Wind leases: 30 years with no parole November 26, 2009

Wind power, the new neighbor on the energy block, presents Montana landowners with the opportunity – or potential disaster – of a lifetime, says Bozeman-based energy attorney Hertha Lund.

Montanans in particular seem in better shape to weather the pitfalls of previous black-gold rushes in petroleum and coal, she notes. However, in the fledgling Big Sky Country wind business, it’s unlikely there will be any rush or quick-hit boom at all.
She explained that wind companies get paid per unit of energy minus so-called “wheeling charges” for transmitting the electricity from Montana to light up Las Vegas and Southern California.
“It all goes through NorthWestern Energy Corp., and there’s not enough transmission capacity” for any big boost in production, Lund says.
The wind lease is a new legality completely foreign to mineral rights, oil and gas leases, or other centuries-old court documents.
“What is a wind lease? It’s not like an oil and gas lease where you have split estates and one estate (mineral) has dominance over another … A wind lease is not a property right. A wind lease is a contract for a term lease. It’s a lease with an easement,” Lund explained.
It’s also a long lease – a minimum of 30 years – so it’s incumbent on a landowner to get all the required documents in a row or face disaster and rip-off over the long haul.
Which all sounds fairly scary, given what two other panelists said Nov. 17 at the Northern Plains Resource Council’s 38th annual meeting in Billings.
North Dakotan Danny Nelson said that in half a century of negotiating with petroleum companies, his family never has signed an ideal agreement. “You just do the best you can and learn and move on,” he said. “As far as surface rights, you have none.”
In the case of wind leases, any mistakes stay with you for at least 30 years and then you can move on. Each turbine cost about $2 million, and most wind projects have about 150 turbines, which may justify such a long-term commitment with all of its promises and pitfalls.
“The property value of the personal property of the (wind-farm) infrastructure dwarfs the value of the real property, the land,” Lund said.
As in other energy businesses, said Wyoming lawyer Dennis Kervin, before signing anything, “It’s important to talk to your neighbors. Be organized and share information.”
Kervin said that when the coal-bed methane craze hit northeastern Wyoming in 1998 and “the courthouses were packed with people looking at land titles,” it resembled an Old West free-for-all.
Coal-bed methane was a different animal with its impacts on water rights and legal and environmental issues, and few non-corporate lawyers, let alone ranchers, were trained, equipped or experienced to deal with it, he noted.
“It’s all small print with a lot of words you would never use in your business,” Kervin said, and what is omitted often can be the bane of the landowner later on. Power line and pipeline easements, for example, can become perpetual if not spelled out otherwise.
If there are not surface-use agreements that limit activities such as roads and buildings and require restoration or weed spraying, Kervin said the oil industry will run roughshod over the land.
“With coal-bed methane, the number of subcontractors, the traffic – it’s enormous. There’s a maze of traffic, roads, dirt moving, dust … You can’t even remember what it looked like five or six years ago,” he said.
Although projects such as the wind farm in the Judith Gap area seem aesthetically pleasing and politically correct today, they don’t start out that way, Kervin said.
“They build the turbines with cranes that are so big they have to be assembled on the spot. The turbines are as big as a 747. They have to build a substation, service roads, transmission lines …,” he said, adding that there’s potential for disturbing not just the surface area but streams and aquifers.
Whatever the energy resource, Kervin said, it’s important that landowners get on the ground and with a qualified lawyer before starting anything. Paperwork should include a survey access just for driving out to check the stakes and corners.
Lund said that wind companies, like their petroleum industry counterparts, “try to get more than they need” such as water or mineral rights or passing off the indemnity to the landowner and making them liable for any problems that may occur.
If ranchers are stuck with such indemnity, they might be held responsible if they allow hunters on the property and they end up shooting the turbines instead of the antelope. A more likely scenario would be a windmill worker accidentally touching off a blaze that spreads to neighboring land and leaves the landowner holding the wet gunny sack of blame – and the neighbor the deed to the ranch. That’s why contracts Lund writes routinely include a “no smoking on the property” clause.
Among other advice for would-be wind farmers:
•Ensuring rights to check the books, as payment are based on the amount of energy produced and sold.
•Checking with lawyers and bankers to ensure that the mortgage does not become subservient to the wind lease.
•Doing baseline surveys of the environment to have ongoing projects such as weed spraying and erosion mitigation in legal form.
•Including restoration provisions so that the wind companies don’t just leave behind rusting towers and drooping power lines.

Queen City News – http://www.queencitynews.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=10837&mode=flat&order=0&thold=0

Fire Island wind farm still on despite loss of partner

Cook Inlet Region Inc. recently lost its key partner in the Fire Island wind project, but the company plans to spend millions to get the wind farm built and generating electricity in Anchorage by the end of 2011.

Citing mismatched business goals as the reason for the split, the Anchorage Native corporation said that it and California-based EnXco, agreed to part ways in October. Until then, EnXco had been the developer of the 54-megawatt wind farm and CIRI’s equity partner in the project.

CIRI said it hopes to sign a deal with another well-known wind farm developer in early December. CIRI can fund the project without an equity partner, if need be, said Ethan Schutt, a CIRI vice president for land and energy.

The parting with EnXco has not caused the project’s timeline to slip, CIRI spokesman Jim Jager said.

He and Schutt pointed out that CIRI spent more than $1 million this fall clearing ground for the turbines and studying the geology of the rugged island.

One reason the company has been aggressive in its timeline is that the wind farm needs to be operating by 2012 to qualify for a federal stimulus grant that would pay roughly one-third of the turbine, transmission line and other construction costs.

CIRI has pegged the cost of building the wind farm at $165 million, but it will be refining those costs in the coming months. Additionally, the state Legislature has committed $25 million to pay for a transmission line linking the wind farm with the Anchorage electrical grid. That money won’t be spent until CIRI convinces Anchorage utilities, such as Chugach Electric Association, to purchase the wind power.

For now, Chugach is studying how to integrate wind power into the electrical grid while minimizing the cost of any upgrades to ratepayers, said Phil Steyer, the utility’s spokesman.

While some have argued in favor of building a much bigger wind farm, Chugach and CIRI say that would make the project more costly and more technically challenging than it is already.

CIRI said it would make more sense to install additional wind turbines in other parts of Southcentral instead having them confined in one area where the wind won’t always blow.

To the chagrin of some lawmakers and renewable-energy advocates, CIRI, the local utilities and the Federal Aviation Administration have wrangled over the technical aspects of the wind farm for years.

The utilities are concerned about upgrades that might be needed to integrate wind power into the grid. So far, the scale of those potential upgrades seems minor to CIRI, but both it and Chugach have hired consultants to study the issue further.

The FAA previously raised big concerns about the wind farm interfering with navigation equipment on the island used for the nearby international airport. To meet the FAA’s concerns, CIRI next summer plans to spend millions of dollars to replace the navigation system on the island with an upgraded system located on the mainland.

CIRI said that it will have good estimates on how much it will cost the utilities to purchase power from Fire Island early next year. It hopes to sign sales agreements with the utilities by June.

How will it impact consumers?

The wind power generated from the proposed 34 turbines on the island will supply roughly 18,000 to 19,000 homes.

The per-kilowatt-hour cost of electricity from Fire Island probably will be slightly higher than today’s cost from Cook Inlet natural gas, the dominant source of electricity for Southcentral homes, but its prices will be less volatile, CIRI said.

At some point, Fire Island wind will drop below natural gas prices, though it’s not clear how soon, CIRI said. Cook Inlet gas production is dwindling and is expected to become more expensive in the future, CIRI said.

Elizabeth Bluemink, The News Tribune – http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/northwest/story/966757.html

Construction set to start on multi-County Idaho wind farm November 21, 2009

Construction begins in the next several weeks on a large-scale wind farm spanning Elmore and three surrounding counties to provide the state additional renewable energy resources.

Led by the Exergy Development Group based in Montana, the $500 million Idaho Wind Project includes building nearly 150 turbines capable of generating up to 219 megawatts of power.

The project includes building 15 of these wind turbines in the Bell Rapids area near Hagerman roughly a mile within the Elmore County’s southeastern border, said company representative Patricia Pilz. A majority of the remaining turbines would remain in Twin Falls County.

During a public hearing Nov. 4, the Elmore County Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously approved the company’s conditional use permit. The commission also approved a height variance request, which the company needed since the towers extend up nearly 400 feet when their blades reach their maximum height.

Mountain Home News – http://www.mountainhomenews.com/story/1588031.html

Walla Walla-area community power project in early stages November 19, 2009

A Walla Walla University professor is building a coalition to help bring solar power into wider use.

WWU physics professor Frederic Liebrand is excited about a goal he’s about to reach. He has been working toward making Walla Walla and its three colleges the center of a transformation in the way we obtain energy.

For nearly a year Liebrand has been focusing on a project to engage the entire community in a renewable energy production program.

The project builds on work done elsewhere in the state by energy pioneers such as the city of Ellensburg and its resource manager, Bill Nystedt. Liebrand seeks to establish a community solar project in Walla Walla, not only to decrease our energy dependence on foreign oil, but also to help the environment in a way that builds the economic base of the Valley and supports higher education for residents.

“The community approach allows us to tackle head-on the obstacles facing renewable energy,” Liebrand said. “They include high up-front cost, long pay-back periods, lack of consumer know-how and qualified installers and possible harm to the aesthetics of the Valley from the installations.”

So what is it? A community solar project is a state-recognized organization that allows participants who wish to help develop renewable energy production to pool their resources. While participants may track individual ownership, their properties share a common centralized location with economies of scale in installation, operation and maintenance. Additionally, the economic benefits of the production are passed back to the participants with little or no effort on their part. A law passed in May gives participants twice the state production incentives that homeowners can achieve.

A power utility not only receives state incentives for building capacity, but it also has the ability to sell bonds and amortize costs over decades. The incentives allow a more level playing ground for individuals, and with the new state law, the payback period for community projects is half as long as for individuals. Assuming all equipment is manufactured within the state, the production incentives pay at rates of up to $1.08 per kilowatt-hour for community projects. And the incentives last until 2020.

Liebrand’s goal is to install solar energy systems on the flat rooftops public and college buildings have throughout the area.

“Good design allows the energy production to be essentially invisible, which removes any aesthetic concerns,” Liebrand said.

The colleges and universities play an important role as well. Their nonprofit status allows them to bring in participation not only from community members and businesses, but also from alumni and out-of-state corporations that wish to donate to any of the three area schools: Walla Walla University, Whitman College and Walla Walla Community College.

“In essence, we hope to bring outside money into the valley to help build our own infrastructure, and both federal and state law makes that attractive to all parties,” Liebrand said. Faculty members Bob Carson at Whitman College and Steve May at WWCC have joined in support of the program’s development.

There are additional ways that college participation can enhance the program over other community projects.

“A person purchasing an entire system should qualify for the 30 percent federal investment tax credit. After a required holding period, they are then able to donate the system to the school for a charitable donation,” Liebrand said. “Participants interested in charity receive greater returns from their work than they would otherwise.”

All charitable donations to the project are currently slated to be used to fund scholarships for area students, keeping the money inside the valley to help future generations. Liebrand is currently in talks with state Department of Revenue representatives to try to ensure the most favorable rules for the state incentives possible.

Installing solar panels could also provide technical career training to area students. Liebrand’s idea is to have students do the installation work themselves as part of a proposed supervised training program.

As of now, the project has passed an initial legal review and received cautious enthusiasm from each of the area campuses.

“The state law requires that the project be owned either by a utility or a state municipality,” explains Liebrand. “That’s our next step. I’m in talks with a number of municipal organizations that share an interest in not only housing the project, but also in participating by having their public space used for energy production as well.”

Once ownership is determined, and with state rules finalized by January, Liebrand hopes to have a project ready to present.

“It is well accepted that our current national energy structure is neither optimal nor sustainable,” Liebrand said. “Correcting this problem need not be disruptive to the economy or place large burdens on the individual. That is the purpose of this project.”

WWU physics professor Frederic Liebrand is excited about a goal he’s about to reach. He has been working toward making Walla Walla and its three colleges the center of a transformation in the way we obtain energy.

For nearly a year Liebrand has been focusing on a project to engage the community in a renewable energy production program.

“The community approach allows us to tackle head-on the obstacles facing renewable energy,” Liebrand said. “They include high up-front cost, long pay-back periods, lack of consumer know-how and qualified installers and possible harm to the aesthetics of the Valley from the installations.”

By BECKY ST. CLAIR, Walla Walla Union Bulletin – http://www.union-bulletin.com/articles/2009/11/19/local_news/091119local06solar.txt

Wind farms – the wind blows free and so does the criticism November 18, 2009

Our Views

Probably no one is totally surprised that some criticism is starting to circulate concerning the proliferation of wind generator towers that are now starting to dot the landscapes in this region.

There have been several ‘letters to the editor’ in large and small newspapers where the writers have decried the loss of the ‘pristine prairies’ now that these towers have sprouted up in concentrated, scattered locations where experts have determined the wind flow is best suited for electrical production.

It was just a few years ago that many people invested a lot of thought, planning and, for some, even money into these first wind farm ventures, extolling the benefits of being able to supply clean, electrical power without burning fossil fuels, thus lessening the carbon footprint of electrical generation.

