, a private investment firm, will get the drilling started, Warburton said.

While it’s headquartered in Bend, Vulcan houses engineering and other operations in Reno and Fallon, Nev.

The company employs 49 people, but will be adding about 50 to 60 more to drilling crews over the next several months, Warburton said.

The company does not expect to add staff at the headquarters, located near Colorado and Columbia avenues.

Vulcan has several other projects in development, and in October, the company received a $3.8 million grant, which it must match, from the U.S. Energy Department to research methods for finding hidden geothermal reservoirs with potential to generate commercial power.

Fueled by government policies, geothermal energy development has soared in recent years.

After reporting no increase in geothermal electricity capacity from 2001 to 2004, the U.S. reported 3.5 percent growth in both 2007 and 2008, according to the Energy Department.

Last year, it grew 6 percent, with six geothermal plants coming online.

In 2009, geothermal accounted for about 2,800 construction-related jobs and 750 new full-time jobs, according to the Geothermal Energy Association.

“We feel very good about being in this market right now,” Warburton said.

Vulcan’s plans call for a second 60-megawatt geothermal plant at Patua, with additional 60-megawatt plants at three other sites in Nevada, the location for 85 percent of the company’s holdings.

Nevada, which has 21 operating geothermal power plants, has more projects in development than any other state, according to the association.

“It has become … a focal point for geothermal energy in the Western United States,” Warburton said.

Nevada and California increased their future requirements for renewable energy in 2009. The federal government started a loan program to fund innovative technology in geothermal and opened up other renewable energy financing, and the Bureau of Land Management has been selling geothermal leasing rights on federal land for several years.

Between June 2007 and November 2009, the agency sold leases on more than 723,000 acres in six Western states, reaping more than $73 million.

The BLM is currently conducting an environmental impact statement on a 127-acre site east of Fallon, where Vulcan proposes to build up to six 30-60 megawatt geothermal power plants. The review will also cover proposals by two other companies, one seeking to build a geothermal plant and the other requesting right of way for transmission lines.

“We think there’s a lot more there,” Warburton said. “We’ll find out as we continue drilling.”

Vulcan also has made sure it has customers for the power it expects to produce. It has contracts to supply power to two major utilities in California and Nevada and is presently negotiating a third contract, Warburton said. He could not name the company involved, but he expects negotiations to conclude in six to eight weeks.

Along with its lease holdings, Vulcan has branched into other aspects of geothermal exploration. It has a proprietary interest in software, started its own drilling company and has built its own crew to cement the wells, work previously done by a company out of Bakersfield, Calif.

Vulcan also has an application before the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada to erect a nearly 350-mile transmission line, which would start east of Reno and extend to Las Vegas, although Warburton said the proposal is on hold.

Right now, he said, Vulcan wants to concentrate on producing electricity.

“We prefer to utilize our capabilities to get our power plants built,” Warburton said.

Tim Doran, Bend Bulletin – http://www.bendbulletin.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100211/BIZ0102/2110365/-1/RSSNEWSMAP

Solar project forum Feb. 21 in Yakima

The public is invited to a presentation on forming a community solar project on Feb. 21 at Wesley United Methodist Church.

The featured speaker is Gary Nystedt, who created a successful community solar program for Ellensburg. He will share Ellensburg’s experience in setting up the nation’s first community solar project in 2006 and what steps Yakima would need to take to set up a similar project.

Ellensburg’s project has received attention from around the world. Community members invested in solar panels that were installed in a park near town. Investors get a return on their investment in clean energy through a credit on their electric bill.

Wesley United Methodist is at 14 N. 48th Ave. in Yakima. The presentation begins at 10:15 a.m.

Yakima Herald Republic – http://www.yakima-herald.com/stories/2010/02/10/solar-project-forum-feb-21-in-yakima

Despite possible suit, canola project continues in Ore. February 10, 2010

An economic development grant approved by Josephine County officials last year has hit a snag, but Commissioner Dave Toler said that the project remains worthwhile and has benefited the community.

The $85,000 grant was approved by the board of county commissioners on Jan. 13, 2009 by a 2-1 vote, with Sandi Cassanelli dissenting. It was awarded to the Josephine County Soil and Water Conservation District (JCSWCD), which was charged with administering the grant in cooperation with the Eugene-based firm, N.W. Seed Crushers.

At the time, it was hoped that canola could be grown by area farmers, which could then be crushed, with the resulting oil used for biofuels. The growing of canola is prohibited in Oregon’s Willamette Valley, but not in the southwest portion of the state.

However, the partnership between N.W. Seed Crushers and JCSWCD now appears to be dissolving, and could end up in litigation.

Toler addressed the issue during the Wednesday, Feb. 3 meeting of the Josephine County Renewable Energy Task Force, held at the courthouse in Grants Pass.

Only half of the grant allotment has been spent, Toler said, meaning that the other half is still available.

Toler touted certain aspects of the grant allocation. He said that more than 300 acres of canola have been planted throughout the county as a result, with several growers participating.

Kit Doyle has taken the lead on the project, Toler said, and has created partnerships with many growers. Doyle also has a waiting list of other growers hoping to become involved, Toler said.

A production facility for the crop may be established somewhere in the county soon, Toler said, adding that the Applegate Valley is becoming the local “epicenter” of canola growing.

Once the canola seed is crushed, around 70 percent of the product can be used as an agricultural feed product, Toler said, and the rest can be used as a biofuel.

He said that a new state mandate requires that 3 percent of the diesel consumed in Oregon come from renewable energy sources. There is currently an inadequate supply of such renewables in the state right now, he said, so it is being imported from Montana.

“This is definitely growing,” Toler said.

The grant was intended to stimulate the growth of biofuels crops, Toler said. Unless the commissioners vote to pull the remaining funding back, he said, it can go to a local contractor to continue the project.

“I think it will have a long-term impact in terms of agriculture,” Toler said. “With $43,000, we stimulated part of our agriculture sector. That’s great bang for our buck.”

Doyle will be scheduled to make a presentation to the commissioners sometime in mid-February about the canola project, Toler said.

Scott Jorgensen, Illionois Valley News – http://www.illinois-valley-news.com/archive/2010/02/10/canola/

Federal Biomass subsidies may get altered

U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio is seeking to have sawdust and wood shavings removed from a program that provides federal subsidies for biomass used to create energy.

In a letter to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, DeFazio said the subsidy program has resulted in mill by-products being sent to biofuel and pellet plants rather than to composite wood manufacturing plants.

With the subsidies, the value of sawdust and wood shavings has doubled, making them less valuable for manufacturing, DeFazio said. At the same time, it has driven up the cost for manufacturers needing those materials for their products.

Using taxpayer dollars to subsidize the transfer of biomass material currently used for higher-value products to lower-value processes goes against congressional intent, DeFazio said, and is having a devastating impact on the U.S. wood manufacturing industries.

His letter was also signed by Rep. Bob Latta, R-Ohio, and Rep. Travis Childers, D-Miss.

“Driving up input costs for the composite and wood manufacturing industries will negatively impact their ability to compete globally and could ultimately lead to the loss of thousands of jobs,” DeFazio wrote. “During a time of 10 percent national unemployment — with many state unemployment rates even higher — we can ill afford to lose additional family-wage, U.S. manufacturing jobs.”

The three congressmen asked the Department of Agriculture to temporarily freeze subsidies provided through the Farm Service Agency until the list of eligible materials excludes wood mill waste, scraps, sawdust, chips and shavings. They also asked Vilsack to ensure that finalized rules and regulations are in place before the program continues.

The wood manufacturing and composite industries support 21,000 family wage jobs, 350,000 indirect jobs and generate $7.9 billion in annual revenues, the letter said.

John Sowell, News Review – http://www.nrtoday.com/article/20100210/NEWS/100219999/1063/NEWS&ParentProfile=1055

Oregon Farmers examine biomass crops and power generation

Local farmers Monday were invited to be involved in the renewable energy field, not only as producers of a crop that could be turned into a fuel, but also as owners of the power generation facility that would burn the crop to produce electricity.

The question is “are we going to be in the driver’s seat?” Randon Wilson, an attorney who specializes in forming agriculture co-ops, said. “We have to decide where we are in charge.”

Wilson told the group, gathered at the Boulevard Grange near Ontario, as members of a proposed co-op for production of biomass crops, they could own the whole process from farm to processing to generation, or they could just do a portion of it. That would include producing the biomass crop that would be turned into fuel or producing the crop and the processing facility that would turn the crop into pellets.

It would take about five months to construct a processing plant to make the pellets, Wilson said. Construction of a power plant will take 18 to 24 months, Renewable Ag Energy Inc. President Kirk Christensen said.

The meeting was hosted by representatives of Renewable Ag Energy, Inc., an Ontario company assisting a group of local farmers, Agri Energy Producers, to bring a new crop to Malheur County.

While there is more than one crop that would produce the biomass, the co-op proponents were mainly discussing high biomass sorghum.

The high biomass crops would be planted in late May. Irrigation and fertilizer applications would be similar to corn. It would be harvested in September or October. Chopped green, it would be hauled to a conversion facility, where it would be stored, dried, cubed and shipped.

Harvesting, hauling and processing costs will be absorbed by the co-op, Christensen said.

“We’re not playing the fuel market,” Christensen said.

The farmers would be paid for growing the crop and participate in the profits from the conversion plan and profits from the generation facility, he said.

“We can’t survive on just what is produced on the farm,” Wilson said. “We need more bites. We have to take a look at energy.”

It was estimated the power plant would support 17 to 20 family-wage jobs, Christensen said.

Choices include full integration, wholly owned by the farmers, or partial integration, linked with other joint ventures or investors, Wilson said. But, it becomes difficult when you mix producers and investors, Wilson said, because eventually there are tensions between the two interests.

“We would like to get the jump on creating a state-wide co-op,” he said, adding that different groups of growers could act as separate divisions.

Such a large co-op would give the producers a lot of clout, Wilson said.

“There is a significant market,” he said.

Wilson, Christensen and others were also meeting with representatives from state agencies this week to discuss the permitting processes, land-use and other regulation issues.

Larry Meyer, Argus Observer – http://www.argusobserver.com/articles/2010/02/10/news/doc4b72f4004d160870392186.txt

Oregon House Approves Scaled-Back Green Tax Credits

Oregon lawmakers are trying again to scale back tax credits for renewable energy projects. Governor Ted Kulongoski vetoed their first attempt last year.

The Oregon House approved a new version of the bill Wednesday and this time, the governor’s on board. Chris Lehman reports.

The Business Energy Tax Credit has been around since the late 70’s but three years ago lawmakers sweetened the deal.

They wanted to entice more renewable energy companies to invest in the state.

In that sense, it worked. But it ended up giving away more than lawmakers expected.

This measure would cap the credit, and save the state an estimated $55 million in the current budget.

Republican Representative Vicki Berger says it was a case of unintended consequences.

Vicki Berger: “We are on the map in terms of this kind of technology, which is a very good thing. But we do need to be sensitive to the fact that it can run away with our budget.”

The bill required approval by a three-fifths majority since scaling back a credit is considered a tax increase.It passed 59-to-1.

Governor Kulongoski issued a statement saying he’d sign the bill if it clears the Senate.

Chris Lehman, OPB News – http://news.opb.org/article/6706-house-approves-scaled-back-green-tax-credits/

Conservation efforts will play key role in meeting Northwest’s energy needs

The Northwest should meet most of its electricity needs over the next two decades through extensive energy conservation efforts, and it’s going to take more than just changing light bulbs.

That’s the conclusion of a regional power blueprint the Northwest Power and Conservation Council that was unanimously approved Wednesday morning at council headquarters in dowmtown Portland. It focuses on the benefits of efficiency over building new power plants.

“For customers, it’s a good thing in that it’s very clearly saying the direction the region should go in terms of power supply is first and foremost energy efficiency,” said Bob Jerks, director of the Citizens’ Utility Board of Oregon.

The plan estimates about 85 percent of Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana’s new power demand over the next 20 years – about 5,900 megawatts – could be met through conservation, with the rest coming from new renewable power sources like wind, as well as natural gas power plants.

The council says finding additional power through efficiency will be far cheaper than developing new power generation, whether from renewable sources like wind or traditional fossil fuel power plants.

“That’s good for the climate, and it’s good for pocket books,” Jenks said.

Significantly, the council says the region does not need to build any new coal-fired plants to power our iPods, ovens and electric cars.

But while efficiency is cost effective, it’s not free. The council estimates spending would need to step up from a quarter of a billion to $1 billion a year by 2018 to accomplish its efficiency goal. Those expenditures would show up as part of customers’ electricity bills.

That and the ambitious scope of the plan led to some pushback from the region’s electric utilities.

“That money is going to come from ratepayers, and that puts upward pressure on rates,” said Michael Early, executive director of Industrial Customers of Northwest Utilities. “And that’s not something utilities want to do in this economic environment,” when demand for power is not growing.

Council members praised the plan Wednesday for taking into account a future that includes strict regulation on carbon dioxide emissions from coal and other traditional power sources.

“Because carbon penalties loom in one form or another and uncertainty about those penalties abounds, the region can see the day when carbon emissions must be reduced,” Melinda Eden, one of the two council members from Oregon, said following the vote.

The plan’s estimated 5,900 megawatts of conservation – the rough equivalent of the power-producing capacity of 10 coal plants like Portland General Electric’s Boardman facility – would come through things like homeowners increasing insulation at their homes and business refitting their buildings with power-saving lights, as well as more complex improvements to the grid that distributes power around the region.

Utilities will take the plan into account when setting their own strategies for meeting the future demand of their customers. More directly, council policy guides the Bonneville Power Administration, the federal agency that sells electricity from the region’s dams.

The council and Bonneville are charged with balancing power needs with protecting imperiled salmon, and critics of the power agency say the council’s analysis shows the region can do away with 4 of its 31 dams to help fish without jeopardizing its energy future.

The unanimous passage of the plan comes after years of debate between council members and input from utilities and citizens’ groups.

Following Wednesday’s vote, Terry Morgan, the council’s director of power planning, compared those deliberations to the television reality program Survivor.

There were victories and defeats, he said, “and some of us were almost voted off the island.”