Well, those first efforts paid off, and public utilities realized the huge potential the region has for electrical generation.

And it has meant an additional income source for farmers as they have signed easements allowing the construction of these wind farms and the needed electrical transmission lines. It seems like everyone should be happy – a clean and fairly reliable source of electrical energy that will benefit all electrical consumers (and that’s all of us).

But it turns out that some who have chosen to live on a small acreage in the country and ended up with their residence close to a wind farm are now complaining that the pristine view of the prairie has been destroyed, they can hear a constant low-level noise from the generators and bats and birds are being killed in huge numbers. And they pose the question: “What have we gotten ourselves into now? This should have been thought out more thoroughly.”

Now some of these are the same people who have been fretting over the stack emissions from fossil fuel fired power plants, but when a cleaner alternative comes along they are opposed to that as well. Perhaps we can look to history and learn to not jump to judgment so quickly when it comes to new technology.

In a recent edition of a Sunday newspaper supplement there was an article that asked: “What are the things we should be truly worried about?” The article mentioned the situation in New York City at the start of the 1900s, when the electric streetcars and the automobile started to replace the horses that were used as a source of power for just about everything.

There had to be alarmists at that time as well, who predicted gloom and doom if the horses were replaced by these machines, despite the fact that the horse manure was piling up around the city at a rate of nearly 5 million pounds a day and at times it lined the streets like banks of snow and was piled up to 60 feet high in vacant lots. That can happen when you have over 200,000 horses with each producing around 24 pounds of manure a day. That must have created a wonderful aroma and think of the fly problem.

We’re not dealing with horse manure anymore, but we are looking at new technology that lessens our dependence on fossil fuel. And let us not forget that the world does not have an endless supply of fossil fuel. For that reason, along with many others, it’s important to develop alternative sources of power and this appears to fill the bill for a clean, affordable source of electricity.

Our region has some of the most scenic prairie countryside in the nation, and we empathize with those who enjoy those views because we love them, too. But these wind generators are only located in certain areas. There still remains a lot of beautiful prairie scenery for us to enjoy.

We should be giving some credit to those who had the foresight to make us a major player in this quest for electrical generation capacity. Besides reducing our carbon footprint and dependence on fossil fuels, wind-generated electricity is also providing extra income for producers and helping the rural economy in those areas.

Is it the perfect solution? No. But it is a positive step in the right direction.

Prairie Star – http://www.theprairiestar.com/articles/2009/11/18/ag_news/opinion/edit1.txt

Wind energy seminar on tap in Great Falls and Cut Bank

Landowners concerned with commercial wind lease agreements and people interested in small wind systems will have an opportunity to learn about wind energy on Dec. 7 in Great Falls and Dec. 8 in Cut Bank.
MSU Extension is providing two, one-day trainings on issues of wind energy, ranging from commercial wind development and land leasing issues to small wind system information for homeowners.
The Central Montana Wind Energy Update will begin in Great Falls at the MSU College of Technology, Heritage Hall at 11:30 a.m. on Dec. 7.
The same session will begin at the Elk’s Club at 11:30 a.m. in Cut Bank on Dec. 8.
The first several hours of the update will provide landowners with a review of commercial wind energy activity in the state, an overview of legal issues to consider when leasing by James Hackstaff of Hackstaff, Gessler, LLC, a law firm from Denver, perspectives on leasing from a commercial wind developer, compass wind, an overview of landowner association models, and an update on transmission line developments in Montana.
The small wind session, which will begin at 6 p.m., will provide information to the general public on small wind systems, how to select a system, and financial assistance programs that can help to off-set expenses associated with system installation.
The same session will be offered in both Great Falls and Cut Bank.  A free lunch will be served at both locations, but pre-registration for the meal is required by noon on Dec. 4.
Please contact MSU Extension Cascade County (406) 454-6980 or MSU Extension Glacier County (406) 873-2239 for further information.

Independent Observer – http://www.theindependentobserver.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1205&Itemid=2

Blaine County continues to wrangle with wind ordinance

The Blaine County Commission will hold at least one more meeting on an ordinance regulating allowable wind energy facilities within the county that would either be freestanding or set on rooftops.

The commission met yesterday at the Old County Courthouse to tackle one of the most controversial issues regarding wind energy facilities, namely whether or not wind turbines would be allowed within the “scenic corridor,” or visible from state Highway 75.

While the commissioners seemed amenable to this idea at their last meeting on this issue in August, they all spoke against having turbines in this area on Tuesday. This issue drew plenty of public comment, with those against arguing that wind turbines along the scenic corridor would negatively impact the natural beauty as people drive through the valley. Those in favor of having turbines there said that wind energy is becoming more accepted around the world and that people not only wouldn’t mind seeing the turbines, but would hail them as evidence that the community is taking progressive steps for energy conservation.

The commission is slated to continue deliberating on this issue on Tuesday, Nov. 24, at 2 p.m.

JON DUVAL, Idaho Mountain Express – http://www.mtexpress.com/vu_breaking_story.php?bid=8152

 

Commercial Wood-to-Biofuel facility planned for Boardman, Ore.

A Colorado company that has developed a process to convert wood to fuel is starting construction of what will eventually be a commercial-scale production plant.

Lakewood-based ZeaChem Inc. is working with Hazen Research of Golden to build the first units of its biofuels refinery. ZeaChem President and CEO Jim Imbler says the company will transfer the modular units to Boardman, Ore., where it will eventually run a commercial refinery.

ZeaChem plans to start production at a demonstration facility in Oregon by the end of next year.

ZeaChem uses a bacteria to break down the cellulose in wood to make fuel. Imbler says the process, unlike traditional fermentation with yeast, produces little carbon dioxide.

The company raised $34 million earlier this year to help build a refinery.

Gazette Times – http://www.gazettetimes.com/news/state-and-regional/article_93ef17d1-e18f-5221-bcff-81a2a2c6de18.html

State council OKs Desert Claim wind project November 17, 2009

A state energy council on Monday recommended approval of the 95-turbine Desert Claim Wind Power Project but also put conditions on its future construction and operation eight miles northwest of Ellensburg.

The approval is a recommendation to Gov. Chris Gregoire who will make the final decision on the project, which has been sought since January 2003 by the French-owned firm of enXco USA Inc.

Gregoire is expected to formally receive the recommendation in early December and has until early February to make her decision.

The seven-member state Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council, or EFSEC, in a 30-minute meeting in Ellensburg gave a unanimous OK for the estimated $330 million wind farm.

Although all EFSEC members signed off on the recommendation in the form of an order, EFSEC member Ian Elliot, representing Kittitas County communities, read comments indicating he believes the state’s EFSEC wind farm review process is “flawed” because the state council is limited by state law in what issues it can consider in making its decision.

Elliot said there were other issues he and other EFSEC members would have wanted to pursue but couldn’t because they were not formally brought before EFSEC as part of evidence or expert testimony from the applicant or intervenors during the trial-like adjudication process.

Issues brought up as opinions during the general public hearings did not have legal weight for consideration, Elliot said, without study data or other expert evidence.

Yet, within the limits of what EFSEC members could by law consider, they acted appropriately and professionally, Elliot said.

Pleased

David Steeb, Desert Claim project director, after the meeting was visibly pleased with the long-awaited decision from EFSEC. He said the unanimous decision was a major hurdle for the project.

The wind farm, when it sought approval only from Kittitas County government, was initially turned down with its 120-turbine version of the project.

Kittitas County Superior Court subsequently upheld the rejection, but enXco later reconfigured the project on 5,200 acres north of Smithson Road, downsized it and submitted it to EFSEC, the second pathway to gain project approval.

In making its decision Monday, EFSEC members agreed enXco Inc. made a good-faith effort to work with county government to make it comply with local land-use rules and plans.

EFSEC also said that county government representatives, in the July adjudication process, stated that the county considered its issues with the project resolved.

The Monday decision included EFSEC’s decision to pre-empt or overrule local county government land-use rules to recommend approval of the wind farm.

The project is estimated at $330 million.

Steeb said EFSEC members “did their job thoroughly and fairly” in a balanced, professional manner.

“EFSEC’s ringing endorsement takes us one step closer to bringing much-needed new green jobs to Washington state, with the majority of them in Kittitas County,” Steeb said in a statement. “Desert Claim offers a shot in the arm to the economy when it most needs it.”

He said enXco is hopeful the governor will “expeditiously” approve the project.

Steeb declined to estimate when construction may begin saying the governor’s decision must come first before those announcements can be made.

He did say that the governor’s  “timely approval will facilitate the construction of Desert Claim in 2010, driving dramatic economic benefits to the county and the state at large.”

EFSEC officials said enXco Inc. has 10 days to ask EFSEC to reconsider all or parts of its decision including conditions that the international firm must meet to build and run the wind farm.

Although Steeb said he will closely study EFSEC’s order and other documents, he doesn’t foresee asking EFSEC for reconsideration on any issue.

The full text of the order and other documents are at the EFSEC Web site: http://www.efsec.wa.gov.

EFSEC response

Jeff Tayer, regional administrator of the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, said enXco has approved an agreement with the department on how to lessen the impact of the project on wildlife and habitat.

Tayer, and EFSEC member, said the site, on the floor of the Kittitas Valley in a mostly farming and ranching area, is a “relatively good site” for the project in its limited impacts on wildlife.

In summary comments, EFSEC’s administrative law judge reviewed highlights of the council’s 37-page order and lengthy site certification agreement.

The order said the EFSEC conditions and requirements strike a balance between protecting the health and safety of local residents and the environment, with the need for energy at a reasonable cost.

Some of the conditions included:

• EFSEC agreed with enXco provisions to turn off certain turbines, atop 410-foot towers, during the time of the day when non-participating residences experience shadow flicker, although a report indicated flicker is not expected to be noticeable at distances of more than 1,500 feet.

• A Technical Advisory Committee will closely monitor any habitat, wildlife and environmental concerns during construction and ongoing operations. This includes bird and bat kills and other issues.

• As enXco determines the exact location of each wind turbine tower, enXco in the “micro-siting” process is required to reduce to one the number of turbines located within 2,500 feet of any non-participating residence (the owner of which is not receiving financial benefits from the leasing of his land to the wind-power firm).

The company, in reconfiguring the project, reduced to seven the number of non-participating residences that are within 2,500 feet of a proposed turbine location.

Mike Johnson, Daily Record – http://www.kvnews.com/articles/2009/11/17/news/doc4b030b1a074f0817519703.txt

Wyoming Considering Tax on Wind Energy Development November 16, 2009

Wyoming lawmakers will soon take up the thorny issue of whether to impose new taxes on wind energy development, a proposal that developers say could stunt the fledgling industry’s growth in Wyoming.

Supporters of a new tax say it’s only fair for wind projects to contribute to state and local governments equal to other energy industries. Opponents say Wyoming taxes are already high compared to surrounding states and any new tax would be premature.

The Joint Revenue Committee will consider two proposals to tax wind electricity generation at a Wednesday meeting in Cheyenne.

“I am hopeful that this legislative session will develop some means for there to be state and local revenues derived from the development of wind resources in the coming decades,” Gov. Dave Freudenthal said recently. “You can pretty clearly demonstrate that (the wind industry) is not overly taxed and they certainly don’t make the contribution that other forms of energy do.”

The Wyoming Power Producers Coalition, representing 15 wind development companies, is fighting any new wind tax in the upcoming legislative session.

Executive Director Cheryl Riley said developers are willing to pay their fair share of taxes, but the state has time to come up with an appropriate tax because development is slowed down by a transmission bottleneck and ongoing land management issues related to the sage grouse, she said.

The development of Wyoming wind is relatively expensive because of its long distance from markets and the favorable tax policies in place in nearby states, according to a group position paper. Wyoming wind farms pay property tax, and when an exemption sunsets at the end of 2011, wind developers will begin paying 6 percent sales tax on equipment.

“Our goal for 2010 is basically status quo: Let’s just keep things the way they are, and let’s study the issue and make sure we get it right,” Riley said.

The two bills the Joint Revenue Committee will consider this week would implement a state tax on electricity generation while also providing exemptions and credits so other power generators, such as coal-fired power plants, ultimately break even.

Sen. John Schiffer, R-Kaycee, chairman of the Revenue Committee, said wind development creates costs for government. Those include county costs like road maintenance and emergency services and state costs like Wyoming’s struggle to preserve the sage grouse, a bird whose habitat sometimes overlaps with prime wind resources.

Schiffer’s bill would impose a .0025 cent per kilowatt hour tax on electricity generation.

The bill would include exemptions for government-owned power plants, including hydropower, and home wind generators. Power plants that burn coal or other fuels would break even on the generation tax by receiving a rebate intended to make up for the severance tax portion of their electricity production costs.

Schiffer said the scheme should prevent the generation tax from pushing up electricity costs for customers large or small.

The proposed tax works out to roughly a 5 percent tax on generation, Schiffer said, which would put the wind burden in the same range as severance taxes on natural resources, which are roughly 4 percent for gravel, 6 percent for trona, 6 percent for oil and gas, and 7 percent for coal.

After rebates are paid, 10 percent of the wind tax revenues would be split among the counties based on how many wind turbines they have. Another 10 percent would go to the Wyoming Wildlife and Natural Resource Trust to mitigate endangered species concerns, especially sage grouse. Any remaining revenue would go into state coffers.

A second wind tax proposal, sponsored by Rep. David Miller, R-Riverton, would work similarly to Schiffer’s proposal, but traditional power producers would get a rebate credit only if they agree to use 90 percent of it on electricity generation or transmission projects and put the other 10 percent into state’s low income energy assistance program.

Because this winter’s Legislature will be a budget session, the tax bills would require a two-thirds vote to be introduced.

Freudenthal, a Democrat, acknowledged that new taxes may be politically divisive, but he believes there are good arguments for a tax on wind. Schiffer said he’s never seen a two-thirds vote to levy a new tax in his 16 years in the Senate.

“This may be a new adventure in living,” Schiffer said. “It’s like a lot of things – you’ve got to get it out there and talk about it.”

MATT JOYCE, Associated Press – http://www.theolympian.com/business/wire/story/1038294-p2.html

Radar Ridge wind project meetings in Pacific County

Community members and public officials gathered at the Grays Harbor PUD in Hoquiam last week for a public scoping meeting on the planned Radar Ridge Wind Project in Pacific County. The meeting was a chance for officials to inform the public on where the project stands and to give citizens a chance to comment publicly on the project.

Two more meetings are planned for this week, the first on  Tuesday at Naselle High School from 6 to 9 p.m. and then again Wednesday at Raymond High School from 6 to 9 p.m.

“It’s really about getting information to the public and getting their comments,” said Liz Anderson, community and government relations director with the Grays Harbor PUD.

The Radar Ridge Wind Project is a partnership between four pubic utilities — Grays Harbor PUD, Pacific County PUD, Mason County PUD No.3, Clallam County PUD — and Richland-based Energy Northwest, the project developer. The project, located on property owned and managed by the Department of Natural Resources approximately 3 mile northeast of Naselle, consists of installing and operating up to 32 wind turbines that will generate enough energy to power up to 18,000 homes, according to project officials.

Partners in the project intend to fulfill renewable energy requirements mandated by Washington’s Energy Independence Act, which passed in 2006. The act requires utilities with 25,000 or more customers to provide 3 percent of the energy needed to serve their customers from non-hydro renewable resources by 2012. By 2016, the number increase to 9 percent and by 2020, 15 percent.

Utilities face penalties for failure to comply.

At the meeting, project officials discussed why wind power was so important to the area, why Radar Ridge was an ideal location, and the minimal environmental impacts the project would have.

Officials also presented wildlife studies that were conducted, including studies on migration patterns and breeding habits of raptors and bats; northern godhawks, and marbled murrelets, an endangered bird with critical habitat in the area. The main concern is whether or not the turbines will cause fatal bird strikes.

While partners hope to have the wind turbines operating by late 2011, the project is in a critical phase. Before construction begins, the project must submit permit applications.

In order to attain the permits, the project must comply with the Federal Endangered Species Act and the National Environmental Policy Act. The project must also comply with Washington’s State Environmental Policy Act.

These assessments will take place once all public comments have been collected and reviewed.

“We’re doing our due diligence on the environmental side so that we’re developing a site with the least environmental impact,” said PUD manager Rick Lovely.

Mike Marsh, The Daily World – http://www.thedailyworld.com/articles/2009/11/16/local_news/doc4b01a3aab6349056257560.txt

Oregon governor defends green tax breaks November 14, 2009

By GOV. TED KULONGOSKI

The Sunday, Nov. 1, story by The Oregonian’s Harry Esteve, “State lowballed cost of green tax breaks,” implied that I or my staff directed former state energy director Mike Grainey to manipulate or falsify cost estimates for the Business Energy Tax Credit (BETC) when we expanded the program in 2007 to grow Oregon’s renewable energy jobs sector. That implication is highly misleading.

I did no such thing. I also did not ask my staff to direct Grainey or to work with staff at the Energy Department to reduce revenue impact statements. The suggestion is not a practice that I have ever endorsed or executed as governor of Oregon.

Two days later, the front page of The Oregonian also ran a story announcing 200 new, high-paying jobs with Sanyo, a solar energy company that opened a multimillion-dollar facility in Salem.

As I said at the ribbon-cutting ceremony, the growth in Oregon’s renewable energy sector was not by accident — it was by design and the result of public policies, such as the BETC and the Renewable Portfolio Standard among others, that encourage new companies to move here and thrive here. The Sanyo story is all about jobs — in Oregon during a nationwide recession — and replicates other BETC successes.

The numbers prove that the BETC program is one of the most effective economic development tools in our effort to create green jobs. Since we expanded the program in 2007, Oregon has ranked in the top 10 states in wind energy production; has become the leading solar manufacturer in North America, with SolarWorld, Sanyo, PV Powered, Solaicx and Peak Sun; and according to the Pew Charitable Trust, Oregon has the highest percentage of green jobs per capita of any state in the nation.

These companies not only employ thousands of Oregonians and contribute billions to our state’s economy, but also help advance the transition to cleaner, renewable energy sources.

That said, I have always believed that tax credits have a life span and require regular review to ensure the credits remain good public policy. The BETC program is no exception.

The expansion of the BETC program in 2007 proved a success and was used beyond anyone’s expectations. As a result, the debate about the program was one of many policy discussions during the 2009 legislative session. Throughout the session I remained an advocate for the program as one of many tools to grow our green economy and spur renewable energy development — but I was also clear that I was open to a reasonable level of modification.

Last session I supported House Revenue Committee Chair Phil Barnhart’s proposal to responsibly reduce the cap for the BETC from $10 million to $7.5 million. But I could not support the final version that emerged from the Senate, which reduced the cap even further to $3.5 million, because it would have put Oregon at a competitive disadvantage with our neighboring states at a time when we needed to be doing everything possible to create economic opportunities — not squander them.

In August, when I vetoed the Senate version of the bill, I restated my support of re-examining the incentive levels of the BETC. That is why I fully endorsed another bill that directed the Oregon Department of Energy, Public Utility Commission and Oregon Business Development Department to commission an economic analysis of renewable energy projects that qualify for the BETC so we can obtain the latest facts and make an informed decision about the program going forward. That study will be completed by next October in order to have the necessary information for the 2011 legislative session before the program sunsets in 2012.

When I vetoed the bill, I also directed the Department of Energy to tighten the rules implementing the BETC, including clarifying issues around awarding multiple BETCs, establishing clear performance criteria, such as job creation, as well as increasing state authority to revoke, approve or deny BETC applications. These rules, which were developed over the last three months, took effect this month and are a first step to better ensure that Oregon is getting a return on its investment.

A second step was taken last week to begin to address the pass-through option discount rate. There are also other ideas about making the program more selective that we should continue to debate during the February 2010 special session and the 2011 regular legislative session. With the new rules in effect, as well as an updated economic analysis of the program, we will have the information needed to make prudent decisions about how best to ensure that this program delivers new jobs, greater energy efficiency and clean, renewable energy.

The BETC program has played an invaluable role in helping Oregon become a leader in green jobs and technology. I agree that we need to take another look at not only the kinds of projects that qualify for the program, but also how the state implements it so the public is certain that the program is working to create jobs for Oregonians.

The citizens of Oregon should know that I am committed to making sure government is accountable and transparent. The BETC is a good program that requires continual re-evaluation to make sure the program is delivering the maximum benefit to the citizens of Oregon through clean energy and green jobs.

Ted Kulongoski is governor of Oregon.

Oregonian – http://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2009/11/oregon_governor_defends_green.html

Gig Harbor-based Peninsula Light Company To Enter Power-generating Business

On Dec.15, if all goes as planned, Gig Harbor’s Peninsula Light Company will start generating electricity for the first time in its 85-year history.

That’s the date Harvest Wind, PenLight’s wind project, will officially begin commercial operation.

The project, a collaboration between PenLight, Lakeview Light and Power, Cowlitz PUD and Eugene, Ore., Water and Electric Board, will generate 98.9 megawatts (MW) of “green,” environmentally friendly power.

It required a $50 million investment by PenLight, funded in part by an 8.5 percent rate increase earlier this year.

“That was the first increase we’ve had in eight years,” said Jonathan White, Penlight marketing manager. “There was virtually no complaint about it from our customers.”

That’s probably because there seems to be widespread support for renewable energy among PenLight customers, White added, citing the fact that more than 400 customers have chosen to pay extra on their monthly power bills to support “green power” projects.

“The electricity from Harvest Wind won’t actually turn on the lights in Gig Harbor homes,” White said. “It will go into the Northwest power grid and be distributed throughout the region.”

He explained that “you can’t separate the ‘green’ electrons generated by renewable energy sources like wind, from those generated by non-renewable sources” like natural gas or coal.

But even though electricity generated by Harvest Wind won’t come directly to Gig Harbor, it will help PenLight meet its I-937 requirements, according to Ray Grinberg, PenLight’s power resources director.

The I-937 initiative passed by Washington voters in 2006, requires utilities with 25,000 or more customers to obtain 15 percent of its power from renewable resources by 2020.

The initiative outlined a three-step process for meeting renewable requirements, Grinberg said.

“We have to have three percent renewable in 2012, nine percent in 2016 and by 2020, 15 percent of our sales must be met by renewables,” he said. “Harvest Wind takes us to our 2016 requirements, so now we need to be planning for 2016 and beyond.”

White said that one of the possibilities the utility is considering to meet its renewable requirements in the future is a project in which “the green electrons would go directly into our own system.”

He mentioned a solar project in central Washington that generates power for a nearby community as an example.

“In a community-based system, you might find a piece of land, like a local park, and build a solar-powered system that would generate power for the whole community,” he explained.

Of all the renewable-energy options, White said, solar seems the most promising at this time.

“The problem is cost. Right now solar costs about $8 per watt. That’s about a $32,000 investment for the average local home that uses 4MW a year,” he said.

“When the cost gets down to two or three dollars per watt, that same 4MW system would cost about $12,000, which seems much more doable for people.”

Grinberg said that in order to anticipate its future needs, PenLight must be ‘”nimble enough to forecast and see the trends coming. In the future, we may just buy our renewable power from somewhere instead of building our own generating system. But it’s always better to own our own system.”

For information on Harvest Wind, go to peninlight.org/harvestwind.

Kitsap Sun – http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2009/nov/13/gig-harbor-based-peninsula-light-company-enter-pow/

Teanaway solar Reserve debate continues in Wash.

The Web site of a group calling itself Friends of the Teanaway misrepresents the impact of a proposed solar reserve project sought for the area, a backer of the project said Thursday.

Teanaway Solar Reserve LLC, a private company headed by Howard Trott, hopes to build a solar reserve which backers say would produce up to 75 megawatts of energy, enough to potentially power was many as 45,000 homes.

Ron Dotzauer of Strategies 360, a firm working on the Teanaway Solar Reserve (TSR) project, said he was a little “chagrinned and taken aback” by claims made by Jim Brose, chairman of the group which claims more than 20 families including representatives from both the West Side and Kittitas County.

Brose, a Mill Creek resident, has property in the Teanaway.

The group’s Web site, http://www.friendsoftheteanaway.org, claims that the TSR project poses significant negative impacts for both the land, wildlife and the community.

TSR says the Web site is a scare tactic with misleading and erroneous information.

“He’s got no credibility,” Dotzauer said of Brose. Claims made about negative impacts of the project were “half-truths or making things up. He talks about destruction of 600 acres of ‘pristine land.’ That site has been logged several times in the past few years. To call it ‘pristine’ is just baloney,” Dotzauer said.

He noted that the company has pledged to plant three trees for any tree removed as a result of the project.

Dotzauer said claims on the Web site that the project would visible in “all directions for up to eight miles” are not the truth.

Dotzauer said the site deliberately misrepresents the actual impact.

“His messages are to scare people but they’re not honest,” Dotzauer said.

Brose, who said in an interview earlier this week that his group feels TSR is rushing to move the project through the county permitting process, is off base in suggesting TSR is trying to ram it down the community’s throat, Dotzauer said.

Project backers could have chosen to seek approval for the project through the state’s Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council (EFSEC) rather than Kittitas County, Dotzauer said.

EFSEC provides a “one-stop” siting process for major energy facilities in the state and coordinates all evaluation and licensing steps. The Wild Horse Wind and Solar Power Project, the Kittitas Valley Wind Power Project and the Desert Claim Wind Power Project have all been handled by EFSEC.

“We could have gone the EFSEC route and said ‘To heck with the community.’ I have every confidence if we’d gone that route we’d have had no trouble (winning approval),” he said. “We chose not to do that. We chose to come into the community and talk not only about renewable energy but about the jobs it can potentially create and the things we’re doing to help the community.”

Dotzauer said he believes most in the Cle Elum community who oppose the project are people who oppose creating an economy around renewable energy.

TSR, which proposes to bring a company to Cle Elum to assemble the 400,000 photovoltaic panels it says will be needed for the project, says the solar reserve has the potential to bring both jobs and to allow Central Washington University “to put its stake in the ground” in terms of renewable energy programs and training.