John Killen, The Oregonian – http://www.oregonlive.com/environment/index.ssf/2010/02/conservation_efforts_will_play.html

NW power plan: No coal, only wind, gas, efficiency

The latest energy plan for the Pacific Northwest has been adopted with the goal of limiting greenhouse gas pollution by increased conservation and wind power development.

The Northwest Power and Conservation Council unanimously adopted the regional energy plan Wednesday at a meeting in Portland.

The plan covers Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana for the next 20 years. But the council revises it every five years to keep up with changes.

The new plan says most of the increased demand for electricity in the Northwest can be met with improved efficiency, conservation and wind power.

Associated Press – http://www.tri-cityherald.com/1154/story/895843.html

Wind farm complex in works 10 miles outside Othello, Wash.

Adams County’s first wind farm could give Othello a job boost.

Portland-based Horizon Wind Energy is working to build a $120 million wind complex about 10 miles southwest of Othello.

The Saddle Mountain Wind Farm’s 32 turbines would produce about 57 megawatts — enough to power about 17,100 homes annually, said Elon Hasson, project manager for Horizon Wind Energy.

The company recently received a conditional use permit from Adams County to build the project, but construction won’t start until it firms up a buyer for the power.

Loren Wiltse, Adams County building and planning director, said the project still needs to get building and construction permits, but the overall project has been approved.

The start of construction is at least a year out, Hasson said, but once its starts the work will take six to eight months and involve about 120 employees.

Othello City Administrator Ehman Sheldon said the construction will bring workers to Othello’s restaurants, gas stations and motels. “It will be a big boon to our economy here,” he said.

Once the wind farm is done, Horizon will need six to eight full-time employees to operate it, Hasson said.

State regional labor economist T. Baba Moussa said he doesn’t expect those jobs to have a large impact on the county as a whole. Adams County has about 5,380 non-farm jobs.

But Mike Bailey, Othello’s finance officer, said, “For us, everything helps.”

Bailey said Horizon Wind Energy’s presentation this week to the Othello City Council made him comfortable with the project.

He said it seems well engineered and the company appears to be doing what it can to minimize environmental impacts.

Horizon Wind Energy also built the Wild Horse Wind Farm in Ellensburg, which is now owned by Puget Sound Energy. And the company is working on a wind farm in Kittitas County and has three in Oregon.

Hasson said the Othello wind farm site, which is smaller than its other projects, was chosen to minimize harm to wildlife and the community.

The company worked with the state Department of Fish and Wildlife on a conservation plan for the sandhill cranes, he said.

Thousands of the birds use the area around Othello as a stopover while migrating from California to Alaska. The farm fields are rich in nutrients and attract the cranes, which hang around for a month or more.

The wind farm plan includes teaching people about wind turbines, siting the farm where it will least affect the cranes and collecting data on the birds during and after construction.

Sheldon said city officials have been told the wind farm will be visible from the city on a clear day.

Kristi Pihl, TriCity Herald – http://www.tri-cityherald.com/kennewick_pasco_richland/story/896160.html

Bend startup’s product Simplifying solar power installation February 9, 2010

A year ago, Bend solar-power startup AC Solar Technology did not even exist.

Last week, CEO Glenn Harris presented his company’s product, a solar module, to industry representatives from the United States, France and Switzerland at a startup conference in San Francisco.

And this week, AC Solar Technology expects to receive its ETL Listed Mark, which shows the modules meet Underwriters Laboratory safety standards, and which will allow the company to start production.

AC Solar Technology’s Blue Leaf 210W AC module, which is essentially a small solar electrical system, has the potential to open up the solar market to small commercial and residential users, Harris said. It simplifies solar power installation.

Photovoltaic systems produce DC, or direct current. Most electrical appliances in a home use AC, or alternating current. So most solar systems need wires that lead from the solar panels to an inverter, which converts direct current into alternating current. The wires continue from the inverter to the building’s electrical system.

The Blue Leaf module essentially removes the direct current portion. It has no DC wiring or components and uses AC from the modules to the power grid, according to a company news release. It has a single AC line leading from the inverter on the back panel. It’s like an extension cord, Harris said.

“We think the market is going to like a little 200 watt solar system,” he said. “That’s not something that’s been done before.”

Removing the DC part of the equation also simplifies installation for electricians, he said.

Costs for solar electric systems can vary, depending on the size, the system rating, installer and other factors, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. On average, the costs run $8 to $10 per watt, before rebates or tax credits.

Harris estimates a Blue Leaf module, which measures about 5 feet by 3 feet, will cost $5 per watt installed, or about $1,500, after rebates and credits.

Before his work with AC Solar Technology, Harris worked for Bend-based PV Powered, which makes inverters, both as its president and also a consultant. He also served as CEO of SunCentric, a Grants Pass company that provides a variety of services for solar power firms.

Harris does not believe AC Solar will compete with PV Powered, at least not directly. PV Powered does not make small-sized inverters or modules, he said.

Founded in the middle of last year, Harris said AC Solar Technology does not have a real office.

But it’s looking to get one.

With its certification in hand, the company will be able to start manufacturing, first at a temporary location, he said. AC Solar, which expects to employ about 150 workers by the end of its third year, also has been seeking a permanent site, but Harris said he’s not optimistic it will be in Oregon.

The climate in the state has become uncertain with the debate over the Business Energy Tax Credit, sparked after its estimated $4 million cost expanded to $167 million in lost revenues .

Harris understands, he said, how that leaves lawmakers to make tough decisions, balancing the state’s need for tax revenue with its desire to encourage renewable energy.

Other criteria also factor into the decision on where to locate, Harris said, not just government incentives. Along with Oregon, he said, other states in the running are Arizona, Delaware and Michigan.

Arizona, with its abundant sunshine, major population centers and transportation infrastructure, is attractive, Harris said. In one morning in Phoenix, he saw about 10 buildings and 1 million square feet of real estate.

“Some of the other states are chomping at the bit,” he said.

Harris expanded on his company’s product and market in an interview with The Bulletin.

Q: What makes your product different?

A: The new technology is the box on the back. It takes the DC power right at the back and turns it into … AC. You could put one on your back fence. … You could put one on your roof and wire it right into a 110 (volt line). It’s just three regular wires going into your fuse box. You could walk into Costco and buy this thing. Basically, you enable everybody.

Q: Where does it fit within the solar power market.

A: (It has the) potential to open up lots of different markets. Our interest is expanding the residential market. (It’s a) market expansion device.

Q: Where is AC Solar Technology located presently?

A: We don’t have official offices at the moment. We’re looking for a place to call home. It’s time to put the stake in the ground. We’re going to build the modules. I think we’re pretty well ready to start manufacturing. The question will be where.

Q: What are the considerations?

A: It’s really not a competition, per se. It’s not like they walk in and hand you a check and say thanks for being here. It really comes down to: Is it a great place to build? How’s the transportation system? What the state does is icing on the cake.

Tim Doran, Bend Bulletin – http://www.bendbulletin.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100209/BIZ0102/2090373/1002/NEWS01&nav_category=NEWS01

Portland Based Element Power acquires 1.4GW in wind assets

Element Power announced Tuesday that it picked up a 1.4 gigawatt portfolio of U.S.-based wind development assets from EcoEnergy for an undisclosed price.

The acquisition is part of Portland-based Element Power’s strategy to build its North American portfolio.

“By adopting a targeted and highly selective project acquisition strategy in key markets, we have created excellent 2010 and 2011 build opportunities in both solar and wind,” said Element Power’s president and COO for North America, Raimund Grube in a statement.

Element now has nearly 4 gigawatts in wind and solar assets in more than 25 states. Element also has operating and development-stage wind and solar assets in Europe and South America.

Portland Business Journal – http://portland.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2010/02/08/daily18.html

ProjectDX acquired by Renewable Funding

Renewable Funding, which finances clean energy projects, has purchased ProjectDX, a technology company that automates processes for governments seeking to increase participation in local sustainability programs.

The terms of the sale were not disclosed.

All Portland-based ProjectDX staff, business and technology will be absorbed by Oakland, Calif.-based Renewable Funding.

ProjectDX is an online property of Transformative Sustainable Solutions Inc., an Oregon corporation founded in 2007 by Portland-based professional and civil engineering firm David Evans Enterprises Inc.

Renewable Funding will use ProjectDX’s online services for education, awareness, and community-building in conjunction with its financing program. ProjectDX also brings with it an extensive GIS database and analytical systems help property owners make cost-effective choices about energy efficiency, water conservation and renewable energy improvements.

Project DX is already working with a number of communities across the country, including Portland, Seattle, Sonoma County, Calif., and Baltimore.

Renewable Funding, led by Cisco DeVries, grew out of a popular public funding program for renewable energy that launched in Berkeley, Calif. The Berkeley FIRST program set up a bond-financed Property-Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) district, allowing residents to borrow from the district to finance solar installations and pay that loan back on their property tax bill over 20 years. The concept has taken off across the country and expanded to energy efficiency and water conservation. So far 16 states and hundreds of cities are starting their own programs.

The technology created by ProjectDX allows property owners to integrate renewable energy project planning with a marketplace of qualified vendors, online financing applications, and back-office support for program administrators. Renewable Funding and ProjectDX partnered on San Francisco’s Sustainable Financing energy efficiency and water conservation program, which is scheduled to launch in early 2010 and will be financed and administered through Renewable Funding.

Portland Business Journal – http://portland.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2010/02/08/daily19.html

PSE expanding renewable energy grant program

Puget Sound Energy’s work in bringing renewable energy demonstration systems to Washington state schools is expanding its reach this year. Monday, Feb. 8, the utility opened the application period for schools and, new to the program this year, select institutions that educate the public about renewable energy and the environment, to apply for a small scale solar array or wind turbine grant.

Between $5,000 and $20,000 in funding will be available for renewable energy demonstration systems ranging from 900 watts to 2 kilowatts to be installed in 2010.

PSE’s Renewable Energy Education (formerly the Solar Schools Program) and voluntary Green Power programs have already funded 20 educational solar power projects in the Puget Sound region in the last six years. The programs promote understanding and acceptance of renewable energy technologies and expand the range of options available to local educators, students, families and communities in PSE’s nine county electric service area.

Three new features to the 2010 Renewable Energy Education Program have been added:

All institutions with a renewable energy education focus are now eligible to apply, previously the program had only been open to school districts with Resource Conservation Managers.

Applicants will be required to have utilized a PSE energy efficiency program in the past 36 months.

An electronic application is available for online submittal, applications can be found on PSE’s Web site at: www.pse.com/community/educationalprograms/Pages/SolarSchools.aspx

Successful applicants will receive grants to fund renewable energy education demonstration projects at their educational facility. The grant will provide supplemental funds or in approximately four cases cover the entire cost of a renewable energy demonstration system.

In addition to the rooftop-mounted solar panels or wind turbines, the grants support Web based monitoring software that allows students and interested community members to track how much energy is being generated as the weather changes. Also provided are educational materials and support including science teacher training, classroom activity guides and renewable energy science kits.

Small-scale renewable energy demonstration systems require no fuel and minimal maintenance while generating enough power, on average to operate 10 to 20 notebook computers, each consuming 33 watts for eight hours a day. The wind and solar equipment has a typical system lifespan of 20 or more years.

Schools and education institutions qualifying for the grant will submit plans detailing their educational goals and objectives for a solar or wind demonstration project. All proposals must be received by PSE no later than 5 p.m. on March 22, 2010.

In 2009, Puget Sound-area schools received more than $110,000 in grants for the installation of solar systems:

• Green River Community College, Auburn

• Liberty High School, Renton

• Hazen High School, Renton

• Coupeville Middle and High School, Whidbey Island

Since 2004, PSE has funded the installation of other systems at Redmond High School, Port Townsend High School, the Bellingham Environmental Learning Center, Depot Market Square in Bellingham, the Puget Sound Electrical Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee’s Training Center in Renton, the Issaquah Salmon Hatchery, Western Washington University in Bellingham, the Institute for Environmental Research and Education, JG Commons Building and Vashon Household building all on Vashon Island, Thomas Jefferson High School in Federal Way, Marshall and Washington Middle Schools in Olympia, Interlake High School in Bellevue, South Whidbey High School and Sakai Intermediate School on Bainbridge Island.

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For more information, visit www.PSE.com.

Auburn Reporter – http://www.pnwlocalnews.com/south_king/aub/business/83910027.html

Bozeman company proposes solution to wind’s variability February 8, 2010

Carl Borgquist’s vision started with a whiteboard and a marker in his hands.

Five years later, the president of the Bozeman-based Grasslands Renewable Energy still flourishes a marker and sketches on the whiteboard to illustrate his plan for wind power in the Northern Plains.

Borgquist doesn’t build wind farms, rather he’s got a plan for collecting and transmitting wind power. Ultimately, he hopes to gather enough wind-generated electricity to equal the output of Hoover Dam, or two coal-fired power plants at Colstrip.

Borgquist refers to Grassland’s Wind Spirit Project as part of the theorized “smart grid.” What makes it “smart” is that it could solve the inherent problem of wind’s variability.

Should Borgquist’s vision come to fruition, he and his team at Grasslands are looking to build a system that will gather renewable energy from Montana, North Dakota and Canada and export a dependable 1,000 megawatts to markets in the Southwest and Northwest.

Grasslands has set a target date of 2017 for full build-out.

The project would involve roughly 1,300 miles of collector transmission lines, mostly in Montana, and a novel energy storage system. The two components together could cost $4 billion.

Add on the related wind farms and trunk transmission, which are not part of Grasslands’ project, and the entire package is likely to run in the $12 billion to $15 billion range.

“We have to do this big,” he said. “There’s no mileage in doing this small.”

Yet, Borgquist’s venture started small, literally “on a whiteboard.”

A tax attorney by training, with stints as a district attorney and U.S. Naval Judge Advocate in California, he was lured into the world of transmission while working with a client interested in developing a wind farm.

Borgquist knew that lack of transmission was the bottleneck that prevented the state from developing its plentiful wind resource. He saw the deficiency as a problem that needed fixing.

“Putting the wires in is not the sexy part of this,” he said. “But the way we move power is key. We need to get that figured out.”

Wind power, however, poses another drawback. Even if transmission were available, the erratic nature of wind threatens its economic feasibility.