“We’re being transparent with what we’re doing,” he said. “I’m tired of people who lob missiles from a long distance” instead of coming up and directly confronting TSR representatives.

“He doesn’t want to tell the truth,” Dotzauer said. “All he wants to do is scare people. I get tired of the Jim Broses of the world who have theirs and don’t want anyone else to get theirs.”

Meagan Walker, also of Strategies 360, said backers of the project had considered using the EFSEC route but opted against it, choosing to make the community part of the process.

“It was a very intentional decision,” she said.

Dotzauer said information on TSR is available at http://www.teanawaysolarreserve.com or by e-mail at info@teanawaysolarreserve.com or by calling (877) 509-76527 (SOLAR).

MARY SWIFT, Daily Record – http://www.kvnews.com/articles/2009/11/14/news/doc4afe5cd5e9c93482588177.txt

Update on possible Newberry Crater Geothermal plant November 12, 2009

With a $25 million influx of federal stimulus money, two companies are planning to try a different way of generating geothermal power just west of Newberry National Volcanic Monument.

But to test this method, Newberry Geothermal and AltaRock will need to add something more to the equation — an estimated 77 million gallons of water or more.

“The water question is clearly one that we all know is there, and that we will have to address,” said Doug Perry, the president of Newberry Geothermal.

In a traditional geothermal system, a company drills a deep well and taps into a pent up supply of water or steam, heated by the surrounding rocks. But when Newberry Geothermal drilled test wells in 2008, they found hot rocks but no water or steam.

So the idea with the new method, called enhanced geothermal systems, is to pump outside water down into a system of hairline fractures, have the rocks heat up the water, then pump it back to the surface. The hot water or steam will be harnessed to turn turbines, then cooled a bit and sent back down to be heated up again.

But the rocks could be leaky, said Asante Riverwind, with the local chapter of the Sierra Club, and people don’t yet know how much water one of these plants would consume to generate power.

“Where would they get this water, given the water concerns already existent here?” Riverwind said.

Newberry Geothermal already has a temporary OK to use up to 100 gallons of water a minute, which it can get from any of four groundwater wells.

The company had to make up for the water it removed from the groundwater aquifer by buying mitigation credits, which pay for other projects that put water back into streams and rivers of the Deschutes Basin.

“Some farmer, someplace in Deschutes County or the Deschutes basin, is not irrigating, and in return the groundwater mitigation buyer is using that water instead,” said Scott McCaulou, program director with the Deschutes River Conservancy.

The Newberry project doesn’t need to mitigate for that much water, compared with irrigators and other water users, he said — it’s about the equivalent of watering 2 or 3 acres of alfalfa.

If the company needed to use more water, it could either apply for a new temporary license to do so, which would require more mitigation credits, McCaulou said, or buy up new water rights.

And the geothermal project will probably need to use more water, Perry said.

Water is needed for several steps in the enhanced geothermal system. Crews use water to drill a well, and then pump pressurized water down into that well to fracture a network of tiny cracks in the rocks thousands of feet below the surface.

“It takes a lot of water for a short period of time” to create that network of cracks, Perry said.

The company will also use water to drill another well or two that will eventually bring hot water back to the surface. And it will use more water to test how well the whole system works — how easily the water flows from the original well, through the network of cracks, and back up to the surface.

Because this is a relatively new way of doing things, especially in the United States, geologists don’t know exactly how much water this will take, Perry said.

But based on a similar project in France, Perry estimated that drilling the wells, creating the cracks and testing the system would take between 77 million and 121 million gallons of water — more than the 53 million gallons they currently have the OK for.

In comparison, on the peak summer day in 2007, the city of Bend used 27 million gallons of water, according to a city publication.

Creating the cracks would also take an OK from water officials to use more than 100 gallons a minute, he said.

Perry added that most of the water used in these tests remains in the different rock layers. Some of the fluid, however, is lost to evaporation — and that has to be mitigated for.

After the testing phase for enhanced geothermal systems, if the company decides to build a power plant, additional water would be needed to keep flow circulating through the system.

Project planners don’t yet have an estimate for that volume, Perry said, noting that a lot depends on how leaky the rocks are and how much water needs to be replaced.

There could be alternatives to groundwater as well, he said. Project designers could end up piping in gray water, or treated wastewater, and cycling that through the underground reservoir. Or, some new technology uses liquefied carbon dioxide instead of water, he said.

But it will be several years before Newberry gets to the power plant stage, he said, and the company hopes by that time the enhanced geothermal tests will reveal more about how much water would be necessary.

“We’ll know enough so it will be a lot more factual based, (rather) than by analogy,” Perry said.

Kate Ramsayer, Bend Bulletin – http://www.bendbulletin.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091112/NEWS0107/911120393/1001/NEWS01&nav_category=NEWS01

EFSEC to decide on desert claim wind farm on Monday

The state Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council, or EFSEC, will meet at 5:30 p.m. Monday at the Hal Holmes Community Center to consider a recommendation to Gov. Chris Gregoire on whether to approve the 95-turbine, $330 million Desert Claim Wind Power Project.

EFSEC officials estimate a final decision by the governor could come in early February 2010 at the latest.

The wind farm, proposed by the French-owned firm of enXco USA Inc., is planned for eight miles northwest of Ellensburg spread on 5,200 acres north of Smithson Road.

The project was the focus of EFSEC meetings in Ellensburg in July, and the seven-member council has deliberated behind closed doors twice since then to reach consensus on its recommendation.

Allen Fiksdal, EFSEC manager, said council members will vote during the Monday public meeting on issuing a recommendation on the wind farm in the form of an administrative order from EFSEC.

“At this point, the order would either be for its approval or denial,” Fiksdal said earlier this week.

If EFSEC recommends approval, the order will contain a draft site certification that outlines the conditions enXco must follow in building and operating the wind farm.

A recommendation of approval for the project by EFSEC would also include a decision to pre-empt or override county land-use rules related to the county commissioners’ April 2005 rejection of an earlier version of the project.

That initial version had 120 turbines, and commissioners voted to reject it stating it wasn’t compatible with the surrounding land-use.

Officials of enXco on Feb. 6, 2009, filed with EFSEC a revised plan that called for 95 turbines in a new configuration that they said significantly reduces, by 75 percent, the number of rural residences located within 2,500 feet of planned wind turbine locations.

Company officials said the 2,500-foot setback was what county government sought as the buffer in talks with enXco in 2007.

In any case, the Monday order also will contain EFSEC’s findings of facts and conclusions of law to support its approval or rejection.

Once the order is issued by EFSEC, enXco has until Nov. 30 to request EFSEC reconsider all or parts of its decision. Parties to the EFSEC process will then have the opportunity to respond to EFSEC about any reconsideration request.

If no request for reconsideration comes from enXco, the recommendation is expected to reach the governor a few days after Nov. 30.

At that point Gregoire has 60 days within which to make a final decision.

By MIKE JOHNSTON, Daily Record – http://www.kvnews.com/articles/2009/11/12/news/doc4afc504ab49c6976614452.txt

Project aims to turn irrigation ditch into power November 11, 2009

An $11 million hydroelectric facility that will harness flows from an irrigation canal in the same way power is tapped from rivers is planned west of Fairfield, with NorthWestern Energy lined up to buy the electricity.

The Turnbull Hydroelectric Project, which will produce 13 megawatts of electricity, will be constructed 4 miles west of Fairfield on the Spring Valley Canal in the Greenfields Irrigation District. That district distributes water from the Sun River to farmers and ranchers, said hydroelectric engineer Ted Sorenson of Idaho Falls.

Turnbull Hydro LLC, which is building the facility, is a joint venture of Sorenson, rancher Wade Jacobsen and the Greenfields Irrigation District.

The 13 megawatts is enough electricity to power 8,000 to 10,000 homes. Most of the power probably will be used in the immediate vicinity, he said.

“All of Fairfield will be energized from this power,” Sorenson said.

When the project is finished, Turnbull will be considered a “summer peaker” because it will provide power when water and air conditioner use is high. The system will operate during irrigation season from May to September. Construction is scheduled to begin in fall 2010.

Using irrigation canals to generate electricity at times of peak demand is common in Idaho and California, but the Greenfield’s project is the first Sorenson knows of in Montana.

“It’s a new application of old technology,” said Sorenson, who was the project engineer on a 7.5-megawatt hydroelectric project completed at Tiber Dam in 2004.

Separate generating facilities will be placed at two concrete canal “drops,” or flumes, known as Upper Turnbull and Lower Turnbull, along the Spring Valley Canal.

Upper Turnbull is 1,100 feet long and drops 100 feet, while the 2,600-foot Lower Turnbull descends 140 feet. The flumes carry water from Pishkun Reservoir across steep declines.

“They’re kind of like a big waterslide,” Sorenson said.

Pipelines parallel to each flume will divert the water. As the water descends through the contained pipelines, the resulting pressure will be captured at the bottom of the flumes with turbines, which will convert it into electricity.

It’s the same concept as having a tank of water in the attic of a home that produces good faucet pressure on the main floor, Sorenson said. Energy from the flumes, which were constructed in 1928, is going to waste right now, Sorenson said.

The diverted water will be returned to the canal system without disrupting delivery to producers, Sorenson said.

NorthWestern Energy, which provides electricity and natural gas to 656,000 customers in Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska, announced Tuesday that it had signed a 20-year contract with Turnbull to purchase the power.

NorthWestern spokeswoman Claudia Rapkoch said the company requested bids for renewable energy supply agreements a year ago, then reached a deal with Turnbull after a lengthy negotiation.

“This particular project is very cost effective, very favorable to customers,” she said.

The green power will help NorthWestern meet the state’s renewable energy standards, which require public utilities to procure a minimum of 10 percent of their retail sales of electricity from renewable resources by 2010, and 15 percent by 2015, Rapkoch said.

KARL PUCKETT, Great Falls Tribune – http://www.greatfallstribune.com/article/20091111/NEWS01/911110305/Project-aims-to-turn-irrigation-ditch-into-power

Biomass meeting draws a crowd in Wallace, ID

With oil supplies dwindling, carbon footprints expanding and ice caps shrinking, countries around the globe are seeking cleaner, more renewable energy sources.Here in the United States, growing environmental concerns are a hot topic in Washington, D.C. — where “going green” has become a ubiquitous political catch-phrase. Locally, the welfare of Panhandle ecosystems is a top priority for the Forest Service, Idaho Fish and Game, IDEQ, area firefighting districts and other groups.

Keeping with the worldwide environmental trend, authorities from various organizations gathered at the Wallace Inn Thursday and Friday for the Forest Restoration and Biomass Roundtable. Attendees filled a large conference room, listening quietly as Shoshone County Commissioners Vince Rinaldi, Jon Cantamessa and Vern Hanson began the proceedings.

The commissioners touched on a primary goal of the roundtable: To discuss the potential for building a biomass facility somewhere in the county.

“Our basis of operation is the health, safety and welfare of our population,” Rinaldi explained. “We have a project in mind; we are very concerned with our WUI (Wildland Urban Interface) in Shoshone County. You need to listen to the people we’ve assembled. We really believe they have something to say.”

The proposed facility would utilize biomass as a primary fuel, churning out roughly 6-20 megawatts of electricity. A combination of organic forest materials like slash, small treetops, brush and grasses, biomass is a fuel that burns quite cleanly, is almost entirely renewable and can be obtained in large quantities. A plant in Shoshone County would reduce autumn smoke from burning slash piles, and, by eliminating large quantities of combustible biomass, would also reduce the risk of a 1910-type fire disaster.

From environmental and engineering standpoints, biomass facilities make a lot of sense. But before a plant is constructed, various cause-and-effect relationships must be considered, including the economic and ecological impact of such a facility. And of course, as with any large-scale project, cost is a deciding factor.

That’s why the commissioners invited several panels of foresters, biologists and engineers, all with wide-ranging knowledge in many different fields of study. The first topic was the ecological conditions of Shoshone County, with presentations by Carol Randal and Von Helmuth of the Forest Service, county fire risk expert Henry Nipp and IDFG personnel Jim Hayden and Ryan Hardy.

Randal went over the makeup of area forests — what kind of trees are growing where, what size logs, the prevalence of diseases, etc. Nipp discussed fire remediation and mitigation tactics within Shoshone County’s WUI, while Hayden and Hardy spoke of the game and fish that call the county home.

The second panel began with Randy Swick, district ranger for the Coeur d’ Alene ranger district, who noted that just one pile of slash could cover one household’s entire electric bill for one month. He added that biomass can be found in many places throughout Shoshone County; rehabilitation stands, 1910 fire areas and logging sites were three examples given. Swick also highlighted the Coordinated Resource Operating Protocol (CROP), which will be utilized by the Forest Service to ascertain just how much biomass is available.

Bob Helmer, of the Idaho Department of Lands, discussed the potential biomass availability on state lands — saying the challenge will be collecting material that supports energy markets but does not penalize existing industries. Next up was Mike James from McKinstry Essential, whose company has been contracted with Shoshone County to conduct a feasibility study for the facility. He delved into the option of utilizing municipal solid waste as a biomass feeder (which, he said, would be much better than the current solution of piling waste in a landfill).

Entering the afternoon session, Chad Davis of Sustainable Northwest presented the economic benefits of wood-to-energy technology, while Dr. Harriet Ammann (Amman Toxicology Consulting, LLC) and Wayne Kraft (Washington Department of Ecology) spoke on emissions technology, regulations and options.

The workshop adjourned following an overview from Rinaldi and James; it recommenced Friday morning at 8:30 a.m., focused on moving forward with the potential project. A committee called the Core Planning Group was organized.

“[The group’s] primary function was just to bring some structure to this project,” Cantamessa said. “We thought that the session was very successful from what we were hoping for when we organized it.”

Rinaldi commented on the general mood of the roundtable, which drew in more attendees than the commissioners had been expecting.

“The thought was: This makes sense, we hope it works,” he said. “From the economic development standpoint, that part of it is a no-brainer.”

Considering the roundtable altogether, every facet of the two-day meeting was a small part of the big picture. A biomass facility would make Shoshone County “greener” and open the door for sustainable energy. It would create new jobs (both during construction and after), eliminate fire-prone logging slash and ostensibly provide a better solution for municipal solid waste. And it would also affect the ecology of the region, hopefully improving the health of the county’s forests.

But a facility is still a long way off, and a lot of mapping, plotting and planning needs to take place before the blueprints are drawn up. The commissioners said more meetings will be scheduled as the project takes shape; stay tuned for new developments.

NICK ROTUNNO, Shoshone News Press – http://www.shoshonenewspress.com/articles/2009/11/10/breaking_news/doc4af9a24b2f9fa609211864.txt

Southern Idaho Solid Waste planing a methane-fueled plant

That bag of trash you’re about to toss could soon power someone’s home.

Southern Idaho Solid Waste is looking to build a methane-fueled generator at Milner Butte Landfill, which was established in the early 1990s in southern Cassia County and houses trash tossed by residents of seven south-central Idaho counties.

A methane-gas collection system came online in September and is currently feeding data to Josh Bartlome, the environmental specialist conducting the system’s initial testing. The landfill’s methane gas currently flows at between 315 and 330 standard cubic feet per minute, more than enough to support a generator in the future, Bartlome said.

The landfill’s new system is largely the result of federal regulations, Bartlome said. First, it had to be lined. Then other rules had to be met, including a collection and control system for the methane gas once the site met certain criteria.

Southern Idaho Solid Waste planned ahead, installing horizontal gas wells at the site over time.

“As we’ve been growing, we’ve been building at the same time,” Bartlome said.

When an emissions test last year found that the site would soon require the collection system, officials were prepared. Workers started to hook everything together in May, and the gas started flowing in September.

Right now, that gas is being burned off with a flare, something that does generate greenhouse-gas credits, Bartlome said. He reviews data every day from all aspects of the setup to make sure everything’s working as it should.

Milner Butte would become only the second landfill in Idaho to generate power from methane gas and sell it back to a utility. The only landfill that currently has such a sales agreement is the one run by Ada County, said Gene Fadness, spokesman for the Idaho Public Utilities Commission.

There, county officials partnered with a private company four years ago to set up generators now supplying 3.2 megawatts to Idaho Power Co. – enough to power 2,400 homes. The company supplied and owns the generators and buys the gas from the county, paying about $225,000 a year, said Ted Hutchinson, Ada County’s landfill manager. The arrangement works well enough that the county is currently drilling more gas wells that the company might then expand to include.

Milner Butte operators haven’t decided yet what to do with anything they generate, Bartlome said – sell it, provide it to member counties or something else altogether. But things certainly look promising.

“If everything stays as it is, we’re going to be ahead of schedule,” Bartlome said.

Nate Poppino, Magic Valley Times-News – http://www.magicvalley.com/news/local/article_0d72324c-cdc2-11de-87fb-001cc4c03286.html

Wash. state wind facility adds another 22 turbines

Puget Sound Energy says its Wild Horse wind farm in the hills of Central Washington has added another 22 turbines producing power.

The new turbines went online Monday and joins the 127 turbines that entered service in December 2006. The new turbines are expected to produce another 44 megawatts of power at the facility.

Initial development of the expanded wind farm began in 2008 and construction was completed earlier this year. Testing and commissioning of the new turbines finished in October.

The wind farm is located atop Whiskey Dick Mountain about 16 miles east of Ellensburg at an elevation of 3,500 feet.

Associated Press – http://www.theolympian.com/business/wire/story/1031381.html

Klickitat County wind farm project gets $19.4M in stimulus money

A wind farm project near Goldendale in Klickitat County has received $19.4 million in federal stimulus funds, with the developer expecting a total of more than $170 million in federal grants to help pay for the $1 billion project.

Cannon Power Group of San Diego, which is building the 400-megawatt wind power plant with Windy Point Partners II LLC, said the funds are part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act money targeting renewable energy projects.

When completed, the wind power project will supply power to California municipalities, generating enough power for more than 250,000 California homes per year. The Southern California Public Power Authority (SCPPA) pre-paid for a 20-year block of power using a tax-exempt $500 million bond issuance.

Last month, the project received $178 million in funds from Siemens Financial Services Inc.

Cannon officials called the Klickitat County project a “win-win” for the local community.

“This project brought more than 300 construction jobs and additional permanent positions. New roads also help area farmers and ranchers, and wind turbine leases generate income and a much needed financial cushion for many area families,” said Gary Hardke, Cannon’s president and managing director, in a statement.

Seattle Business Journal – http://seattle.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2009/11/09/daily22.html

 

Group forms to oppose Teanaway solar reserve

When his son was going to Central Washington University, Jim Brose and his family fell in love with the peace and beauty of the Teanaway.

Now, Brose is heading an effort he believes is crucial to save that peace and beauty.

The 62-year-old Brose, who lives in the Mill Creek area on the West Side but owns a residence in the Teanaway, is chairman of Friends of the Teanaway, a non-profit group formed to oppose construction of the Teanaway Solar Reserve (TSR).

Teanaway Solar Reserve LLC, a private company, hopes to build the project on part of 900-plus acres it has leased in the Teanaway from the American Forest Land Co.

It’s been billed as the largest solar installation in the state.

But Brose says it’s wrong to put it in the Teanaway.

“It’s such a beautiful area, and so relaxing. The impact of this proposal would be much more noticeable than what they’re saying. We feel it would change the whole atmosphere,” Brose said.

He said opponents feel the company is attempting to rush the project through at the expense of the community.

Friends of the Teanaway currently includes more than 20 families, most of them residing in the Cle Elum or Teanaway areas, he said.

Opponents challenge TSR assurances that the solar installation won’t be visible to most people in the area.

Friends of the Teanaway members also challenge what they claim are “misleading and contradictory information” provided by TSR and charge that TSR is misleading the public.

“TSR has said on one hand that ‘not even the closest neighbors will see the solar panels,’” said Barb King, a member of Friends of the Teanaway who lives on Lookout Mountain.

She claims that “graphs” submitted by the company to the county show “the public will clearly see this nearly two-mile wide eye sore for up to eight miles in all directions.”

The group also contends that TSR is “closely connected to the American Forest Land Co.,” which is proposing a development on land it owns in the area. Last week, the Kittitas County Board of Commissioners temporarily suspended a sub-area planning process for the Teanaway in the wake of a police investigation into the disappearance of public documents. The Ellensburg Police Department announced Tuesday that it has completed its investigation into the disappearance and recovery of records missing from the Kittitas County Community Development Services department. Based on that investigation, the case has been referred to the Kittitas County Prosecutor’s Office for any charging consideration.

TSR representatives have consistently said that their project is not related to AFLC’s hoped-for development in the area. Howard Trott, managing partner for TSR, reiterated that assertion this week in a phone interview.

Brose said members of Friends of the Teanaway believe the solar reserve project is being “rushed through. We’re concerned that this is going to change the whole atmosphere (of the Teanaway), and they’re trying to do it so fast,” he said.

MARY SWIFT, Daily Record – http://www.kvnews.com/articles/2009/11/11/news/doc4afb098890b8c175837961.txt

Oregon curbs controversial tax breaks for wind and solar firms November 9, 2009

Oregon energy officials released new rules Tuesday aimed at curbing a controversial state program that grants lucrative tax subsidies for wind, solar and other renewable power plants.

The changes are intended to rein in some of the runaway costs of the program by making it harder for one project to qualify for multiple tax credits and by giving the Oregon Department of Energy greater leeway to deny an application.

The new rules also allow the state to withdraw the subsidy to a company that doesn’t produce the amount of energy, conservation or jobs it promised in its application. The rules become effective immediately but don’t apply to businesses that have already qualified for the tax credits.

“We took this action because we wanted to preserve the program but also to make sure we were reducing the fast growth in the program and reducing its impact on the general fund,” said Energy Department Director Mark Long.

The announcement of the new rules comes on the heels of an investigation by The Oregonian that showed state officials lowballed the cost of the Business Energy Tax Credit program before asking the Legislature to boost the size of the subsidies. The investigation also showed little oversight or accountability in the way the credits have been handed out.

Some companies awarded the credits went bankrupt or failed to perform. Records show that 97 percent of applicants have been granted tax credits. Since 2007, the cost of the subsidies has ballooned from about $10million a year to an estimated $167 million in the 2009-11 biennium.

One corporation, Oregon Windfarms, was able to claim four tax credits, worth a total of $40 million, for what many in the Energy Department considered to be a single project.

Long said the new rules spell out more clearly what qualifies for multiple tax credits and what doesn’t.

The incentives are designed to entice renewable energy companies to build plants in Oregon, such as the Sanyo solar plant that opened in Salem with much fanfare Monday. But the tax credits came under fire during this year’s legislative session for their skyrocketing costs at a time when lawmakers had to make cuts to schools and state services. Lawmakers are expected to renew their effort to reduce the subsidies when they return to Salem for a special session in February.

“Those all sound like positive changes,” Sen. Ginny Burdick, D-Portland, said about the tighter rules. Burdick, who chairs the Senate Finance and Revenue Committee, has been one of the harshest critics of the tax subsidies. She spearheaded a bill to cut the subsidies to large wind farms, arguing that the incentives were unnecessary and that the money would be better spent elsewhere.

The bill passed the Senate and the House but was vetoed by Gov. Ted Kulongoski. Burdick noted that many of the changes announced Tuesday were contained in the bill.

After vetoing the bill, Kulongoski directed Long to come up with new rules addressing some of the problems with the energy tax credits.

“The governor gave this direction at the end of the last legislative session and is pleased with this first step,” said Kulongoski spokeswoman Anna Richter Taylor. “He thinks the conversation needs to continue in February and the 2011 session.”

Long said the new rules will add a needed layer of accountability to the tax subsidies while maintaining a program that has made Oregon an attractive location for wind and solar firms.

The new rules are considered temporary. However, energy officials have filed the paperwork to make them permanent by May.

Harry Esteve, The Oregonian – http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/11/oregon_curbs_controversial_tax.html

Oregon Convention Center opts for rooftop solar

The Oregon Convention Center has selected SunEdison to build a solar rooftop power system that’s projected to fill 12 percent of the building’s energy demand when completed in spring 2010.

The rooftop solar array will be the largest in the Pacific Northwest, the convention center says.

The Metropolitan Exposition Recreation Commission, which operates the venue on behalf of the Metro regional government, approved SunEdison’s selection today.

Under a solar power services agreement, SunEdison will finance, construct, and operate the system. The commission agreed to purchase the electricity at fixed prices equal to or below current retail rates.

Sanyo Energy’s Salem-based plant will supply the silicon ingots and wafers for the solar modules, the convention center said.

Scott Learn, The Oregonian – http://www.oregonlive.com/environment/index.ssf/2009/11/oregon_convention_center_opts.html

Tidal turbines off Marrowstone proceed toward permits

Plans are moving ahead to place a trio of underwater, tide-powered turbines on the sea floor one-third of a mile east of Marrowstone Island’s Nodule Point.

A briefing held Oct. 22 in Port Townsend for federal, state and local regulators revealed details of the pilot project, which is being managed by the U.S. Navy based on a direct multi-million-dollar appropriation inserted by a group of congressmen into the 2009 defense budget.

The trio of turbines, each resembling squat versions of Eastern Washington’s wind generators, would rise 36 feet up from the sea floor in 72 feet of water at a zero tide. The 4-ton turbines would be bolted to the three corners of a massive steel triangular platform that weighs some 40 tons.

Thanks to swift and consistent tidal ebbs and flows off east Marrowstone, the three uncovered blades on each unit would sweep through the seawater with a 16.4-foot diameter cycle at about 40 revolutions per minute – the tips moving 34 feet per second.

All three units are designed to swing 180 degrees when the tide shifts. The tidal current off Marrowstone is sufficient to power the turbines only for about six hours per day, according to reports.

Temporary project

The installation is designed to be a temporary pilot project to test the ability of the turbines to operate in a remote saltwater environment. The plan calls for the entire platform to be lifted from the sea floor within a year of installation. If permits and funding come through, the installation could happen over a three-week period in the early fall of 2011 or 2012.