Wind farm network

Even before Grasslands Renewable came into existence, Borgquist and founding group Absaroka Energy LLC were testing ideas. (Absaroka Energy later partnered with the Calgary-based Rocky Mountain Power to form Grasslands.)

By tracking wind at a variety of locations, they discovered that they could tap different wind sources to modify the peaks and valleys associated with individual wind farms. When wind was dead in Dickenson, N.D., for example, a gale could be blowing in Cut Bank, he said.

They postulated that, by packaging wind from several wind farms, the reliability of the resource would be enhanced.

Though the model proved promising, the data still failed to achieve the team’s desired result: to make wind power as reliable as a coal-fired power plant.

To approach their goal, they added a virtual 600-megawatt pump storage facility to the model.

The proposed closed-loop pump storage facility, which is planned for a site in central Montana, would consist of two large reservoirs of water, one of them 1,000 vertical feet higher than the other.

When wind blows in excess, the extra energy is used to pump water from the lower to the upper reservoir. When the wind dies down, water is released from the upper reservoir, creating hydropower for the grid.

“It’s like a big battery,” Borgquist said. “It’s clean and it’s environmentally friendly.”

The size of the reservoirs determines the hours of reliability, he said, and the vertical distance between the reservoirs determines the amount of energy that can be stored.

Though the concept is not uncommon in Europe, he said, the United States has only one utility-scale pump storage facility, built several decades ago in Virginia.

Lacing up the grids

As Grasslands refined its concept, the company drew the attention of Elecnor, a Spanish company that specializes in energy projects around the globe.

Founded in 1958, Elecnor employs nearly 5,000 people and saw $2.69 billion in sales in 2008.

“Elecnor found us, tracked us down,” Borgquist said, noting that the two companies are working on a deal that gives Elecnor the option to buy half of Grasslands.

Over the past few years, Borgquist and his expanding team have directed their efforts to all aspects of the project, from generation to delivery. He firmly believes the success of the Wind Spirit Project depends on coordinating all of the pieces together in one package.

As proposed, Grasslands’ large collection system would serve the eastern half of Montana and north-central Montana, with spurs branching out into Canada, North Dakota and possibly Wyoming.

The North Dakota line, a high-voltage 500 kilowatt direct current line, would cross from the Western Electricity Coordinating Council grid to the Midwest Reliability Organization grid, thus opening a new market for Montana wind and bringing additional reliability to the entire system, he said.

Once “lassoed” together, the power from many wind farms would be shipped to hubs planned for Toston and Harlowton. From there, trunk transmission lines such as the Mountain States Transmission Tie and TransCanada’s Chinook project, now in different stages of development, would move the electricity to population centers along the West Coast and in the desert Southwest.

“There’s no load to service in Montana,” Borgquist said, explaining why the power would go out of state.

“Montana will grow, but it won’t grow consistently with the amount of resource we have to develop,” he said.

Ready for FERC

With its feasibility study complete, its preliminary permit filed for the pump storage facility and its application set to go out to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in the next week or so, Grasslands is ready to introduce the project to a broader audience.

So far, Borgquist said, Grasslands has talked to 60 renewable energy developers, most working on wind projects. Already, they’ve completed initial agreements with seven of them and look forward to working with others.

Simultaneously, they’re poised to begin talks with landowners regarding right-of-way for the proposed collector line. Environmental analysis of transmission siting is also on the to-do list.

“We haven’t crystallized the map,” Borgquist said. “We’re still looking for resources to connect and ways to connect into the grid.”

Linda Halstead-Acharya, Billings Gazzette – http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/montana/article_056320b6-1462-11df-a965-001cc4c002e0.html

Idaho Power plans more generation from wind

Idaho Power’s new plan for meeting anticipated customer energy needs for the next two decades shows the utility’s energy portfolio will grow increasingly diverse with a heightened emphasis on renewable sources.

Idaho Power filed its integrated resource plan for 2009 with the Idaho Public Utilities Commission in December.

// Wind energy is slated to become an increasingly substantial energy source for Idaho Power. Spokeswoman Stephanie McCurdy said the utility put out a request for proposals in May seeking 150 megawatts of wind power generation.

Now, Idaho Power has 192 megawatts of wind capacity in its system, and by 2012, McCurdy said the company expects to have more than 600 megawatts of wind power.

To ensure a stable power source at times when wind power wanes, Idaho Power plans to build a natural gas combined cycle combustion turbine capable of producing 300 megawatts of power, called the Langley Gulch plant, in Payette County. Construction on the project is scheduled to start this August, and the plant should be on line by July 2012.

Idaho Power’s plan also calls for 40 megawatts of geothermal power — about 20 megawatts of that total are part of a contract that’s awaiting approval by the IPUC.

The plan is updated every two years with input from Idaho Power’s Integrated Resource Plan Advisory Council, made of members from the general public, the government sector and environmental stakeholders.

The plan also outlines the company’s steps to promote energy efficiency. McCurdy noted Idaho Power has 17 energy efficiency programs and two educational initiatives pertaining to energy efficiency.

One is a credit of $7 per month for customers who allow Idaho Power to install devices on their air conditioners that cycle off air conditioning at peak hours.

Customers are free to share their opinions about the utility’s future plans or ask questions about the plan by emailing  irp@idahopower.com, but the public comment will not affect the 2009 integrated resource plan.

John O’Connell, Idaho State Journal – http://www.idahopress.com/news/?id=29870

Clean energy backers tout jobs at Tri-City conference

The expansion of clean energy represents the next major source of economic development and job growth in Washington, and the Tri-Cities is at the epicenter, a Washington congressman said Sunday.

Rep. Jay Inslee, D-Wash., told attendees during the opening day of the 10th Harvesting Clean Energy Conference that more than 11,000 jobs in the state are associated with the production of clean energy — including hydro, wind, solar, nuclear, biomass and more.

The goal of the conference, which runs through Tuesday at the Three Rivers Convention Center in Kennewick, is to promote rural economic development in the Northwest through clean energy development and production, organizers said.

And passage of energy legislation by Congress this year will help spur creation of even more jobs, said Inslee, a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

Agriculture and the development of the aerospace and software industries represented the first three waves of job creation in the state, with clean energy technology the newest rung, he said.

“The Tri-Cities is perfectly positioned for the next great wave of technological development,” Inslee said, citing in particular electrical generation work by Energy Northwest and solar technology by Infinia Corp. of Kennewick.

The House already has passed an energy bill. In the Senate, Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and John Kerry, D-Mass., are developing bipartisan energy legislation, Inslee said.

Approval of energy legislation is crucial, Inslee said, and not only for job growth and climate protection. America also is in a research and development race with China to create clean energy technology.

“They have made the decision they want to dominate the clean energy industrial base in the next 10 years,” Inslee said.

Conference workshops Sunday included sessions on hydropower, tapping the resources available to farms and rural communities from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the promise of biochar — charcoal prepared from biomass that is used to generate energy and improve the productivity of soil.

In agriculture and industry, electric vehicles quietly are becoming more commonplace because they don’t pollute and have lower long-term maintenance costs.

There are plug-in electric buses and hybrid school buses, short-haul trucks, tractors, forklifts used in agricultural warehouses and an electric utility vehicle — similar to an ATV — made by an Oregon-based company.

The electric utility vehicle made by Barefoot Motors of Ashland is being used by ranchers and those involved in vineyards and orchards, electric utilities and forestry companies, among others, because of its workload capacity, low energy and maintenance costs and quiet operation, said Barefoot’s Bob Acheson.

Electric vehicles, however, tend to be expensive because of the cost of lead-acid or lithium-ion batteries.

Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory are working to improve battery technology, said Tim Murphy, who is involved with the lab’s advanced vehicle testing effort.

“The potential payoffs for cost-effective batteries are huge for us,” Murphy said. “I look at it as a real energy, security and quality of life issue.”

Conference workshops today will include sessions on biomass, wind power, Smart Grid technologies and generating energy from food processing waste.

Richard Wynne, director of geopolitical and policy analysis for Boeing, will give the keynote address this morning on agriculture’s potential role in developing renewable energy sources for aviation.

Kevin McCullen, TriCity Herald – http://www.tri-cityherald.com/kennewick_pasco_richland/story/893449.html

Oregon Wind power entrepreneur readies turbine for market February 7, 2010

After three years in development, a sullied business partnership and a significant financial set back, a Coquille woman’s invention — a roof-mounted appliance that generates electricity from wind — will soon reach the market.

Mary Geddry, CEO of Coquille-based Rogue River Winds, said the ultra-efficient, low-profile, sturdy wind turbine with a built-in generator called the V-LIM, is generating interest.

She’s gearing up production. But don’t expect any local manufacturing jobs to spin out of it — at least not anytime soon.

“There just isn’t the infrastructure in Coos County at this time,” she said.

After attempts to get the V-LIM off the ground locally failed, Geddry relocated the project to Portland where a prototype was in the works, before she again relocated it to Cottage Grove where it was completed and may be manufactured.

She said some manufacturers in Alaska and the East Coast have expressed interest in producing it, as well.

So what is it exactly?

Owners of industrial and commercial facilities who want to scale back energy usage can affix the V-LIM atop roofs — where wind velocity is greatest — to generate power to pump back into the grid.

The V-LIM is said to be more efficient than traditional wind turbines in that it produces electricity in winds ranging from light breezes to Class 2 hurricanes, is silent and vibration free even in gusts up to 100 miles per hour. As wind speed increases, so does the turbine’s power output.

It has rapid response steering foils to direct the turbine to face oncoming wind, according to a press release.

It’s about three meters in diameter and is designed for commercial and industrial use.

The unit costs between $125,000 to $150,000.

The price could be split.

If several large facilities within proximity of each other purchase one, they could share the cost savings.

“Our goal actually is to implement them into a microgrid, because that is the most cost effective way to purchase and provide power,” Geddry said.

The V-LIM produces 25 kilowatts on average during wind bursts. Peak energy users can expect a return on investment, in consistently blustery regions, in about three years, Geddry said.

The product has garnered interest from a local nonprofit seeking a new location with plans for a energy-efficient facility.

“We’ve been following her project,” said Patricia Gouveia, director of energy services at Oregon Coast Community Action. “Primarily, we want to develop a sustainable campus and support Coos County businesses, so it seemed like a good match if we can make it happen.”

“For a nonprofit,” she added, “if we can get to the point where we can pay our own energy costs, that’s a huge savings for us.”

Gouveia said they’d seek grant money to fund a project.

From concept to finished product was bumpy road. Geddry had hopes originally to design and manufacture the units locally, creating jobs. But a business partnership with a local entrepreneur fell apart.

“It just wasn’t getting done,” she said of the project. “It wasn’t getting finished and I had to get it finished.”

According to Geddry, every part manufactured here had to be replaced. The turbine has been re-engineered completely, which tripled her original cost projection.

She said the move to Portland was necessary to stay within a budget and timeline.

Geddry, who crafted the unit’s aerodynamic design, recruited brain power from Portland State University to upgrade the efficiency of the mechanism with a high-bandwidth generator.

Electrical engineer and Coos County resident Dr. Stanley Marquiss came on board to design a “plug-in-play” feature, which allows the appliance to configure itself into a facility’s energy system automatically once it’s installed.

Before the V-LIM can officially go on the market, it needs to be certified with the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energies Laboratory, a process that could take about six months. In the meantime, Geddry hopes to begin production to meet demand — which may come from the U.S. Department of Defense.

All military bases, Geddry said, must produce 25 percent of energy from alternative sources, such as wind, by 2025.

Talks with the DOD are preliminary at this point, she said, but supplying the government agency with the V-LIM has potential.

“It appears that they would be one of our biggest markets,” she said.

Nate Traylor, The World – http://www.theworldlink.com/articles/2010/02/06/business/winds_of_change_731.txt

Oregon Bill would classify burning garbage as renewable poweron

Garbage — it’s generated day after day, in ever increasing amounts, and Marion County wants it considered a renewable resource.

Under a bill being considered this session, the electricity created when the Brooks incinerator burns garbage would be classified as renewable.

It puts burning garbage for electricity in Marion County on par with turning turbines on a wind farm and capturing the sun’s power with solar panels.

The designation is coveted because Oregon requires 25 percent of the state’s energy to come from renewable resources by 2025.

“We want the classification in four more years when we have to go out and market the energy we get from garbage in the county,” said Marion County Commissioner Sam Brentano. “I am banking that we will be able to sell it at a premium.”

Even though renewable energy advocates support the bill, they say that the inclusion of municipal solid waste is misguided.

“Just because we have a lot of garbage and we will continue to have a lot of garbage does not make it a renewable resource,” said Jeff Bissonette, a spokesman for the Citizens’ Utility Board of Oregon. “When we talk about renewable energy, we are usually talking about a fuel source that is naturally occurring and unlimited. If you think about wind, wind happens by itself, and the wind is going to blow long after we are on this planet.”

While not specifically named in the bill, the Covanta garbage incinerator at Brooks likely will be the only beneficiary of the bill’s solid-waste language.

The municipal solid waste language was included in the bill at the request of Senate President Peter Courtney, D-Salem.

Courtney said it is typical to include municipal solid waste in renewable energy legislation that covers biomass, including wood waste.

Courtney’s adviser Phil Bentley said the waste-to-energy industry in Oregon is still in its infancy and that this legislation is not likely to create a rush in facility construction.

Courtney said the “significant restrictions” on a facility such as Covanta’s eases any concerns he has — particularly regarding air quality.

Covanta officials count more than 20 states that define municipal solid waste as renewable.

Of seven western states that also have a renewable energy standard, five states specifically exclude garbage burning, said Kip Pheil, a senior policy analyst with the Oregon Department of Energy.

Nevada allows it but doesn’t have any such facilities.

California’s law excludes municipal solid waste except for electricity generated from a single facility.

House Bill 3674 also allows the burning of wood waste to meet the state’s renewable energy goals.

The caveat is that the electricity generated from garbage or wood waste can’t be considered renewable until 2026 — a year after utilities must have25 percent of their energy from sources such as wind, solar and wave.

It’s still a boon to the Covanta garbage burner and wood waste facilities because utilities will have to maintain that 25 percent renewable energy load in the face of increasing electricity needs and population growth.

Utilities can “bank” the renewable energy as early as 2011 by purchasing a renewable energy certificate for the electricity.

The legislation is a revision of a 2009 bill that the governor vetoed last summer.

Renewable energy advocates and the governor are satisfied with the revised bill because it still means that about 1,800 average megawatts of new renewable energy — from traditional sources such as wind — will be developed for Oregon.

Beth Casper, Statesman Journal – http://www.statesmanjournal.com/article/20100206/GREEN/2060328/1001/NEWS

Oregon’s Steens Mountain could soon have wind farms

Ruggedly beautiful Steens Mountain stands in an area of southeast Oregon so isolated that it’s barely changed since cattle king Pete French arrived in the late 1800s.

Coyotes yelp at sundown. Drivers are so few that they wave to each other as they pass. Campers, hunters and bird-watchers trek from across the state to breathe in the majestic emptiness and to gaze from the Steens summit across a seemingly endless tapestry of high desert and open range.

But soon, the scenery will change.

Harney County has cleared Columbia Energy Partners of Vancouver to build a wind farm on the mountain’s north slope. By year’s end, 415-foot turbines could start rising from the juniper and sagebrush, among thousands of towers that developers are stampeding to build across eastern Oregon.

In addition, Columbia Energy has two more wind projects in the works for the Steens slope, plus another for Riddle Mountain to the northeast. A Houston company is scouting 18,000 acres to the south for a wind farm in the Pueblo Mountains, and more could follow.

“There are a number of sites being prospected by developers,” said John Audley of Portland’s Renewable Northwest Project, a coalition of companies and groups that promotes renewable-energy projects. “These prospectors are like old gold miners.”

Aside from wind farms, thousands of acres on Steens Mountain are open to homebuilding.

“We counted over 90 sites that you could come in tomorrow and make application to put homes on,” said Steve Grasty, chairman of the Harney County commissioners. One landowner won clearance to build hundreds of homes near the Steens’ Fish Lake.

But while some environmentalists are dismayed by the prospect of development on Steens Mountain — even if it’s green-friendly wind turbines — county officials are thrilled.

“We have an opportunity to put a $1.25 billion investment into this community,” said Grasty, referring to the value of Columbia Energy’s four wind projects and an accompanying transmission line.

“Holy mackerel, and it is an environmentally sensitive way to do it.”

To outsiders, it may seem unthinkable to build on the flank of an Oregon treasure. But to Harney County, it’s simple math.

A century after the close of the Western frontier, the county retains its gun-rack rawness. Residents are self-reliant, a necessity in a county bigger than nine states but with just 7,700 residents.

But the economy, long struggling, has been trampled in the recent recession. December’s jobless rate nudged 18 percent (compared with 11 percent statewide), not far from 1980’s record 21.8 percent, said Jason Yohannan, a state labor economist in La Grande.

The demise of RV-maker Monaco Coach in 2008-09 left Harney County with no manufacturing, Yohannan said, a change from the late 1970s when more than 1,000 residents worked as loggers or in the old Edward Hines Lumber Co. sawmill.

Columbia Energy unfurls the promise of a new industry — and jobs: 150 during an estimated four years of construction, plus 50 to 75 for maintenance after that, said Chris Crowley, Columbia Energy’s president.

Audley said that’s hard to pass up. “There hasn’t been a significant economic investment in Harney County in a long time,” he said. “For better or worse, this is the only industry I know of that’s investing (an average of) $700 million (per wind project) in rural Oregon.”

Grasty said he’s not worried about losing tourism because of the wind turbines. County tourism has grown only 5 percent in 20 years, he said, and the wind farms will be contained.

“They are islands of private property in a sea of public land,” he said.

So far, only Columbia Energy’s first wind farm has been approved: the $300 million Echanis Wind Project, with 40 to 60 wind turbines across 10,000 acres. It’s expected to produce 104 megawatts, enough to power some 30,000 homes.
The project hinges on U.S. Bureau of Land Management approval of the transmission line, which has two possible configurations: a 29-mile line possibly paralleling an existing line that crosses the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge just northwest of Steens Mountain, and a 46-mile line across mostly private land. Crowley expects to gain approval in the fall and launch construction on Echanis soon after.

Columbia Energy recently shelved its West Ridge and East Ridge wind projects headed for the Steens’ north flank, in the face of opposition from the Audubon Society of Portland and the Oregon Natural Desert Association in Bend.

Liz Nysson, spokeswoman for the desert association, said visitors will be appalled to find “industrial-scale wind development” on the slopes of Steens Mountain. The Echanis project, she said, also will be built on habitat for falcons, golden eagles and sage grouse, which is being considered for federal protection under the Endangered Species Act.

Bob Sallinger, the Portland Audubon Society’s conservation director, called the area “an incredibly valuable landscape from a wildlife standpoint.”

“We have a gold-rush mentality in this state about wind,” he said. “We could look back in 10 or 15 years and wish we had done it differently and more thoughtfully.”

Both groups also accuse Columbia Energy of dividing the Steens projects into three pieces of about 104 megawatts each to skirt the state scrutiny that kicks in for projects of 105 megawatts or more.

But Crowley insisted the projects are legitimately separate: “They are on separate pieces of property. They will have separate substations. They will have separate financing.”

He also said Columbia Energy won’t sit on the West and East Ridge projects for long. The company expects to begin construction on one in 2012 and the other in 2013, when it also plans to launch construction on the Riddle Mountain project. All three will be about the same size as Echanis.

Crowley marveled at the area’s wind power. During a 24-hour test Jan. 10, the company clocked an average wind speed on the Steens’ north side of 41 mph.

“There is nowhere else with a resource like this in Oregon,” he said.

Cattle rancher Hoyt Wilson, meanwhile, has mixed feelings about his decision to lease land to Columbia Energy for the Echanis project.

“It’s not something I’m looking forward to,” said Wilson, 67, as he stood in a chilly breeze last week outside the shop and office for his 28,000-acre Mann Lake Ranch.

He remembers when cattle ranching was lucrative. “It used to be a lot of fun to ranch,” he said. “All you had to worry about was Mother Nature.”

But environmental lawsuits have forced the BLM to cut back on the number of cattle and amount of time they can graze on federal lands, pinching him and other ranchers, he said.

“It does you no good if you can run 1,000 cows on your own land for nine months, but you can only run 500 on BLM land for three months,” Wilson said. In other words, what happens to the other 500 cattle? Cows need so much room to graze, that even ranchers with significant land holdings rely on leasing federal lands for part of the year.

Wilson also worried that, after he and his wife die, his son and two daughters wouldn’t be able to afford the taxes on a property worth $4 million but generating no more than $60,000 a year in revenue.

The Columbia Energy deal will enable the family to keep the ranch intact and in the family. In exchange for a 20-year lease, he’ll receive a percentage of the gross sales from the wind farm’s output — about $5,000 to $7,000 a year per turbine.

“Windmills came along,” he said, “and, yeah, that is the way to make a buck.”

The economy comes into play for housing development as well. Under Measure 37, passed by voters in 2004 (and later scaled back by Measure 49), landowners could seek to develop their land under the rules in place at the time of purchase, or be compensated by county government for their economic loss.

But in Harney County, compensation is all but out of the question.

In 2007, for example, landowner Dan Jordan of Burns won the right under Measure 37 to build 640 homes below Fish Lake, a popular recreation site on Steens Mountain’s west side, after the county concluded it could hardly afford to pay him $6.4 million. Grasty said those plans were later scaled way back, and so far, Jordan hasn’t built anything.

Still, those who love the Steens’ open vistas and assume that the mountain is protected as wilderness might be surprised to learn how much of it rests in private hands.

The BLM manages 428,000 acres, including the 170,000-acre Steens Mountain Wilderness Area, and the state administers 1,000 acres. But an additional 67,000 acres on and around the mountain are privately owned, and most of that is at low elevation suitable for homes.

The county’s land-use plan allows ranch or farm dwellings on tracts of at least 160 acres, said Grasty, the county chairman. Owners are expected to maintain some farming or ranching operations, but a local real estate broker, Randy Wilson, said keeping horses or a cow or two is enough.

Wilson, a broker with United Country-Clemens Real Estate in Hines and no relation to Hoyt Wilson, said he’s seeing interest among urbanites eager to escape to Harney County.

“Every week, I get people looking for property,” he said. “A lot of hunters, a lot of people looking to retire.” If they can get access to electricity and county approval to build on or near the mountain, he said, “people are going to jump all over it.”

John Witzel, an outfitter and former rancher who lives in Frenchglen just west of Steens Mountain, said he’s seen a marked shift in attitudes toward development.

Witzel, 51, and his wife, Cindy, were denied permission in 1997 to build 15 guest cabins and a 25-room lodge on the mountain’s west side. After they won Harney County approval to build a “career school” instead, the state Land Use Board of Appeals in 2001 overturned the decision.

“We couldn’t do that because of the viewshed,” Witzel said. “Things have changed, obviously.”

For hard-pressed ranchers, wind turbines are “a way to carry on and keep going,” he said. “I don’t think any of them want to look at windmills, but that’s the way it is.”

Richard Cockle – The Oregonian – http://www.oregonlive.com/environment/index.ssf/2010/02/oregons_steens_mountain_could.html

OR Legislators rewrite state renewable energy tax break

A legislative panel has agreed to rewrite a tax break that has spurred alternative energy projects — but also has threatened to put a big hole in the state budget.

A compromise bill that sets limits on business energy tax credits, particularly for large wind projects, drew approval from all 10 members of the House Revenue Committee at 8 p.m. Friday. It heads for a House vote this week.

“I am brain-dead, and I am terrified there is something awful in here we have missed,” said Rep. Vicki Berger, R-Salem, who sits on the committee.

“That being said, we will have a chance to correct anything we missed as it moves through the process. I would caution that I do not want to see major shifts in the policy ideas we have articulated here, because that will cause me unending heartburn. … This is the perfect thing to do tonight.”

The bill helps plug what has threatened to be an additional loss of $100 million to state tax coffers.

Gov. Ted Kulongoski said he was satisfied with what lawmakers did to limit the credits, which are subtracted directly from income taxes owed by businesses. He had vetoed a 2009 attempt to set limits.

“Every tax credit has a shelf life and should be routinely reviewed to ensure it is still necessary to achieve its primary objective,” he said in a statement after Friday’s vote.

The issue stems from lawmakers’ 2007 expansion of the business energy tax credit, which was created in 1979, from 35 percent to 50 percent of a project’s cost with a cap of $10 million per project.

To help balance the current budget and limit projected tax losses to about $120 million, lawmakers last year proposed some restrictions, including a cap of $3.5 million on larger projects.

Kulongoski vetoed the bill, and the tax loss was estimated at $143.8 million.

Lawmakers were told by their tax analysts Wednesday that under current law, overall credits would cost the state an estimated $235 million in this budget cycle — nearly $100 million more than Kulongoski’s figure, and nearly twice the amount lawmakers planned.

For wind-related projects, the Oregon Department of Energy last month listed 34 applications for tax credits since the 2007 expansion. At Kulongoski’s direction, the agency took steps to restrict the credits.

To Associated Press news executives in Oregon, including Statesman Journal editors, Kulongoski defended his veto last week as a way to encourage alternative-energy projects. But he also accepted some of the responsibility for the ballooning credits, as reported in news accounts last year.

“I still think it was the right decision,” he said. “But I should have been more careful.”

House Bill 3680, which blends provisions of the vetoed bill and recommendations from the Energy Department, would reduce those tax losses by $55 million in the current budget and $98 million in 2011-13.

In addition to limiting tax credits on wind projects larger than 10 megawatts that receive pre-certifications this year, in 2011 and 2012, the new bill will cap overall credits for renewable-energy projects at $300 million for the current budget cycle and$150 million in 2011-12.

It also proposes to stretch out to six years, instead of the current five years, tax credits for large renewable-energy projects exceeding$10 million.

“What happened with this credit gives us a cautionary tale that even good ideas need to be managed appropriately,” said Rep. Sara Gelser, D-Corvallis.

One of the concerns addressed in the new bill was the breaking up of large projects into several small projects for businesses to get additional credits. That practice will be curtailed by the bill.

Advocates for renewable energy had urged lawmakers not to be too restrictive.

“Oregon should not be penny-wise and pound-foolish,” wrote Matt Blevins, a vice president of M&R Strategic Services, working with Renewable Northwest Project, and a former lobbyist for the Oregon Environmental Council.

“It must uphold its commitment to projects that have received preliminary incentive certifications to provide certainty to the market and encourage additional investment in the state.”

Blevins’ comments were in a column posted on the BlueOregon Web site.

Other portions of the new bill extend the tax-credit program in the renewable-energy manufacturing sector, which has created an estimated 1,800 direct jobs since 2006 and thousands more indirect jobs. Those numbers are expected to double in the next two years.

Jon Bartholomew, a policy advocate for the Oregon State Public Interest Research Group, urged more transparency for the applications for such tax credits.

“The public trust in our government and programs like the business energy tax credit is predicated on being able to see what is going on,” he said.

Rep. Jules Bailey, D-Portland, said the bill achieves a balance.

“We are protecting job creation in this state and a clean-energy future for Oregon,” he said. “At the same time we are adding accountability, using taxpayers dollars wisely, and having the program meet standards that the people of Oregon expect from their state government.”

Peter Wong, Statesman Journal – http://www.statesmanjournal.com/article/20100207/LEGISLATURE/2070348/1042/STATE

Winds of change: Port looks beyond recent green boom

For two years, wind energy has brought a gale of a business to the Port of Longview. But change is blowing through the industry, and port officials say they are gearing for the end of boom times.

The port collected a combined $17.6 million in wind-energy handling fees in 2008 and 2009, and those fees were a major reason the port had record revenue each year. The off-loading of the giant wind towers, turbine blades and nacelles manufactured overseas has meant more work for area longshoremen, who recycle the money paid by shippers back into the community.

Federal officials are pushing for more domestic wind-energy manufacturing, which could translate into lower demand for imports through the port. The recession has stalled large-scale wind projects, and wind energy expansion is limited by the capacity of high-voltage transmission lines.