Boaters would be warned away from the array by floating and lighted buoys that mark off a 1,300-foot by 1,300-foot surface area. Proponents say that in an existing experimental display of the underwater turbines in the East River off Manhattan in New York, fish tend to steer clear of the rotating turbines. However, an official said at the Oct. 22 briefing that it might be possible to brake the blades to a halt if marine mammals are detected in the area.

Power from the turbines would flow through a trio of cables to a junction box on the platform, and from there to a second junction box on the ocean floor about 140 feet beyond. From there, the steel-jacketed, 2-inch-diameter trunk cable would reach shore through a unique horizontal borehole that bypasses tidal zones and coastal zone disturbances.

The project, called the Navy Puget Sound Hydrokinetic Project (NPS-KHPS), is being managed by the Navy, thanks to the congressional appropriation that has already approved $2.4 million for what could be a $14 million total over five years, according to the Navy’s Mike McCallister, who led the briefing on Oct. 22. The Navy intends to bring the power ashore to Naval Magazine Indian Island.

Horizontal drilling
The power cable could come to Indian Island after coming ashore at an east Marrowstone park, and then be carried by overhead wires to the naval base with the cooperation of Puget Sound Energy. Or the cable could snake underwater for some four miles around the southern end of Marrowstone to the southern end of Indian Island near Oak Bay Park and come ashore directly. While discussion has taken place about the PSE option, no decisions have been made.

A unique technology called “horizontal directional drilling” is expected to minimize environmental impacts of bringing the power cable ashore. A borehole is drilled from the land that bends downward and then moves horizontally below the beach until it punches through into saltwater 60 to 90 feet below the intertidal zone. A flexible PVC pipe is placed in the borehole, and later the power cable is pulled through the pipe.

An on-shore vault is the landward anchor for the cable. When the power gets to Indian Island, a small monitoring station tracks the power, monitors the underwater location and controls the turbines.

The NPS-KHPS tidal generator proposal is a pilot project to demonstrate the underwater tidal technology in a remote saltwater environment. It is still in the preapplication phase under the National Environmental Protection Act, with the Navy as the lead agency.

Stacie Hoskins of the Jefferson County Department of Community Development, who attended the Oct. 22 briefing, said the county has no direct oversight over the project, as no county permits are needed. However the state Department of Ecology (DOE) is involved and is charged with ensuring that the project complies with county shorelines laws before issuing state permits.

Rebekah Padgett, federal permit manager with DOE, said her review would take county code into account. Other state and federal officials are looking at possible impacts on marine life, she said. Other key agencies are the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Naval Facilities Engineering Command.

By Scott Wilson,The Leader – http://www.ptleader.com/main.asp?SectionID=36&SubSectionID=55&ArticleID=25563

Power project collaborators pick Montana

A Canadian transmission company and an Irish wind developer said Friday they are teaming up to pursue a central Montana power project that could result in at least $1 billion worth of new wind energy in the Great Falls area.

If the project succeeds, it would give Montana’s burgeoning wind energy industry room to grow – an expansion that to date has been limited by a lack of lines to move power out of the state.

Toronto-based Tonbridge Power Inc. already is building a $215 million transmission line that will carry wind power along a 200-mile route between Lethbridge, Alberta, and Great Falls. The company now is considering a 100-mile link between that line and another in southern Montana that connects to electricity markets in the Pacific Northwest.

The new project would be known as the Green Line. Tonbridge CEO Johan van’t Hof said Friday it would likely carry only wind power.

Tonbridge would allocate at least 500 megawatts of capacity to the North American subsidiary of Dublin wind developer Gaelectric.

Gaelectric Vice President Van Jamison said that equates to about $1 billion worth of wind energy projects. The company has about 100,000 to 150,000 acres under long-term lease in the Great Falls area for future wind farms, he said.

Matthew Brown, Associated Press – http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2009/nov/07/power-project-collaborators-pick-montana/

Geologists plan S. Idaho geothermal test drilling

Geologists plan to drill a pair of mile-deep holes in southern Idaho in a hunt for geothermal fields that could be tapped to produce energy.

The $4.6 million project being led by Utah State University is spread over two years and is being paid for with federal stimulus money.

John Shervais, a professor and head of Utah State’s Department of Geology, said the work will provide valuable student opportunities, boost the economy and help advance geothermal technologies.

“We know it’s going to be hot, but nobody’s ever drilled that deep in these areas,” Shervais told The Times-News.

Also taking part in the project are Boise State University, the U.S. Geological Survey, the University of Alberta, and the International Continental Drilling Program based in Potsdam, Germany.

The holes will be drilled through volcanic plains in Lincoln County starting in the spring or early summer. The drilling should also give researchers a better understanding of the Snake River Plain geology.

One hole is planned over a thick portion of the plain, while a second is on the edge. Researchers are hoping to find out whether the two locations have similar levels of heat and ability to produce power.

The drilling sites are on public land.

Shervais said the results of the drilling could help private companies decide whether they want to develop geothermal energy in the region.

“There’s plenty of public and private land near both sites that could be available for putting in a power plant, should we prove the resource is sufficient,” Shervais said.

Also getting federal stimulus money for geothermal projects is the Blaine County School District. It will receive $4 million to retrofit schools in Hailey, Carey and Bellevue in central Idaho with geothermal systems.

Boise State University is receiving $1.55 million to digitize and upload geologic data into a national system.

Associated Press – http://www.theolympian.com/northwest/story/1028671.html

Radar Ridge wind farm plan an uphill battle

A proposal to build the first wind farm in Western Washington may stall, and may even be doomed, because of concern turbine blades would kill members of an endangered bird species, a state lawmaker said Wednesday.

“I’m just not feeling real confident that this is going to grab hold and move forward very fast,” said Rep. Dean Takko, D-Longview. “There are key players who aren’t very supportive, and I think it’s going to hold this up. Is it going to kill it? I don’t know.”

Public-power developer Energy Northwest and four utility districts in Pacific, Grays Harbor, Clallam and Mason counties propose installing as many as 32 wind turbines on Radar Ridge in Pacific County. The wind farm would generate enough electricity for 18,000 homes and help the utilities meet a voter-approved mandate to invest in renewable energy. The towers, however, would be in the flight path of the federally protected marbled murrelet.

Consultants hired by Energy Northwest concluded recently that in a worst-case scenario a marbled murrelet would collide with a rotor about once every 18 months. Deaths could be further reduced by shutting down the towers during the breeding season, according to the report, which prompted the utilities to declare that their project would cause minor or insignificant harm to the species.

Another study commissioned by the state Department of Natural Resources made no attempt to pinpoint how many birds would be killed, but warned that some 87 marbled murrelets a year would fly through the wind farm and that the likelihood for deaths was high.

Spokesmen for the Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which enforces the Endangered Species Act, said Wednesday their agencies will hire outside experts to review Energy Northwest’s study.

In the meantime, the utilities will host a series of public meetings this month on the project. The utilities say they want to collect comments and get ready to apply for a federal permit that would allow them to operate a wind farm that might occasionally kill a marbled murrelet.

The utilities also will need permission from the DNR, which owns Radar Ridge and would collect potentially lucrative lease payments from the utilities.

Takko and the area’s other two state legislators back the wind farm, but Takko said federal and state regulators are cool to the project and that the PUDs may have to “pull the plug” rather than continuing to spend money on what could be a dead-end. “I don’t think it’s time quite yet, but we’re getting close,” he said.

Grays Harbor PUD, the largest utility involved in the project, has no plans to pull out, utility spokeswoman Liz Anderson said. “We’re proceeding forward and hope to complete the project,” she said.

Although state and federal agencies haven’t rejected the project, they’ve warned the utilities that pursuing the wind farm won’t be quick, easy or cheap.

“We’ve never said Radar Ridge can’t be permitted. What we’ve said is, it’s going to be a real challenge,” Fish and Wildlife Service spokesman Doug Zimmer said.

State Sen. Brian Hatfield, D-Raymond, said the PUDs should press ahead. “I think it’s worth it until they get some ‘hell, no,’ at some point,” he said.

Hatfield said the agencies would “look ridiculous” to the public if they stopped the project.

“I’m still pretty confident they’ll be able to move forward,” Hatfield said. “I have to be confident because I think commonsense will win out.”

U.S. Rep. Brian Baird, D-Vancouver, has met with utility and government officials about the proposal, but he has neither endorsed nor opposed the project.

Baird said he would like to see the wind farm built, but not if it turns out to be “the world’s largest marbled murrelet blender.”

“From a wind-energy standpoint, the site has a lot of appeal,” Baird said Wednesday. “The challenge is that there is really a substantial difference in opinions about the potential risk to marbled murrelets.”

Hatfield criticized the DNR for deciding recently not to consider leasing state land for a wind farm in Skamania County because the project might harm spotted owls. The senator said the decision suggested the department will resist a wind farm on Radar Ridge. “I’m very disappointed with the new lands commissioner (Peter Goldmark) so far,” Hatfield said.

Goldmark “is committed to renewable energy, but the challenge is the Endangered Species Act,” DNR spokesman Aaron Toso said. “We need to be pragmatic about it, and it comes down to making sure we do no harm.”

The public meetings hosted by the utilities on the project will be Nov. 10 at Grays Harbor PUD in Hoquiam, Nov. 17 at Naselle High School, and Nov. 18 at Raymond High School. All of the meetings will be from 6 to 9 p.m.

By Don Jenkins, Daily News – http://www.tdn.com/articles/2009/11/09/top_story/doc4af3b3f12c723029882123.txt

Glacier Wind Farm is state’s biggest wind energy project October 31, 2009

Last week was a week of good news for NaturEner USA, Montana Alberta Tie, Ltd., the State of Montana and Glacier and Toole Counties.

Gov. Brian Schweitzer and Jose Maria Sanchez Seara, NaturEner USA’s Chief Executive Officer, dedicated the second phase of the Glacier Wind Farm on Wednesday, Oct. 21. The Glacier Wind Farm, which is located in Glacier and Toole Counties, is the largest wind energy project in Montana.

“This wind farm is one of the reasons Montana is on the map as a leader in wind energy development,” said Gov. Schweitzer. “With a total of 210 megawatts, this is a significant contribution of clean and green, domestic energy to our region.”

San Diego Gas and Electric has contracted with NaturEner to purchase some of the energy produced by the project’s 140 turbines.

During the dedication ceremony, Ken Young, NaturEner’s Director of Asset Management, provided a brief history of the project. At the “land owner and local officials appreciation dinner” later that evening, Young expressed his gratitude to all those involved in the project.

He said he has worked on projects in Texas and New York, but working in Montana has been an enjoyable experience. He described the area landowners as “good stewards” of the land, adding they are a “good fit” for NaturEner.

Seara recalled his first trip to Montana three years ago to review the area, which now boasts 140 turbines and a $500 million investment by his company. “I know, I wrote the checks,” he grinned. He, too, thanked the land owners involved in the Glacier Wind Farm project, describing them as “one of our company’s most valuable assets.”

Gov. Schweitzer pointed out it won’t be long until the Glacier Wind Farm will be surpassed by another NaturEner wind farm, the Rim Rock Project, which is scheduled for construction 25 miles due north of the Glacier Wind Farm. NaturEner’s projected investment in the 206-turbine wind farm is $800 million. At 309 megawatts, the Rim Rock Wind Farm will be one of the largest in the Northwest and will create more than 500 construction jobs.

The Supreme Court of Canada, on Thursday, Oct. 22, dismissed the final appeal by an Alberta landowner group, which has been opposed to the construction of the $213 million Montana Albert Tie Ltd. (MATL) transmission line. With the Canadian high court’s decision, all avenues for legal challenges and appeals have been exhausted and construction of the transmission line and NaturEner’s Rim Rock Wind Farm can begin.

“We are extremely satisfied with the decision from the Supreme Court of Canada,” said Bob Williams, vice-president Regulatory, Montana Alberta Tie Ltd. “This was the last remaining road block and we plan to start construction as soon as possible.”

The power line project has undergone a complex, comprehensive and lengthy regulatory approval process taking almost four years including public hearings, environmental assessments and stakeholder engagement at multiple levels in both Canada and the United States. “We will continue to engage with all the landowners, listen to their concerns and negotiate fair compensation for the use of their land,” said Williams. “We are committed to being a good neighbor.”

The 230-kilovolt line will run from Lethbridge, Alberta to Great Falls and will be capable of moving 300 megawatts of power either north to south or south to north. Construction of the line provides a more reliable supply of electricity for southern Alberta and northern Montana and accesses the power grid for almost $1 billion in renewable wind power projects in the USA.

In dismissing the appeal, the Canadian Supreme Court also awarded legal costs to Montana Alberta Tie Ltd., NaturEner Energy Canada Inc. and NaturEner USA, LLC.

By LeAnne Kavanagh, Shelby Promoter – http://www.goldentrianglenews.com/articles/2009/10/28/shelby_promoter/news/news2.txt

Oregon geothermal projects get $40M in stimulus money

Continuing efforts to advance alternative energy resources and break our dependence on foreign oil and fossil fuels, U.S. Senators Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) announced nearly $40 million in Recovery Act funding for the exploration and development of geothermal energy technologies in Oregon.