“The industry, as a whole, is experiencing some general flat-lining,” said Valerie Harris, Port of Longview marketing director.

Port officials forecast wind energy to be a steady commodity for about five to seven more years. Late in this decade, wind-energy equipment will likely come through the port intermittently instead of steadily, Harris said.

This year, business will slow down as a lagging effect of the recession, but it should pick up through the middle of the decade, Harris said.

In 2008, the port broke a nine-year-old record by hauling in $23.5 million in revenue. About 40 percent, or $9.4 million, was from wind-energy transport.

“It’s given us a lot of man hours and a lot of work, especially in the economic downturn,” said Dan Coffman, president of the Longview-based International Longshore and Warehouse Union local 21.

Port officials are predicting another record-breaking revenue year for 2009. Final numbers aren’t yet available, but the port’s wind-energy revenues fell to $8.2 million in 2009.

Going with the grain

So what’s the next big money-making cargo for the Port of Longview? The obvious answer is the $200 million grain terminal Portland-based EGT Development is building at the port. With a capacity of 8 million metric tons, the elevator is expected to make the Port of Longview a major West Coast grain exporter when it goes online next year.

The grain elevator is expected to create 50 full-time jobs, and 30 would go to longshoremen, Coffman said. The elevator likely will employ more people than wind energy imports because it will operate with more shifts, he said. Also, with demand rising in Asia, grain export isn’t likely to be a boom-and-bust business, port officials say.

“If wind energy does taper off, the (grain) facility will still be there,” said Ken O’Hollaren, Port of Longview executive director.

Revenue from log exports, once king at the port, is slowly coming back as the rest of the world emerges from the recession, O’Hollaren said.

The port also is exploring domestic shipping to other West Coast ports and expanding its barge traffic to inland states, he said. For example, the port could load logs on barges to travel along the coast or head inland along the Columbia River, O’Hollaren said.

Also, the port could start importing materials and parts such as steel paneling needed to build the wind towers and turbines if U.S. manufacturing starts to take off, Harris said.

“We haven’t waited until we saw a downturn or a flat-lining in wind,” she said.

Along the West Coast, the ports of Longview and Vancouver have emerged as the premier handlers of wind-energy cargo. In Vancouver, port officials say they haven’t pinpointed when wind-energy imports will sunset.

“It’s just too early to tell,” Port of Vancouver spokesman Nelson Holmberg said.

Wind blowing offshore?

The port’s wind energy business could reverse itself over the next few years.

Both Vancouver and Longview ports are looking to move into the export of wind energy equipment, especially with President Obama pushing for more green jobs. Over the past two years, the Port of Longview has loaded a handful of ships with wind-energy cargo manufactured stateside and bound for Asia and Europe.

“With the wind industry being a global industry, an increase in U.S. and worldwide manufacturing as well as installations will likely result in more activity for ports, back and forth, as markets continually adjust on a global basis,” said Christine Real de Azua, a spokeswoman for the American Wind Energy Association, a Washington, D.C.,-based trade group.

“For example, some components will eventually be exported from the U.S. to other countries as the U.S. builds up its capabilities and the president seeks to boost our exports,” she said.

Wind power capacity worldwide grew by 31 percent in 2009, according to the Global Wind Energy Council, and China accounted for about one-third of the growth. The United States accounted for about 10 percent.

About 2,000 megawatts of wind power capacity already is on line in Oregon and Washington. Over the next two decades, Western states can handle about 4,500 more megawatts of wind energy, which would power more than 1 million homes, said John Harrison, spokesman for the Portland-based Northwest Power and Conservation Council.

The electricity transmission grid can’t handle much more growth that, Harrison said. To help add capacity to the system, the Bonneville Power Administration, the largest power marketer in the Northwest, is planning to build a 70-mile-long transmission line from Castle Rock to Troutdale, Ore.

Wind energy depends on the wind blowing, which is why utilities need a reliable source, such as hyrdropower, as a backup, he said.

“When the wind isn’t blowing, the dams can be turned up. When the wind is blowing, the dams can be turned down,” Harrison said.

Demand for wind energy worldwide is likely to remain high for years, but it remains to be seen where clean-energy-hungry countries will buy the equipment.

Despite all the talk of adding domestic green power manufacturing, total employment in the industry was down in 2009. Without the federal stimulus package approved last February, wind energy would have lost 40,000 jobs, according to American Wind Energy.

Denmark and Japan remain the big players in the manufacturing of wind-energy components, which bodes well for the import business at the Port of Longview.

That’s good news to Coffman, president of the longshore union. Longview is an attractive port for wind-energy manufacturers because its has a new, $4.7 million mobile harbor crane and longshoremen experienced in handling wind cargo, he said. One Longview operator developed an innovative strategy to handle the turbines with a forklift more quickly, which boosts business, he said.

“It just shows the creativity of some of our people here,” Coffman said.

Erik Olson, The Daily News – http://www.tdn.com/news/local/article_96fa57b8-139c-11df-9924-001cc4c03286.html

Clean energy the focus of conference in Kennewick

Energy experts, researchers, business leaders, farmers and politicians are converging in Kennewick for a conference focused on developing clean energy sources to help rural economies.

The 10th Harvesting Clean Energy Conference runs today through Tuesday at Three Rivers Convention Center, where organizers have scheduled workshops and sessions on everything from the future of hydropower and electric vehicles in agriculture to transforming crops and farm waste into energy.

The goal of the conference is to promote rural economic development in the Northwest through clean energy development and production, said Rhys Roth, one of the conference organizers and director of strategic innovations at Climate Solutions, a Northwest nonprofit focused on promoting practical and profitable solutions to coping with global warming.

“We’d like to see clean energy and clean energy technology become job-creating pillars of our economy,” Roth said. “There’s a broad range of technologies that hold the potential for economic development: Solar, wind, hydropower, biomass and solar.”

He said the conference is geared to farmers and ranchers, agricultural landowners, food processing companies, energy and agricultural companies, representatives of state and local governments and more.

Richard Wynne, director of geopolitical and policy analysis at Boeing, will deliver the keynote address Monday morning on the potential role agriculture could have in developing renewable energy sources for aviation.

“That could have an enormous impact,” Roth said.

Other sessions will explore the future of solar technologies, wind farms and transforming wood and food processing waste into energy.

Rep. Jay Inslee, D-Wash., will speak today at a congressional leaders forum on ways to advance economic development through clean energy.

Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Wash., is to speak Monday.

The annual conference, which rotates among Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana, was last held in the Tri-Cities in 2002. The scope of the sessions has grown considerably since then, as have the number of sponsors.

Pacific Northwest National Laboratories is one of the major sponsors this year. Some of the others include the Benton and Franklin PUDs, Bonneville Power Administration, Energy Northwest, Infinia and the Tri-City Development Council.

One of PNNL’s key research and development missions is to increase U.S. energy capacity and reduce dependence on imported oil through research of hydrogen and biomass-based fuels and to reduce the effects of energy generation and use on the environment, said Gary Spanner, manager of PNNL’s economic development office.

PNNL researchers will be presenters at a session on biochar — charcoal prepared from biomass that is used to generate energy and improve the productivity of soil.

Researchers from PNNL also will speak on a panel on smart grid technologies, a system designed to improve power delivery and reliability and increase efficiency by using intelligent, two-way communication technologies.

Members of the Tri-Cities Tea Party plan to rally outside the conference from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. today to advocate for production of all forms of energy, including oil and nuclear, said coordinator Leon Howard.

Registration fees for the three-day conference are $110 for individuals and $190 for professionals, Roth said.

For more information about the conference, go to http://www.harvestcleanenergy.org.

Kevin McCullenk, TriCity Herald – http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/northwest/story/1060606.html

Energy Storage: Utah company aims to store energy with compressed air

A Utah company plans to dig a series of underground caverns that it hopes to one day fill with compressed air, releasing it to generate electricity by turning a turbine and solving one of the most vexing problems facing the clean-energy industry – how to store power.

Under a barren patch of Utah desert, a private-equity group is bankrolling the project to hollow out a series of energy-storage vaults from a massive salt deposit a mile underground. It promises to make a perfect repository for storing energy and, in effect, creating a giant subterranean battery.

Energy storage is catching on as a way to make wind and solar power more useful.

Without energy storage, the output of solar and wind power is so erratic – the wind doesn’t always blow; cloud cover can shut down solar cells – that utilities can take only so much of it, said Jim Ferland, senior vice president for operations for PNM Resources, the New Mexico utility.

If renewable power makes up too big a part of a utility’s energy mix, it can make the delicate act of balancing loads on a power grid difficult. The lack of storage is one of the things holding back clean energy, say scientists for Sandia National Laboratories’ energy systems group in Albuquerque, N.M.

“Storage is the key here,” said Charlie Hanley, manager of Sandia’s photovoltaic and grid integration group. “We have to find a way to overcome intermittent swings from cloud cover.”

The only commercial-scale, compressed air power plants are in McIntosh, Ala., and Bremen, Germany. Other projects are under development in Norton, Ohio, and Ankeny, Iowa.

Initially, because of market needs, Salt Lake City-based Magnum Energy LLC will store natural gas for Rocky Mountain producers, taking it from a nearby interstate pipeline, in an “energy hub” near Delta, Utah. It hopes to start dissolving the first cavern within a year.

Later, the company is looking to dig other caverns at the site for compressed air, which could store excess energy generated by a nearby wind farm and then release it later when demand is high to turn turbines and create electricity, and possibly for carbon storage, which could trap a neighboring coal-fired power plant’s emissions.

Still other caverns could be devoted to liquid petroleum; yet another pipeline for liquid fuels, passing through the same part of Utah, is close to receiving federal approval.

The company filed for federal approval in December to build its versatile “energy hub.”

A futuristic type of energy storage could involve putting the battery capacity of plug-in electric vehicles to work for the electric grid. It could take extra power from vehicles when needed, while ensuring a vehicle is properly charged overnight, said Daniel Laird, a researcher for Sandia’s wind energy technology group.

That will work only when plug-in cars make up a big part of the U.S. vehicle fleet, however.

For now, “we’ve got to find a way to store renewable energy for when people need it,” said Steve Michel, a former utility executive who works for Western Resources Advocates, a Boulder, Colo.-based nonprofit law firm.

Other forms of energy storage involve lumbering flywheels or banks of batteries, but they have limited capacities and can be costly.

“In terms of storing bulk energy – lots of megawatt-hours – compressed air is cheaper than anything else out there,” said Paul Denholm, lead analyst for energy storage at the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Lab in Boulder, Colo.

In Utah, Magnum snapped up rights to the largest known salt deposit in the American West, a bed one mile thick by several miles wide. It has the advantage of being close to several energy producers; another company is planning a major solar farm in Utah’s west desert.

“The physical location of that salt deposit is just tremendously valuable, said Scott Jones, managing director of Houston-based Haddington Energy Partners III, which is backing the project. “It’s the only one everybody knows about or has been found. We’re excited about it.”

Each impermeable cavern will hold the volume of an Empire State Building, said Craig Broussard, another Magnum partner.

That’s billions of cubic feet of storage capacity of natural gas, liquid petroleum or compressed air.

The company would take excess energy from wind or solar farms or other energy producers, use it to pump compressed air underground and let it out to generate power during peak-use times.

The system would lose some energy to pumping, and the released air would need to be mixed with some natural gas to power air expansion turbines. Still, “this is far more efficient than a conventional power plant,” Broussard said.

“The power industry is like being in an ice-cream business without a refrigerated warehouse,” he said. “This kind of storage provides a warehouse of energy.”

PAUL FOY, Associated Press Writer – http://www.keprtv.com/news/business/83766377.html

Mont. City and county seek funding for biomass project February 5, 2010

Helena city commissioners signed on with Lewis and Clark County commissioners on Thursday to jointly pursue federal funding toward a possible biofuel energy project in the county on Thursday.

The county commissioners said Jan. 27 they would assemble an appropriations request for Montana’s congressional delegation in hopes of securing federal money for a possible project to use local trees to produce local energy.

The city commissioners then accepted a county invitation to join in on pursuing a planning grant for the project on Thursday, citing mutual interests.

The local biofuel project, possibly consisting of some sort of materials production plant and the installation of biomass boilers in certain city-county buildings, would primarily provide a use for millions of trees killed throughout the region by the pine bark beetle infestation.

“We have our own problems with (beetle-damaged trees on) the open lands that we’ve got — not enough to run a plant forever, but we’re interested in disposing of wood,” City Commissioner Paul Cartwright said.

“It makes sense to look at it area-wide. Can it be done? Because we’re all in the same valley whose problems we all suffer and whose benefits we all gain.”

Before completely jumping in, the city commissioners did make sure that the planning grant would include a feasibility assessment, to determine if the area has enough fuel to support the project, and a report on the possible level of air pollution from burning biomass to create heat or energy.

Sen. Jon Tester and Rep. Denny Rehberg both have previously told the Independent Record they would “absolutely” carry a funding request from the city or county for a biofuel project of some kind. Both the senator and the congressman, as well as city and county officials, have advocated looking into a smaller-scale production, not a full-fledged biomass energy plant.

At the Thursday meeting, though, the group said both Tester’s and Rehberg’s deadline is March 1 for such a proposal, leaving little time to prepare an appropriations request.

“We’ve addressed some of these questions just dealing with the dead wood on city open space,” said Cartwright, who admitted the county was still taking the lead on the proposal. “We’ve looked at how much can you take off without damaging the forest, how much you have to chip, how many dead snags you have to leave.

“I think for the city to go forward in a project like this, it’d have to meet those kinds of standards. We’re not going to mine the forest.”

Aside from possible fuel sources from public lands, the group also discussed recent interest voiced by non-industrial, private land owners as to making their pine bark beetle-damaged wood available to the project.

Trent Makela, Helena Independent Record – http://www.helenair.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/article_8ef9f962-121e-11df-8dc6-001cc4c03286.html

Manure digester not all that Zillah dairy expected

Dan DeRuyter doubts he would do it again if he knew what he knows today.

The 42-year-old dairy producer east of Zillah operates the only manure digester in Eastern Washington, one of four currently operating in the state.

His 1.2-megawatt capacity digester may ultimately be the only one in a county where facilities like his that turn manure into electricity and usable products would appear to be a natural.