“This funding will literally help to bring Oregon’s geothermal energy potential to the surface,” Wyden said. “It will create and sustain jobs improving alternative energy technology to better tap into Oregon’s unique set of renewable energy resources.”

“The Recovery Act continues to spur growth in the emerging clean energy industry,” Merkley said.  “These projects will create new jobs and solidify Oregon’s position as a leader in renewable energy production.”

Distributed by the U.S. Department of Energy, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding will support and create seven Oregon-based geothermal projects.

The funding dramatically increases geothermal energy development both in Oregon and nationwide and is a large step toward comprehensive utilization of alternative energy resources throughout the state.

The following seven Oregon projects are receiving funding through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act:

Nevada Geothermal Power Company- Crump Geyser- $1,764,272
This project will test a new, low environmentally impacting drilling technique and create a method to model the movement of fluid in the reservoir.

Newberry Geothermal Holdings- Newberry- $4,475,075
This project will use advanced techniques to locate geothermal reservoirs.

ORMAT, Nevada, Inc. – Glass Buttes- $4,377,000
This project will locate faults in geothermal reservoirs using advanced techniques.

The City of Klamath Falls- Klamath Falls- $816,000
This project will fund the construction of a low-temperature power plant with a district heating system to power the city of Klamath Falls.

Johnson Controls, Inc.- Oregon Institute of Technology (Klamath Falls)- $1,047,714
This project will install a low-temperature unit on the Oregon Institute of Technology campus.

AltaRock Energy, Inc. – Newberry Volcanic Monument (Bend)- $24,999,430
This project will generate power from the Newberry Geothermal Resource Area by demonstrating EGS (engineered geothermal systems) technology.

According to a San Francisco Chronicle article on a Bay Area project, AltaRock is developing a new form of geothermal power, drilling deeper into deep rocks, hotter than 500 degrees Fahrenheit. The Bay Area company will fracture those rocks with high-pressure water, creating a network of cracks. AltaRock then will pump more water into the cracks, using the rocks to heat the water and create steam.

Surprise Valley Electrification Corporation- Paisley- $2,000,000
This project will build a binary power plant that uses low-temperature fluids. It will also help to construct a local aquaculture facility.

Associated Press – http://www.ktvz.com/Global/story.asp?S=11410230

Walla Walla colleges energize community solar project

If representatives from each of Walla Walla’s three colleges have their way, the region will soon be transformed by an energy revolution. This, at least, is the hope of Walla Walla University physics professor Fred Liebrand. Liebrand is working on a community solar project which will unite Whitman, WWU and Walla Walla Community College in a venture to generate renewable energy.

“It just seemed like a very good idea that could help everyone,” said Liebrand. His idea is to solicit investments from community members and alumni of all three schools, which would be used to purchase a solar energy system.

“The idea is to allow people from the community in—people who couldn’t afford to put solar panels on their own homes,” said junior Nat Clarke, president of Whitman’s Campus Greens. Clarke is enthusiastic about the project and says Whitman only found out about it this fall.

“The school’s current involvement is cautiously interested but not actually engaged,” he said.

Clarke, along with Professor of Geology Bob Carson and the Whitman Conservation Committee, is in the process of determining how Whitman can become involved in the project.

Liebrand says that for both WWU and WWCC, the project would provide technical training for students who are studying engineering and other related fields. The goal of the project would be for students to do the actual system installation themselves.

“Whitman may rely more on the goodwill of its students,” he said, referring to the fact that Whitman has no technical programs. Nevertheless, he feels that installing a solar system would be a valuable experience for Whitman students.

“Knowing how things are put together is always valuable,” he said.

In addition to the logistical details, a major aspect of the project has been determining its financial viability. Installing a functional solar energy system is expensive, costing about $5,000 per kilowatt. One kilowatt will generate about $85 worth of energy in a year, so government incentives are key for the project to work.

Currently, the federal government will subsidize the installation of solar systems by giving a 30 percent tax credit on the cost of the entire system once it is installed. Washington also has a program in place to pay per kilowatt hour of energy generated. Community solar projects are eligible for double the rate residential projects can receive, and if the project uses solar panels made in Washington, the total incentive is up to $1.08 per kilowatt hour.

Though these incentives might seem high, Carson points out that it makes sense for the government to invest in solar energy.

“New power facilities are expensive, and we’re also getting clean air,” he said.

Carson said he’s communicating with the other colleges involved in the project to determine how they can move forward. The cooperation of local governments and utilities will be important, as will the participation of all three schools.

Whitman junior Ari Frink also sees an opportunity for the Network for Young Walla Walla to get involved in the project. The network was founded this year so that WWU, WWCC and Whitman students can work together on projects and share ideas.

“Once we find out what a solid role for the network could be within the solar project, I’ll bring it up,” he said.

Currently, the project’s future is still being determined. In spite of the logistical obstacles, Clarke believes the project can succeed.

“I’m really excited about this project,” he said. “If it gets through, it’s going to be the next big green thing on campus.”

By Rachel Alexander – http://whitmanpioneer.com/news/community/2009/10/29/community-solar-project/

Teanaway Solar Farm plan draws heated opposition October 29, 2009

Call it a baptism of fire for David Bowen, a former Kittitas County commissioner and former county auditor now working for Puget Sound Energy, who was announced Wednesday as the president of the American Forest Land Co. (AFLC).

AFLC’s Wayne Schwandt, a principal in the company, announced Bowen’s hiring before a crowd of more than 100 people who were attending a meeting at the Swauk-Teanaway Grange on the Teanaway subarea plan. A subarea plan focuses developing a long-term plan that protects and promotes important characteristics of the study area and identifies future uses for most of the area.

Schwandt said Bowen would be the company’s spokesperson and a resource for those with questions or concerns. (Bowen can be reached at (509) 899-4950 with questions on the AFLC plan.)

By the time the three-hour meeting was over, Bowen had been scolded publicly by two audience members for taking a job with the company and his wife had risen to his defense after one particularly harsh attack.

There had been talk of lawsuits, accusations that three-ring binders related to a previous effort by the company to change the land use zoning had gone missing — and threats by an audience member that she would go to federal authorities regarding information on problems in the county.

It all added up to high drama, enough so that 83-year-old Violet Burke, who has lived in the Teanaway for 70 years, was fed up by the time the meeting ended.

“I hate seeing people degrade other people,” Burke said. “I don’t like seeing people get up and run other people down. It’s very upsetting.”

AFLC owns 46,851 of the 56,000 acres that are tentatively included in the subarea and is seeking to develop part of that. Bowen will assume his new position on Nov. 9 and become the company’s primary spokesman for the project.

The company’s move to alter the use of its land has been controversial, drawing increasingly vocal criticism from both local property owners, recreational users and conservation groups.

On Wednesday night, with Bowen seated a short distance behind him, Schwandt outlined the company’s vision for its Teanaway property.

He said the company has 39,744 acres in commercial forest land, 6,182 acres designated “forest and range 20 (acres)” and 932 acres designated “rural 3” (three-acre lots).

He told the audience the company wants to develop a “fully contained community” on some of the 6,688 acres in the “core area” of its holdings. That area currently includes commercial forest land, designated forest and range land and land designated rural 3.

He said the company hopes to do a “land exchange” in which designations on some areas would be exchanged to accommodate the development in the core area. The changes would not result in any loss of commercial forest acreage, he said, adding that at least 50 percent — at least 20,000 acres and possibly more — of the company’s commercial forest holdings would be given conservation status to provide perpetual protection for public use.

A “fully contained community,” he said, would be one which included places where people lived, worked, recreated and shopped. The term “fully contained community” does not mean a gated community, Schwandt has said. The proposed village would include affordable, moderate and high-end housing with single, multi-family and mixed-use units that would be home to a diverse population, he said. He said the proposed location within the AFLC holdings mean the village would not be visible to most residents of the area. It also would “be sensitive to the viewshed of the Stuarts” that current residents enjoy.

In past meetings, some critics have questioned the impact of any development on Teanaway Road. “We believe there’s a need for a second access,” Schwandt said. He said the company believes it has “several options” for that access. He also said a fully contained community would have residential, commercial and retail space and its own water system, sanitary waste treatment system and police, fire and emergency services. Initially, he said, those last three might be provided under contract with existing agencies until the community is able to sustain its own operations. He said the company would be looking for ways to contain water run off in the spring melt for use during low-water periods at other times of the year. Although he did not specify it during Wednesday’s meeting, he said earlier that day that the company owns water rights to 597 acre feet of water.

He said the company envisioned 250 acres to be used during “phase one” of the project. But he did not say how many housing units he expected to be built. He said the company is “absolutely committed to green energy.”

The vision Schwandt painted of the area’s possible future drew quick criticism.

“I find it implausible you’ve come this far in the development process and don’t have any idea (how many people will live there),” one man said.

Karl Forsgaard, an attorney with the Washington Forest Law Center, represents a host of conservation groups including the Sierra Club, Ridge, the North Cascades Conservancy, Kittitas County Conservation Coalition and the Alpine Lakes Protection Society, among others. He reiterated the growing opposition of conservation groups to development in the area and, as he did at a previous meeting, disputed company claims that the timber industry in this area is essentially dead forcing the company to seek other uses for the land.

Jim Halstrom, an Ellensburg area resident, said he and his wife were “more than a little incensed” by what had heard. He said Schwandt had offered very little substance.

“If approved, this development will justifiably be challenged in court,” said Halstrom, who works as a lobbyist. “I’ve never seen so much rhetoric and so many buzz words used to justify encroaching on natural resource land.” He accused AFLC of wanting to “exchange” land that had been decimated by inappropriate harvesting.

Kellie Connor, a Teanaway resident, also criticized the plan — and Bowen’s involvement.

“What golden carrot did they dangle in front of you to get you to cross to the dark side?” she said to Bowen, adding that she was “ashamed the county has let it go this far.”

But her words were nothing compared to Ellensburg’s Catherine Clerf who called it “totally unacceptable to stick a town in the middle of forest land of long-term significance.” Although Schwandt earlier had said that it had been only a year or a year and a half that the company had considered development, Clerf remained unconvinced. She said the company had most recently tried to get the land “de-designated” in 2006 and suggested the company had been planning development for some time.

AFLC has leased more than 900 acres of its Teanaway land to Teanaway Solar Reserve, LLC, a company that proposes to build a solar reserve on that land and Schwandt frequently references “green” energy. Some, including Clerf, believe it’s all part of a ruse. She called it AFLC’s “’get out of jail green’ card.”

At one point, she said she was fed up with Kittitas County. She threatened to “go to the feds” with “dirt” she said she has on the county.

She pointedly accused Bowen of selling out.

“I am outraged,” she told him saying she was guessing he was getting a quarter of million dollars to leave his job with Puget Sound Energy and become AFLC’s go-to man for the project.

Clerf spoke so long that Anna Nelson, the county’s lead planner on the subarea planning process told her she needed to conclude her remarks. Several audience members left during her comments.

Clerf’s remarks prompted Lisa Bowen, David Bowen’s wife, to step to the microphone.

In a calm but forceful tone, she told Clerf that her husband’s decision to take the job with AFLC was not based on finances but on his conviction that it was an opportunity to help the county move forward in the right way.

She urged Clerf and the rest of the audience to “keep an open mind and give it some time.”

But it is clear many feel there is no time for waiting.

Among them: Meg Myrhe, who stood up, held up a sheet of paper and invited others who share concerns about the proposed development to join her in fighting it.

“Let’s do it you guys — Team Teanaway,” she said. “Suncadia — shame on them. Teanaway? Shame on us!”

Clearly disappointed in the tone the meeting had taken, Burke paused on her way out. She said she is determined to do what Lisa Bowen had suggested: give it some time and keep an open mind.

“It’s food for thought,” she said. “I wrote it all down and I’m going to go home and talk it over with my son.”

By MARY SWIFT, Daily Record – http://www.kvnews.com/articles/2009/10/29/news/doc4ae9d05cdc06d959918847.txt

Public comment periods wind down on wind farm

The public comment process is moving forward on several fronts toward determining whether the 1,432-megawatt Lower Snake River Wind Energy Project will be approved for Columbia and Garfield counties.

Puget Sound Energy Inc. proposes to independently build, own and operate the project, which includes approximately 795 turbine locations in an area of approximately 124,000 acres in Garfield and Columbia counties.

If permits are approved, construction on infrastructure in Garfield County is projected to begin in 2010, with towers installed in 2011.

A separate conditional use permit application is expected to be filed in Columbia County before the end of the year, with turbines expected to be installed in 2012, according to Anne Walsh, senior environmental/communications manager at PSE’s Dayton office.

The conditional use permit is the land use permit, and there are other permits to be obtained before construction can begin, Walsh said.

An open record public record hearing on the conditional use application will begin Nov. 5 at 9:30 a.m. in the main building at the Garfield County Fairgrounds.

Deadline for written comments on the project’s application is Friday at 5 p.m. Comments should be submitted to Garfield County Planning at the county auditor’s office, P.O. Box 278, Pomeroy, WA 99347.

Written and oral comments may also be submitted at the hearing.

The hearing examiner will also hear an appeal of the final environmental impact statement filed by Tucannon River Valley landowners Richard and Vicki Ducharme.