With 61 dairies and about 139,000 cows, Yakima County has the highest concentration of milk producers in the state, which carries with it the dubious distinction of being a large producer of manure.

A single dairy cow produces nearly 150 pounds of wet manure a day.

As a result, dairies are considered one of the culprits contributing to a groundwater contamination problem in the Lower Yakima Valley, where one out of every five wells has nitrate levels above what the federal government considers safe.

While the federal Environmental Protection Agency is trying to pinpoint the source of the contamination, some dairies are trying to find their own solutions, which led DeRuyter to explore what kind of a difference a digester could make on his manure output.

He was encouraged by local and state policymakers, but things aren’t turning out quite the way the models envisioned when he built the $3.8 million facility and began producing power more than three years ago.

DeRuyter, whose dairy has 3,000 cows, has run into a problem with Pacific Power, which has a contract to market his power at a rate of about 6.1 cents per kilowatt hour this year, or more than $1,700 per day. It is a six-month contract that began in November.

The utility argues that a tariff it proposed – ultimately approved by the state Utilities and Transportation Commission – prohibits it from paying him for more than 1 megawatt of electricity at that set rate.

The rate is designed to assure small start-up generators a firm rate to support their operations.

As it stands now, an interim renewal agreement allows DeRuyter to be paid for no more than 1 megawatt, enough power to light about 500 homes.

But DeRuyter needs to be able to market electricity at his capacity of 1.2 megawatts to make the project pencil out and provide a return on his investment.

His operation averaged under 1 megawatt during its first three years. Efficiencies have boosted his ability to generate more power.

Now he finds paying for and operating the digester is a draw on the equity in his farming operation. And it is occurring at the worst time, as dairy producers try to slog through a downturn in milk prices. Prices to dairy producers dropped nearly in half to $12 for 100 pounds early last year. Prices have since rebounded some.

“It’s a situation where they have me over a barrel and just don’t care,” argued DeRuyter, who has taken his case to state lawmakers.

Pacific Power spokesman Tom Gauntt in Portland responded the utility is operating under rules established for it that can’t be ignored.

“Those are the rules we operate by. They can be changed and there are processes involved. We have been talking to the Legislature and talking about the administrative rules to make alterations,” he said. “I don’t think we are opposed to making changes. Until they happen, we have to work with the rules we have.”

“It’s not in our power to make an exception and pretend 1.2 megawatts is 1 megawatt,” he added.

State law and regulations that set out what utilities must do raise public policy questions about the role the state should play in encouraging renewable energy sources, especially in light of Initiative 937.

The initiative, approved by voters in 2007, required utilities such as Pacific Power to meet targets for the use of renewable energy resources in their portfolios.

The ultimate target is 15 percent renewables in the portfolio by 2020.

The commission, which regulates electricity, could modify the tariff rate by rule, but has not done so. Commissioners have to make sure that utility customers receive the best rates possible for power service.

Efforts to modify the system in the Legislature have failed because the various parties – producers and utilities – can’t agree, according to a state lawmaker who is working on the issue.

State Rep. John McCoy, a Tulalip Democratic lawmaker and chair of the Technology, Energy and Communication Committee, said he sympathizes with DeRuyter’s predicament. But right now there’s not consensus to move forward.

“I want to fix that. We have to keep plugging away,” McCoy said in a telephone interview. “I don’t want the DeRuyters to go away. I have talked about anaerobic digesters for years. Now, legislators are starting to get it. I still can’t get the utilities to come around.”

Dairy operators in Yakima County and elsewhere are watching.

Jay Gordon, executive director of the Washington State Dairy Federation, said DeRuyter’s experience is sending the wrong message to others about building a digester to expand uses for the huge amount of manure created every day in Yakima County.

“It needs to be where we can show this will give you a return on investment and not lose your shirt,” Gordon said. “This sends a loud message to farmers and energy companies there is some risk.”

The digester on DeRuyter’s dairy is composed of a huge concrete-lined digester, a 3.3 million-gallon tank that mostly sits below ground level and an engine room with two 900-horsepower motors.

About 150,000 gallons of manure are flushed into the system every day.

Heat is applied to activate microbes that feed on the manure, creating methane. The methane is used to power the motors that turn a generator and create electricity.

Byproducts include a bedding material he uses for his cattle and fertilizer. The bedding material also could replace peat moss for nursery companies. Other uses for the byproduct also are being looked at, such as wood pellets and plywood.

DeRuyter also said the digester has reduced odors from the dairy, something about which his neighbors have commented to him.

Other digester operators in the state are faring better, primarily because they are in the Puget Sound Energy service area.

Kevin Maas, president of Farm Power Northwest LLC, a company that is operating a digester for two farmers in Mount Vernon in Skagit County, said Puget Sound is paying for power up to two megawatts – Puget’s tariff limit – at a rate that started last year at 7.5 cents per kilowatt hour and rises over the next nine years to 12 cents per kilowatt hour. The other two digesters are located in Snohomish and Whatcom counties.

The cap of two megawatts represents what is known as Puget Sound Energy’s avoided cost, what the investor-owned utility would have to pay to generate the energy itself or purchase the energy from someone else.

In Pacific Power’s case, its avoided cost is 1 megawatt.

Pacific Power officials say any production above the 1 megawatt must be submitted under a request for proposals process by which rates are set on a competitive basis and generally are lower.

But Maas argues Pacific Power is doing only the minimum it is required to do.

“The regulations don’t require them to do anything more than the minimum and that is what they are doing with Dan,” Maas said.

DeRuyter said Pacific Power could approach the commission to modify its existing tariff or seek an exception to allow it to go beyond the 1-megawatt limit.

But the utility would have to do that for all producers, said Tom Schooley, accounting manager in the commission’s energy section.

Maas points to Oregon, where utilities are required to offer longer-term contracts and accept power from generators up to 10 megawatts.

“The state government could change all of this by doing the same thing as Oregon,” he said. “It is something the Legislature could solve if it weren’t distracted by a $2.6 billion shortfall.”

The issue is getting a renewed look by the state Utilities and Transportation Commission.

The last chance for a legislative fix died last week when a McCoy bill that sought to modify Initiative 937 died.

The dairy federation’s Gordon said should nothing change in the current, short legislative session, he may try to start a between-session dialogue on the issue.

“My plan is to put together a letter to the UTC and send it out to the utilities asking why we have such a low tariff rate on renewables and can we change that to what we have in Western Washington?”

DAVID LESTER, Yakima Herald-Republic – http://www.bellinghamherald.com/northwest/story/1278356.html

Gresham celebrates solar facility opening February 4, 2010

Gresham is celebrating its new claim to fame: Being home to the largest ground-mounted solar facility in the Pacific Northwest.

A grand opening of sorts is set for 10 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 9, at the city’s wastewater treatment plant, 20015 N.E. Sandy Blvd.

REC Solar Inc. installed the solar panels at no cost to local ratepayers. The panels cover an entire acre on the wastewater treatment plant’s southeast corner, which faces busy Sandy Boulevard.

The array is considered a benchmark project because while other municipal buildings have installed solar array projects, none are as large as Gresham’s, said Laura Bridges-Shepard, the city’s spokeswoman.

Seventy percent of the power used by Gresham’s wastewater facility is already considered sustainable — 50 percent is produced on site by converting methane gas into energy and another 20 percent is from wind power purchased from Portland General Electric.

The solar panels are expected to generate on average 8 percent of the plant’s annual electricity usage.

Gresham has entered into a 20-year power purchasing agreement with solar electricity company SunEdison, which owns, operates and maintains the solar array, valued at approximately $2 million. In return, the city is buying the power it generates.

Over the purchasing agreement’s 20 years, the cost savings to the city is estimated at $102,500.

Mara Stein, The Outlook – http://www.theoutlookonline.com/news/story.php?story_id=126516578157773100

Kulongoski, Oregon lawmakers seek to scale back energy tax credits

Big wind energy projects no longer need state incentives, Gov. Ted Kulongoski said today, as lawmakers explored a plan to rein in the soaring costs of Oregon’s tax breaks for green energy.

At a meeting with newspaper editors from across the state, Kulongoski said the $11 million in state tax credits routinely given to 10 megawatt-plus wind farms has “run its course.”

“Do they need the state to subsidize them? No,” Kulongoski said.

His comments came shortly after state officials released a revised price tag of the Oregon Business Energy Tax Credit, which has grown at a brisk pace: $235 million for the current two-year budget cycle, growing to an estimated $374 million for 2011-13.

Those numbers are far higher than estimates from a year ago and have prompted a top-to-bottom review of the incentives. Legislators say the subsidies sap money from public schools and other state services.

At Kulongoski’s request, lawmakers in 2007 expanded the incentives to try to entice wind, solar and other green energy projects to set up shop in Oregon. Since then, the cost of the incentives has grown by 50 percent per year — faster than any other program in state government. Investigations by The Oregonian found that state officials intentionally downplayed cost estimates and that millions of dollars have been wasted on projects that went bankrupt or never performed as promised.

Jamie Francis/The Oregonian Turbines dominate the view at a Sherman County wind farm.Now lawmakers want to trim the program, and Kulongoski appears ready to dial it back as well.

“Any dollar spent on tax credits, whether it’s BETC or something else, is money that does not come into the general fund,” said Rep. Phil Barnhart, D-Eugene, chairman of the House Revenue Committee.

Barnhart’s committee held a hearing on HB 3680, which proposes changes to the tax credits, including reducing incentives for wind projects and setting a limit on projects that would receive state assistance.

Under the current proposal, incentives for wind projects of more than 10 megawatts would be limited to $3.5 million; incentives for smaller wind projects would be limited to $2.5 million. A cap of $300 million would be placed on projects certified for tax credits in 2009-11, with $280 million already used.

If approved, the measures would save the state an estimated $53 million in the current budget and $97 million in the next two-year budget, according to Oregon Department of Energy director Mark Long.

“For the most part, the program has been very successful,” Long said. The financial limits, along with a host of changes designed to tighten the application and approval process, will help control costs of the incentives in coming years, he said.

The hearing was attended by an overflow crowd, mostly of renewable-energy developers and advocates. Many who testified credited the incentives with bringing new industry and jobs to Oregon, as well as increasing the amount of renewable energy produced in the state.

“Our fundamental message is, you don’t want to kill the goose that lays the golden egg,” said Chris Taylor, chief development officer for Element Power, which works on solar and wind projects. Taylor said his company, headquartered in Portland, has hired 26 people since it opened last year.

Critics of the tax credits said the limits proposed Wednesday don’t go far enough. Jody Wiser, head of Oregon Tax Fairness, noted that with all the various incentives and tax breaks out there, people pay nothing — and sometimes get a windfall — when they install solar energy systems.

“Basically, we’re giving away solar panels,” she said. “It doesn’t make sense. They should have some skin in the game.”

Harry Esteve, The Oregonian – http://www.oregonlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2010/02/kulongoski_lawmakers_agree_to.html

Saddle Mountain Wind farm gets go ahead

The Saddle Mountain Wind Farm is a go.

That was the decision following a unanimous vote by the Adams County Board of Adjustment granting permission for Horizon Wind Energy to begin construction of a wind farm on the ridge of Saddle Mountain southwest of Othello.

The public hearing was held Tuesday, Jan. 19, with a packed house in the district courtroom.
County planner Loren Wiltse presented the board with a staff report that included the findings and facts related to the codes for wind farms, along with the comments and letters his office received from concerned citizens.

“A couple years ago, the code was added to address wind facilities standards,” Wiltse said.
The project, which has been in the works for five years, will require leasing ground from several landowners.

Elon Hasson, project manager, said there are six pieces to the project — turbines, roads, a laydown yard for parts during construction, met towers, an electrical substation and an operation and maintenance building. Power produced will interconnect to the Benton-Othello transmission line.
Steve McDonald, of Blue Bird (formerly Peshatin Fruit), was at the hearing to discuss the impacts to the entrance into the orchard on Kuhn Road, which is the road that will lead to the entrance of the wind farm.

“It’s very steep in and out of the farm,” he said. “Even a six-inch change to the road bed elevation would be detrimental.”

Wiltse said any county road used by Horizon would be brought up to all weather standards in accordance with the county engineer’s decision.
“I’d ask we get some input as those decisions are made,” McDonald said. “I’ll be happy as long as my fruit can come and go.”

Colin Meskell, Horizon project manager for construction, said any improvements would utilize digging down rather than building up the road bed.

“We’re not looking to raise the height of the road,” Meskell said. “We will work to make entrances easier and find ways to make the road work for everybody.”

Hasson said because Horizon will develop, own and operate the wind farm for the life of the project, the company wants to work with its neighbors, like Blue Bird.

Now that the project has been approved, engineering work will begin. Construction should start in October or November with the building of roadways over irrigation canals and ditches.
Along with the new roads, there will be upgrading to existing roads and the installation of culverts and fords.

Local contractors will have the opportunity to bid on three parts — erection, roads and foundations and electrical work. The winning bidders will be able to subcontract for smaller pieces, such as fencing.

Hasson expects the company to employ six to eight full-time family wage jobs once the wind farm is on line.

Staff structure will consist of management and maintenance people. Technical schools are available and some on-site training will be conducted.

LuAnn Morgan, Othella Outlook – http://othellooutlook.com/?p=8194

Bioenergy company to build plant in Shelton

A Maryland-based company bioenergy company has plans to build in Shelton a $250 million plant that converts wood waste from logging into energy.

Gov. Chris Gregoire, ADAGE company officials and others are scheduled to announce details of the project Thursday afternoon at the Port of Olympia.

The biomass power plant is expected to support 275 direct and indirect jobs per year, generate enough renewable energy to power 40,000 homes and pump some $70 million annually into the local economy.

The plant will use green technology to ensure lower greenhouse gas emissions and water use than a traditional power plant, according to advance information about Thursday’s announcement.

John Dodge, The Olympian – http://www.theolympian.com/breakingnews/story/1125196.html

Gregoire approves Kittitas Co. wind project

Gov. Chris Gregoire has approved the Desert Claim wind project in Kittitas County, eight miles north of Ellensburg.

Gregoire acted on a recommendation from a state energy facility siting council.

Desert Claim, which becomes the fourth wind farm approved in Kittitas County, will have a capacity of 95 turbines across 5,200 acres. The wind farm will have a capacity of 190 megawatts, enough power for 57,000 homes.

Officials of EnXco, a French firm that is developing the project, said construction will start this summer.

The firm anticipates the project will create 282 jobs and $33 million in total economic activity during construction.

Once in operation, the wind farm will have 36 jobs.

The siting agency, the Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council, made its recommendation to Gregoire in November.

The agency, created to provide one-stop licensing for major energy projects, assumed jurisdiction over the project after Kittitas County rejected the application.

The county ultimately withdrew its objections to the project.

EnXco modified the project to reduce the number of turbines and the impacts on nearby landowners.

Other approved wind farms in the county include Wild Horse and the Vantage wind farm, both along Interstate 90, east of Ellensburg.

The third previously approved wind farm is the Kittitas Valley wind farm.

Yakima Herald Republic – http://www.yakima-herald.com/stories/2010/02/03/gregoire-approves-kittitas-co-wind-project

Nuclear power must be considered says Gov. Gregoire

Gov. Chris Gregoire(WA) is applauding President Obama’s recent push for nuclear power — a stance that could cause political headaches for her. Gregoire, a Democrat, met with Obama and 10 other governors Wednesday to talk about energy. Obama called for increased ethanol production and new technology to limit pollution from the use of coal. Gregoire has spent much of her career working to ensure cleanup of the Hanford nuclear reservation, which was contaminated from nuclear weapons work rather than nuclear power production.

She says the Northwest is in good shape to develop alternative energy sources such as hydropower, wind, solar and – increasingly – cellulosic ethanol from wood chips and grass.

She says nuclear energy must be part of that mix. The state’s only operating nuclear power plant is north of Richland.

With global climate change, Gregoire says “options that were off the table now are on the table.”

Tricity Herald – http://www.tri-cityherald.com/kennewick_pasco_richland/story/889151.html

Biomass option still on the table for Flathead Electric February 2, 2010

Flathead Electric Cooperative managers say they have long been exploring the potential for the development of a biomass cogeneration plant, but so far it has penciled out as the most expensive source to meet future power needs.

With the recent closure of the Smurfit-Stone container mill in Frenchtown, there has been a renewed interest in biomass cogeneration in the Flathead to serve as an alternative and productive destination for the region’s wood-waste products.

Chuck Roady, vice president of F.H. Stoltze Land & Lumber Co., outlined plans to build a cogeneration plant at the company’s sawmill facility west of Columbia Falls during a recent panel discussion at Flathead Valley Community College.

Roady said one of the biggest obstacles to the project is the relatively high cost of continually gathering biomass material to power the plant.

“We have the same interests as Chuck does in biomass,” said Kenneth Sugden, the cooperative’s general manager. “We’ve worked with Stoltze for about three or four years.”

It is true that the co-op will be faced with the need to meet a rising curve in future power loads because hydropower from the Bonneville Power Administration has been capped. The problem is that simply having BPA purchase power from other sources to meet power needs over the next 17 years would cost about half as much as the cost of local biomass generation.

The co-op estimates that adding a 15 megawatt biomass cogeneration plant to the local power grid would lead to electricity rate increases of more than 12 percent.

But Sugden stressed that the cooperative’s board of directors has never shut the door on the possibility.

“One of the misconceptions we hear is that our board has voted [on biomass cogeneration] and it hasn’t,” Sugden said. “Our board has said all along that we are interested.”

He said the board has instructed management to pursue all kinds of alternative energy sources. There is a state-directed goal of having 15 percent of the co-op’s power coming from renewable sources by 2015.

Sugden said the co-op worked with Plum Creek Timber Co. on a potential biomass cogeneration plant for several years, but the company suspended those plans in early 2008.

Now the Stoltze project has taken on a higher profile, largely because of the closure of the Frenchtown pulp mill.

“This has become a big issue and people want to talk about it,” said Mark Johnson, the utility’s assistant general manager. “It has become a more popular item.”

Johnson and Sugden said they will meet with Roady for more discussions on how to make biomass cogeneration more economically feasible.

“We’ve got to either make the project smaller or we have to get the costs down,” Sugden said, acknowledging that some form of government subsidy could advance the project.

Johnson said there currently are better government tax incentives and grant programs available for solar and wind energy projects than there are for biomass projects.

“If it were treated on par with solar and wind … it would be able to lower the cost of the Stoltze project,” Johnson said.

Solar and wind have won political favor because they are carbon-free energy sources. While biomass advocates maintain it is a “carbon-neutral” energy source, it is not considered to be as clean as wind and solar.

Johnson noted that wind and solar have the drawbacks of not being consistent sources of power and they are not likely to be significant energy sources in Northwest Montana. He said it is obvious to the co-op’s board that the region has abundant timber resources.

“For us, it is the major renewable in our area,” he said.

Sugden and Johnson acknowledged that many people would consider a 12 percent power rate increase to be palatable, particularly if it helped save jobs and the wood-products industry.

However, they said the board must account for the people who could not afford such an increase, particularly during an economic recession. Electricity rates already are slated to go up 3 to 5 percent this spring, an increase that the co-op incurred in October but intentionally deferred over the winter months.

“We have seen an incredible increase in people having a hard time being able to pay their bill,” Sugden said.

Johnson added that the co-op’s billing department is “talking to people they’ve never had to talk with before.”

They said the board must find “a balance” in new energy sources and affordability.

JIM MANN, The Daily Inter Lake – http://www.dailyinterlake.com/news/local_montana/article_912e86f0-0fa1-11df-aaf9-001cc4c03286.html

Conservation groups want Oregon to close wind energy permitting ‘loophole’

A coalition of environmental groups is asking Gov. Ted Kulongoski and the Oregon Department of Energy to close what they say is a loophole in Oregon’s renewable energy siting regulations that allows wind projects to avoid strict review.

Under state rules, if a proposed project is under 105 megawatts in size it goes through the local county to secure its land use permit. Larger projects must pass review by the Oregon Energy Facilities Siting Council.

Environmental groups complain that some wind developers try to game the system by splitting large projects into several smaller and adjacent projects, each under 105 megawatts, to avoid state scrutiny. (One megawatt of installed wind capacity is enough to power about 250 to 300 homes.)

“I don’t think it’s a widespread abuse, but it is an abuse,” said Liz Nysson, Climate Change Coordinator for the Oregon Natural Desert Association, one of the groups, along with the Audubon Society of Portland and Defenders of Wildlife, that today filed a petition (PDF) with the state to review the rules.

“We support responsible renewable energy development in Oregon. But it’s imperative that industrial-scale facilities not be allowed to skirt the comprehensive, public review process that the council was created to achieve,” Nysson said.

The groups say the rules at the county level, where local officials are eager to draw the jobs and revenue wind projects can bring, can be more relaxed, putting wildlife and other resources as risk.

For instance, the state recommends against building a wind turbine within three miles of a breeding site for sage grouse, a bird that could soon be added to the list of endangered species.

“At the county level, our recommendations are just that,” Christian Hagen, a grouse specialist for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, told The Oregonian last year.

The state, counties and wind industry have said they are working to create standardized review rules for renewable energy projects, mainly wind. And they argue the county land use process allows the public ample opportunity to review proposed projects.

“I find it surprising that these environmental groups are unwilling to work with rural counties,” said Harney County Judge Steve Grasty. ” We’d love to have a sit down with them on this.”

Grasty said the groups are aware that county planners across the state recently completed a year-long effort to craft suggested guidelines for local review of energy projects.

“If anything, I think the counties are more strict,” he said.

Matthew Preusch, The Oregonian – http://www.oregonlive.com/environment/index.ssf/2010/02/conservation_groups_want_orego.html

Sisters schools may convert to biomass under proposal

The Sisters School District may be the first district in the region to install a biomass heating system at one of its schools, and it might be able to do so without making any upfront investment.

In the past, school board members have been supportive of using biomass — wood pellets, in this case — to heat its buildings, but the immediate cost of about $125,000 to install a new boiler was too high as the district struggled with tight budgets. The school board is scheduled to consider the new plan at its Wednesday night meeting.

If the school board approves the plan, the district will begin with the high school’s heating system, which is its costliest and so has the largest potential savings.

Backers of the plan say it would eventually save the district thousands of dollars while benefiting the environment.

No initial cost

The new plan would allow the district to pay for the system over several years. In three years of researching biomass systems, this is the first time that Director of Operations Leland Bliss has found a way to pay for the system with no initial investment.

“We’re looking for a way to do it so it’s not going to affect any of the budget,” Bliss said. “We want a program that’s no cost to the district.”

Under the new approach, the district would pay a set fee to Energyneering, a local biomass company. The fee would be equal to the district’s current heating costs at the high school of about $60,000 per year. No contract has yet been signed and so details might change, Bliss said.

Savings

After about 10 years, the district would own the system, according to board member Glen Lasken. At that point, the district would pay only for the wood pellets and, depending on heating oil costs, could save tens of thousands of dollars a year.

“In the long run, it’s a cost- saving measure,” Lasken said. “That’s probably the driving force.”

Lasken said the board had not yet decided whether to support the plan, but that he hadn’t found any issues with it.

“We need to ask if there is any risk, if anything happens to the company involved. Are there any hidden costs?” Lasken said. “I don’t see any significant problems.”

Bliss said the stable costs would be an immediate benefit for the district. With its current system, the district uses diesel, the cost of which can fluctuate from day to day, Bliss said.

If the board agrees to the biomass plan, the district could more accurately project what its high school heating costs would be, Bliss said.

“We could budget a price and not have the volatile fuel prices jumping,” he said.

Rare company

The system would put Sisters in rare company. Schools in Enterprise and Burns are the only ones in Oregon with biomass systems already in place, according to Phil Chang, a program administrator at the Central Oregon Intergovernmental Council. COIC has advised the school district as it looked for biomass options.

The biomass system would help the district both save money and use renewable energy, Chang said.

“It’s a highly effective and appropriate use of wood for energy,” Chang said. “It lets (the district) do a good thing by getting renewable energy online.”

Using biomass can also help the local economy, according to Chang.

With a heating oil system, much of the money spent leaves the state, he said. A biomass system can use local wood that would otherwise go to waste, such as sawdust from mills and waste left from forest thinning projects.

“If the school district buys locally produced wood pellets, all of the money stays in the community and is circulated in the community,” Chang said. “We’re stopping the leakage of that (energy) money.”

Patrick Cliff, Bend Bulletin – http://www.bendbulletin.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100201/NEWS0107/2010354/-1/RSSNEWSMAP

Weyerhaeuser-Mitsubishi sign biomass fuel deal

Weyerhaeuser Co. said it’s signed a deal with Mitsubishi Corp. to explore possible future biomass-to-energy deals.

The Federal Way timber giant (NYSE: WY) and the Tokyo trading company said they’re interested in the feasibility of opening a commercial-scale production facility next year that would make bio-pellets from biomass (materials from trees and wood byproducts) and sell them to utilities and industrial users for energy production.

Mitsubishi currently operates two bio-pellet facilities in Japan and already has a deal to make bio-pellets in Germany.

“This opportunity has the potential to offer a significant renewable energy option here in North America and beyond while also creating green jobs in our operating communities. At the same time, we have the opportunity to enhance the value of Weyerhaeuser timberlands by converting residuals from our forest management activities into a new revenue stream,” said Dan Fulton, Weyerhaeuser CEO and president, in a statement.

Puget Sound Business Journal – http://seattle.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2010/02/01/daily16.html

Study suggests burning wood pellets in place of coal can be cost-Effective February 1, 2010

A recent study concludes that burning biomass in place of coal, such as Portland General Electric is considering for its Boardman power plant, can be cost-effective.

The study, published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology, looked at replacing all or part of the coal supplying power plants in Ontario, Canada, and it found that co-firing with wood pellets and coal was a realistic way to reduce a plant’s greenhouse gas emissions.

A mix of 90 percent coal, 10 percent pellets would increase the cost of electricity from the two test plants’ by 0.6 and 0.9 cents per kilowatt hour, the study says, while significantly reducing the amount of climate-changing gasses they produce.

“If 10% co-firing were to be implemented in all coal (plants) in the United States and Canada, electricity generation from biomass could contribute approximately 4% of annual generation of the two countries (185 of 4660 TWh), reducing GHG emissions by 170 million metric tons/year, 5% of emissions from the two countries’ electricity sectors,” the study says.

Read about PGE’s plans for biomass at its Boardman coal-fired power plant here.

“The results suggest that electricity produced from biomass in existing coal GS should be considered, along with other alternatives, as a means of achieving near-term GHG reductions,” it says.

But there are limits to how many pellets forests can sustainable supply, the study cautions.

(Hat tip to Green Inc.)

Matthew Preusch, The Oregonian – http://www.oregonlive.com/environment/index.ssf/2010/02/study_suggests_burning_wood_pe.html

More on possible biomass plant conversion in Boardman, Ore.

Portland General Electric has three options for its Boardman power plant: close it, stop burning coal there, or make costly upgrades to clean up emissions.

Most of the debate about Boardman, Oregon’s only coal-fired power plant and the state’s largest single source of air pollution, has focused not on whether, but when, it should shut down. But the utility is looking at the possibility of keeping Boardman open by burning biomass instead of coal to spin its turbines.

They aren’t the only utility considering replacing some of their coal with plant material, but they are among the few thinking about doing away with coal entirely by using biomass, said Christopher Wright,  a research engineer and biomass energy specialist at the Idaho National Laboratory.

“In that regard, they are on the forefront of that thinking when we look out on the landscape,” Wright said.

Coal-fired power plants in Europe, charged with reducing emissions of climate-changing gasses, are already replacing portions of their coal with wood pellets imported from British Columbia, the southeastern United States and elsewhere.

“Once the Europeans realized that that was a fairly cost efficient way to meet the goals for renewable energy standards, the demand started to grow very rapidly over the last four or five years,” said Keith Balter, senior economist with Forest Capital Partners in Portland.

North America’s pellet industry has grown from having the capacity to produce about 1 million metric tons in 2003 to an estimated 6 million tons last year, according to a recent U.S. Department of Agriculture study.

U.S. coal plant owners see similar regulations on the horizon, so utilities like PGE are considering mixing wood pellets with coal in their boilers.

“We’re actually looking at doing some co-firing with green pellets in the very near future, just as a test,” said Jaisen Mody,  director of generation projects for PGE.

Right now, Oregon’s wood pellet industry is focused on home-heating stoves and animal bedding products.

Andrew Haden,  vice-president of A3 Energy Partners, a Portland pellet-for-energy company, did some back-of-the-envelope calculations and found that if just 15 percent of Boardman’s energy needs came from biomass, that would require about 500,000 tons of pellets year.

“That would mean a doubling or even tripling of Oregon’s pellet production,” Haden said.

Assuming testing at Boardman goes well, and they could find enough pellets, the Portland-based utility estimates it can replace up to 20 percent of the coal at their 585-megwatt Boardman plant with wood pellets similar to those used to heat homes.

While that would drop Boardman’s contribution to climate change, PGE would still need to install expensive upgrades at the plant to comply with clean air laws, which is what prompted the utility’s recent announcement it could close the plant by 2020, about 20 years ahead of schedule, or switch to an alternative fuel.

“When you replace all the coal with biomass, you could reduce the amount of that equipment substantially,” said Mody.

View full sizeSo PGE is looking at whether it can replace all of the millions of tons of coal it burns a year at Boardman with plant material that has been pre-treated through a still experimental process called torrefaction.

In torrefaction, plant material is roasted at high temperatures – 200 to 300 degrees Celsius – until it becomes a dry, high energy substance similar to the Kingsford charcoal you might use to grill steaks on your Weber.

This so-called torrefied biomass can be easily converted to pellets, making it easy to haul and simple to burn at pulverized coal plants like Boardman.

“This acts like coal and behaves like coal,” Wayne Lei,  director of research and development at PGE.

But it’s not nearly as easy to find as coal.

There are no commercial-scale torrefaction facilities in the U.S. And PGE estimates it would need about 2 million tons of torrefied biomass a year to operate Boardman, which supplies about 15 percent of the energy used by its more than 800,000 customers.

And though the torrefied material has a high energy content, it requires significant energy to produce, calling into question whether it’s a truly renewable resource.

“At this point, it doesn’t seem realistic, because torrefaction is really in an experimental phase and not at a commercial scale,” said Cesia Kearns,  an anti-coal activist with the Sierra Club.

Kearns said PGE should focus on a mix of renewable energy projects and energy efficiency initiatives to replace Boardman’s power production. The utility could also replace part of Boardman’s output with new natural gas plants.

“It’s not going to be a silver bullet, but rather silver buckshot” that replaces Boardman, Kearns said.

Mody said that torrefied biomass, what little there is, costs from $100-120 per ton, roughly three to four times coal hauled by rail from Wyoming.

A big part of that price difference is the cost of transporting the biomass to Boardman.

Lei, PGE’s research chief, said the answer to the supply question could lie in a tall, reed-like grass called Arundo donax, or giant cane.

Californians know the plant as an imported species that has run wild along some of their waterways, causing extensive environmental damage. But PGE thinks the plant can be safely grown as a crop in Oregon and converted to fuel for Boardman.

They would need to convince enough farmers that it’s in their economic interest to grow a lot of giant cane, about 90,000 irrigated acres worth. Morrow County, home to Boardman, has a total of 89,897 acres of irrigated farmland planted in food crops.

“Can they routinely, sustainably get that amount every year from the Oregon countryside?” said Wright of the Idaho national lab.

That’s just one of the questions PGE will consider as it spends the next several years planning for Boardman’s future, or lack thereof.

Matthew Preusch, The Oregonian – http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2010/01/coal-burning_power_plant_in_bo.html

4 major transmission lines planned to export wind energy from Montana January 31, 2010

At least four major power lines to export electricity from Montana are on the drawing board. Here is the status of the projects:

Mountain States Transmission Intertie: NorthWestern Energy, Montana’s largest electric-and-gas utility, is proposing this 430-mile, $1 billion line run from Townsend to southern Idaho.

The 500-kilovolt line would transport power generated in Montana to Southwestern markets. A draft environmental impact statement on the project is expected this year, and NorthWestern plans to accept bids this spring for space on the line. Construction is slated for some time in 2014 or 2015.

Collector System: NorthWestern also is proposing this network of lines to gather power from wind farms in Montana and route it to the Townsend hub, for transmission elsewhere.

Bids for space on the lines will be accepted at the same time as MSTI. Construction of all or portions of the line could begin in 2014 or sooner.

Chinook Transmission Project: TransCanada of Calgary, Alberta, is proposing this $3 billion, 1,100-mile line from Harlowton to southern Nevada. It says the line will carry mostly new wind power, to the Southwest.

In December, the company accepted bids from energy developers and suppliers to buy space on the line. TransCanada plans to announce winning bids by spring.

If all goes well, TransCanada will file for permits and conduct an environmental review between now and 2012 and start construction in 2012, a company spokesman said.

Colstrip transmission line upgrade: NorthWestern, utilities from Oregon and Washington, and the Bonneville Power Administration are considering on this project, which would increase the capacity of lines between Colstrip and the Pacific Northwest by 30 percent. The partners say the line is supposed to move “renewable” power, likely wind, from Montana into Washington and Oregon.

Discussions are under way on how the ownership and cost would be divided. The earliest the upgrade would occur is 2012.

MIKE DENNISON, Missoulian – http://www.missoulian.com/news/state-and-regional/article_31c8154e-0e31-11df-b9be-001cc4c002e0.html

Sutherland will lead Central Wash. renewable energy partnership

Kittitas County officials have announced that former Washington State Commissioner of Public Lands Doug Sutherland is taking the helm of a new public-private partnership focused on renewable energy jobs and research.

The partnership is called the Central Washington Resource Energy Collaborative, which was formally recognized by the state Commerce Department in October.

It is the first Innovative Partnership Zone in the state since Gov. Chris Gregoire announced the initial designation of 11 such zones in 2007. Such zones are designed to build on the success of so-called “research parks” around the world such as the The Triangle in North Carolina and Torrey Pines in La Jolla, Calif.

In a news release Friday, Kittitas County Commissioner Paul Jewell said Sutherland has agreed to accept the position as interim executive director of the new partnership and is expected to refine the agency’s organizational structure and direction over the next 12 to 18 months.

“We are extremely excited to have someone with Doug’s qualifications and experience to guide this project during its critical startup stage,” Jewell said.

Sutherland’s credentials include stints as the Pierce County executive, city manager of the city of SeaTac, and mayor and city council member of Tacoma. As a Republican, he served two terms as public-lands commissioner before he was defeated by Democrat Peter Goldmark in 2008.

In taking the job, Sutherland noted that he is a graduate of Central Washington University and thus familiar with the area.

“This is a great opportunity to assist in building a lasting organization,” he said. “The fact that I have ties to the area was a bonus that made it even more attractive.”

CWU is one of several organizations that are taking part in the partnership, along with Kittitas County and the nonprofit Economic Development Group of Kittitas County.

Also on board is Puget Sound Energy, which owns the Wild Horse wind farm east of Ellensburg, and enXco Development Corp., the French-backed company that is building the 95-turbine Desert Claim wind farm eight miles northwest of Ellensburg.

Kittitas County officials touted the partnership as the first in the state to focus exclusively on resource-based technologies.

According to the county’s news release, the partnership’s goal is to create a “hub” for renewable energy research and to strengthen the county’s job base by nurturing technology based companies.

Sutherland is expected to start Monday and will work out of the Economic Development Group’s offices in Ellensburg.

CHRIS BRISTOL, Yakima Herald-Republic – http://www.yakima-herald.com/stories/2010/01/30/sutherland-will-lead-renewable-energy-partnership

More on community-Owned wind farm being developed in Mont. January 30, 2010

Montana is experiencing a very important development in the renewable energy field, according to Erin Edholm, director of communication for National Wind, LLC, as the first utility-scale, community-owned wind development project is under way.

The Judith Highlands Energy project has the potential to be the largest development of its kind in the state and is expected to produce up to 500 megawatts in Fergus, Wheatland, Judith Basin, and Golden Valley counties. Edholm said the project incorporates over 50,000 acres of land through the support of nearly 30 local landowners.

The Judith Highlands Energy project will include anywhere from 250 to over 300 turbines when complete, depending on the turbine model used.

National Wind only sets up community-owned projects, according to Edholm, adding that the industry standard is to provide landowners an annual turbine lease payment, but National Wind’s development model offers landowners more than this.
The company makes those lease payments but they also allow the local members to share in the project’s revenues once the wind energy is converted to power. In addition, the state tax revenue generated by the local wind farm can be used to build local infrastructure and develop the local economy, she said.

“Our National Wind model seeks to allow local community participation, which provides potential for sharing in both turbine leases and revenues from a successful project,” said Patrick Pelstring, co-chair of National Wind, LLC.

Montana Wind Re-sources of Billings will jointly manage the wind farm with National Wind. Rhyno Stinchfield, Mon-tana Wind Resources chief executive officer, has 30 years of experience in the renewable resources field. Steve Tyrell, chief operating officer with Montana Wind Resources, has 12 years of experience in range management services throughout the Northern Rockies.

“Not only will this project help Western States reach their Renewable Portfolio Stan-dards, it also has the likelihood of providing substantial economic benefits to Montana,” says Stinchfield. “Steve and I have enjoyed working with Mon-tana ranchers and landowners over the past several years. However, nothing we’ve seen yet has possessed the economic potential of Judith Highlands. We need more developments like this across the state because community-owned wind projects can add significantly to the local economy.”

Other than access to the land to house the wind turbine, there is no financial investment necessary for the landowners, according to Edholdm.

She said the cost of construction, staffing and maintenance is paid for through financing, and the wind farm’s production taxes are paid for by the project company, Judith Highlands Energy, LLC.

The only outlay to the local landowners is land access. By allowing the company access to their land, landowners become part of the project and the profits.

Edholm said all landowners who have turbines are fairly compensated for crop loss in addition to the standard annual turbine lease payment. Any access roads that are developed on the land are also justly compensated.

“But many landowners also find out the roads are a benefit to them as well,” she explained.

Once the turbines are in place, landowners may grow crops or graze livestock right up to the base of the turbines just as before.

“We don’t want to disrupt their normal operations,” she said.

A typical turbine in this project will stand 400 feet tall and take up about half an acre of space. The project is expected to take five to eight years to complete.

Judith Highlands Energy’s development team has executed two leases for on-site meteorological equipment (met tower) installation that were installed in December. One year of on-site wind analysis is needed to effectively determine the best spots for wind turbine placement.

The company is also negotiating with transmission developers to carry the electricity to markets in the West. Edholm said that Montana has a very high ability to produce more energy than it needs. Therefore most of the power generated by the project will sent out of state.

“Montana’s current climate for transmission interconnection is challenging. However, we are working to make sure we have a feasible transmission strategy in place,” Edholm said. “Many active private transmission line building initiatives are in the works across the state that could serve the Judith Highlands project. Transmis-sion lines need to be installed before we start erecting the turbines.”

Once the turbines are up the company will maintain a crew in the area to service and maintain those turbines. Depending upon which model is chosen each General Electric turbine is capable of generating either 1.5 or 2.5 megawatts of power. When complete, this project will generate 500 megawatts.

The Department of Energy’s Wind Powering America Program has reported that 1,000 megawatts of installed wind capacity in Montana could add $1.2 billion in cumulative economic benefits, reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 2.9 million tons, and save over 1,200 million gallons of water annually.

Montana is listed as one of the top five states with the country’s greatest wind potential according to the American Wind Energy Association.

National Wind is the nation’s largest developors of utility-scale, community-owned wind projects. They have been working with communities since 2003 and currently have 13 wind energy projects located across the U.S.

“We have a pipeline of over 4,000 megawatts of projects,” said Edholm, adding they are excited to see Montanans grow their ability to produce, sell and profit from wind energy.

To learn more about Montana’s first wind farm visit http://www.judithhighlandsenergy.com, http://www.nationalwind.com, or http://www.montanawindresources.com.

Landowners interested in participation opportunities can contact Stinchfield, 406-651-8898; or Tyrrel, 406-855-7600, of Montana Wind Resources.

TERRI ADAMS, The Prairie Star – http://www.theprairiestar.com/articles/2010/01/29/ag_news/local_and_regional_news/local3.txt

Idaho Power Files Plan To Meet Future Power Demand

Idaho Power Co. has filed a plan with the state’s energy regulator detailing how it will meet growing customer demand over the next 20 years.

The state’s biggest utility says it intends to add 3,000 megawatts of power generated by a mix of natural gas, wind and geothermal to serve an estimated 680,000 customers by 2029. The company now serves about 486,000 customers.

The majority of the new energy is expected to come from the Langley Gulch natural gas plant now under construction near New Plymouth. Wind generation will provide 150 megawatts of energy, and geothermal sources another 40 megawatts.

The filing with the Idaho Public Utilities Commission also predicts increases in customer costs as the utility relies less on energy produced at coal-fired plants. About 78 percent of its electricity in 2008 came from hydroelectric and coal resources.
Idaho Power said it also hopes to reduce summer power demand by encouraging customers to use energy efficient appliances.

Associated Press –http://www.kivitv.com/Global/story.asp?S=11904919

$100M biomass plant proposed in Longview

A Longview, Wash.-based paper company plans to build a $100 million plant that would be the largest waste wood-fueled power plant in the Pacific Northwest.

Longview Fibre Paper and Packaging Inc., a manufacturer of craft paper, corrugated boxes and container board, filed paperwork last week with Washington’s Department of Ecology to seek a permit for the plant, said Sarah Taydas, a company spokeswoman.

The combined heat and power plant would replace an existing 25-megawatt wood-fueled biomass plant that now generates 30 percent of the electricity for the company’s Longview pulp and paper mill.

Taydas said the company has yet to determine whether the electricity generated by the new plant, which could be in operation by the third quarter of 2011 if approved, would be used to power its operations or whether it will sell the power into an energy market thirsty for renewable fuel sources.

Erik Seimers, Portland Business Journal – http://portland.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2010/02/01/story4.html