The appeal is based on failure to consider reasonable alternatives, deferred environmental analysis, visual impacts, noise, mule deer habitat, project impacts area larger than project specific area, turbine setback, and failure to consider cumulative impacts.

To view documents related to the environmental impact statement and the conditional use permit, go to: co.garfield.wa.us/landservices, and click on “Lower Snake River Wind Energy Project — CUP #012609.”

In a related matter, comments on the proposal by Bonneville Power Administration to build a new 500/230 kilovolt substation along its two existing Little Goose-Lower Granite 500-kV transmission lines will be accepted through Nov. 16.

The new facility, called Central Ferry Substation, would require approximately 25 acres of land in Garfield County, west of State Route 127 and south of the Snake River. The substation would be located adjacent to the existing transmission line rights-of-way.

The proposal is in response by a request by Puget Sound Energy Inc. to interconnect up to 1,250 megawatts of electricity generated from PSE’s proposed Lower Snake River Wind Energy Project in Garfield and Columbia counties.

Comments on the proposal may be submitted to BPA online at bpa.gov/comment, via mail to Bonneville Power Administration, Public Affairs — DKE-7, P.O. Box 14428, Portland, OR 97293-4428 or by fax to 503-230-3285.

More information about BPA’s proposed interconnection of the wind project is available by calling 800-622-4519, or visiting the BPA Web site: transmission.bpa.gov/PlanProj/Wind/

By CARRIE CHICKEN, Walla Walla Union-Bulletin – http://www.union-bulletin.com/articles/2009/10/29/local_news/091029local05wind%20power.txt

Firm takes step forward with wind farm plans October 28, 2009

Horizon Wind Energy’s plans to build a 300 megawatt wind farm near La Grande picked up steam last week as the company formally filed a site application with the state Energy Facility Siting Council.

Horizon plans to build the Antelope Ridge Wind Farm on a 47,000-acre site in the area of Craig Mountain, about 10 miles southeast of La Grande. The site is said to be one of the windiest in all the Pacific Northwest.

“This is a great area. The wind peaks in the winter time, which is when people need power the most,” said Horizon spokeswoman Valerie Franklin.

In April, Horizon filed a notice of intent to build the facility. Franklin said last week’s application filing is the next step in a long and complicated siting process.

Horizon Wind Energy owns wind farms throughout North America, including the 101-megawatt, 61-turbine Elkhorn Valley facility near Telocaset in Union County.

The Antelope Ridge wind farm would be substantially larger than Elkhorn, up to 300 megawatts and 182 turbines. But those figures are not yet set in stone, according to Franklin.

She said the number of turbines and their precise location will be determined later. For one thing, Horizon does not have a power purchase agreement.

“We don’t know how many turbines there will be until we have a buyer for the power,” she said.

The Antelope Ridge project has generated a fair degree of local controversy, with groups and individuals expressing concern over scenery values, effects on wildlife, possible damage to cultural resources, noise levels and decommissioning when the project is over.

Franklin said all those concerns will be addressed as EFSC works through the application process.

The process includes public hearings and review of the application by a myriad of federal, state, city, county and tribal agencies. Horizon will have to meet requirements set forth by those agencies.

Franklin said Horizon is highly aware of local concerns. One thing she is asking people to keep in mind is the actual footprint of the project.

“Of the 47,000 acres, 11,000 acres is the area studied, of which 1.5 percent will actually be utilized,” she said. “That’s an important message. People think, ‘Oh my God, it’s 47,000 acres,’ but the actual footprint is much smaller.”

On the wildlife issue, Franklin said the company is already taking steps to meet requirements.

“We’ve done a basic inventory and are working on a mitigation plan. We are funding a multi-year GPS study on big game in coordination with ODFW,” she said.

Regarding cultural resources, questions have been raised about the site’s proximity to the Old Oregon Trail.

Franklin said there are portions of the historic alignment of the trail that pass through Horizon’s study corridors, but added that care will be taken to preserve the trail.

“This is an issue we take very seriously,” she said.

The State Historic Preservation Office will set requirements for preservation. Franklin said that in the meantime, Horizon is reaching out to people with concerns.

Recently, she said, the company gave a tour of the site to members of the Oregon-California Trails Association.

“We were looking for their concurrence,” she said. “We’ve been transparent and tried to work with them.”

On the noise issue, Franklin said Horizon has hired a consultant to do a study and will meet any requirements imposed.

On decommissioning, she said Horizon will have to post a bond before construction ever begins.

“It’s a substantial bond, excluding scrap value,” she said. “It’s part of the state’s requirements. The money will be held in place,” she said.

Franklin said she knows there is some public opposition to the project, but also said she believes there is a good deal of public support.

She said the project carries many benefits, including energy from a green renewable source, property taxes paid to Union County, lease payments to landowners, and most of all, jobs.

“That’s at the top of the list. We don’t have an exact number for Antelope Ridge, but I can tell you Elkhorn provides 14 family wage jobs, most of which were hired locally,” she said.

Bill Rautenstrauch, The Observer – http://www.lagrandeobserver.com/News/Business/Firm-takes-step-forward-with-wind-farm-plans

Teanaway Solar Reserve Promises to be good neighbor October 24, 2009

The Teanaway Solar Reserve (TSR) will be both an engine for economic growth and new jobs and a good neighbor, representatives of Teanaway Solar Reserve LLC, the company that plans to build the project, told about 60 people during a question-and-answer session at Walter Strom Middle School Thursday night.

Representatives said the Teanaway Solar Reserve will inject $97.5 million dollars into Kittitas County in the purchase of local goods and services during the three-year construction period according to an economic impact study released this week.

The total development cost is expected to run between $300 million and $350 million and will translate into annual sales tax revenues of $2.6 million a year during construction. Once the project is operational, it is expected to generate between $1.5 and $1.6 million every year in property tax revenues.

The project is expected to produce 225 jobs during the construction phase and 35 permanent jobs once it is operational.

The 75-megawatt reserve, planned for a site northeast of Cle Elum, is the largest photovoltaic solar project ever proposed for the Northwest and, if built on schedule, would be one of the largest operating in the world.

Those figures aside, community members had questions about issues ranging from visibility concerns and potential impact on wildlife to road use, water run-off concerns, why the company chose the Teanaway location in the first place and why the company is leasing the land for 20 years rather than buying it.

“It’s just a cash thing,” Howard Trott, managing partner for Teanaway Solar Reserve, LLC, said in response to the question about leasing instead of purchasing. He told the audience choosing a site came down to a number of factors. Among them: finding a site with adequate solar exposure and an owner willing to lease the land and the fact the location has power lines on it.

Water run-off has been an issue, one person said, asking how TSR planned to manage that. The company will maintain vegetation wherever it can and keep surfaces pervious to prevent problems with run-off, representatives said. One audience member questioned how the company would handle water needed to keep the surface of the panels clean. Trott said that the photovoltaic panels being used were not mirrored and were not expected to need regular cleaning with water. What water will be needed would be brought in with trucks, he said.

In terms of elk and other animal migration, TSR will work to mitigate impacts, he said. The reserve will not be fenced, except for about an acre that will house a substation.

“We have the good instinct that trying to keep deer and elk out of anything is usually a thankless job,” Trott said. Local residents who have historically enjoyed access to the area, whether for horseback riding or other recreation, won’t be prevented from doing so, he said. The reserve will have security on-site 24 hours a day, seven days a week. TSR also is working to minimize visual impact, he told the audience.

Others wanted to know whether the company’s plan to have a manufacturing plant located in Cle Elum to assemble the 400,000 photovoltaic panels the project will require means the company would stay here once the project is complete.

“We do want to bring the jobs here. We want to leave the jobs here,” Trott told the audience. But he said the company that assembles the panels will be the party that determines how many jobs the project will create.

“What happens if you go broke?” one audience member asked.

Even if TSR decided not to extend its lease beyond 20 years, the company can’t just walk away from the site, representatives said.

There won’t be a situation where TSR just “leaves a graveyard up there,” said Nichole Seidell, project manager with CH2M Hill, an engineering and consulting firm working on the project. A decommissioning plan is required as part of the development agreement for the project, she said.

State Rep. Bill Hinkle, standing at the rear of the room, told the audience “normally there is a bond” to guarantee the site can’t just be abandoned.

One question Trott didn’t answer was exactly who the investors are behind the project. Most are from the West Coast, he said, calling them “quiet folks investing with the right ideas. These people are very private people who don’t need notoriety for doing these things” and who are backing the project “for the right reasons,” he said.

He said backers have no plans to just build the project and then sell it.

“This is a long-term thing, and we don’t intend to sell it,” he said.

After the meeting, Phil Hess, a professional forester who lives in the Teanaway area, approached Trott.

“I think a lot of people may have come thinking this is a bad idea and expecting to shoot it down,” he said. “I think they’re walking away thinking this is a good idea. It’s a win-win for the county. If you pull off the manufacturing plant, that’s a huge win for Cle Elum.

“What you’re doing is building a foundation of community support. Otherwise, it’s not going to happen. The great thing is,” he told Trott, “you’re building it right from the start.”

By MARY SWIFT, Daily Record – http://www.kvnews.com/articles/2009/10/23/news/doc4ae1fd78bf5c1997723981.txt

Economic impact report on Teanaway Solar Reserve released October 23, 2009

The proposed Teanaway Solar Reserve could increase tax revenue and create both primary and secondary jobs in Kittitas County, according to a just released economic impact analysis done for Teanaway Solar Reserve, LLC, the company planning the project.

The proposed project would be located on a leased 982-acre site four miles northeast of Cle Elum. About 500 acres of that site would be used for the solar reserve.

The analysis, done by CH2MHill, a Colorado-based internationally-known consulting and engineering firm, predicts the project could generate $2.6 million annually in sales tax revenue during construction, $2.1 million for the state and $487,500 for the county. Once it is operational, the estimate is that it would generate $34,160 annually in sales tax revenue for the state and $7,880 in annual sales tax revenue for the county.

However, the analysts indicate a question about whether solar equipment is included in a retail sales tax exemption approved by the legislature for renewable energy production equipment will affect how much, or if any, direct sales tax revenue the project would generate during construction. The legislation provides a 100 percent tax exemption from July of this year through June 30, 2011. Beginning July 1, 2011, through June 30, 2013, the exemption is equal to 75 percent of the state and local sales tax. The exemption expires in 2013.

According to the analysis, Kittitas County Assessor Marsha Weyand has said it is unclear whether solar equipment currently is included in the exemption. If it is, and if the project is completed within the appropriate time span, it is unlikely either the state or county would receive sales tax revenues on equipment during construction of the project.

The project, which backers currently estimate will cost $300 million to $350 million, would generate between $1.56 million to $1.82 million in annual property tax revenue once it is operational, according to the study.

Between $605,530 and $706,460 in property tax revenue would be raised for the state (depending on what the cost of the project turned out to be) once the project is operational. The project would generate an estimated $267,610 to $312,210 for the county in annual property taxes. As an example of local benefit, the analysts predicted annual property tax revenue of $263,680 to $307,630 for the Cle Elum-Roslyn School District.

Construction of the project is expected to take place over a two- to three-year period. On Tuesday, Howard Trott, managing director for Teanaway Solar Reserve, said if the project is done over two years the number of employees each year would increase from the figure cited in the three-year analysis.

Analysts predicted that “direct average employment” over three seven-month construction periods would be 225 employees including subcontractors plus an additional 563 employees in secondary jobs related to the project.

“Secondary income effects are things like you hire people and they go out to eat locally,” he said. That also increases sales tax revenue, he said.

Peak employment during construction could be as high as 450.

The construction phase would, directly or indirectly, generate about 789 jobs a year during a three-year construction period, according to the report.

An employment multiplier associated with construction employment is calculated to be 3.5, according to the report. It means that for every construction job created by the project more than two additional jobs would be created in a support capacity.

But once operational the plant isn’t expected to have a major impact in the area’s unemployment. Its total direct workforce is expected to be just five full-time staff according to the analysis.

However, the employment projections outlined in the economic impact analysis don’t include the potential of bringing a solar panel manufacturer to the Cle Elum area to assemble the 400,000 panels that would be used in the project. (Despite critics who suggest that manufacturer will move on once the project is completed, Trott has said previously that he hopes there will be incentives for the manufacturer to remain in the Upper County.)

According to the analysis, construction spending for the project will generate $44.75 million in direct income in Kittitas County. In addition, the study estimates that nearly $19.3 million in secondary income will be generated annually in the county. Once the project is operational, it will generate $2.4 million in operations and maintenance expenditures annually in Kittitas County, plus nearly $400,000 in secondary annual income for the county, the report estimates.

Backers had hoped to get Kittitas County’s approval of the proposed project by the end of this year or in early January.

That timeline has been moved back to provide more time to research and address environmental issues that have been raised regarding the project.

Even so, “we’re still confident we can meet the timeline even while we take time to address concerns,” Trott said this week.

The good news, Trott said, is that the project can be done in phases.

“We can turn on half the project which is probably what we will do. We don’t have to have it all done,” he said.

He knows many still question the cost of producing solar power but says many of the figures cited are based on “old data.”

By MARY SWIFT, Daiy Record – http://www.kvnews.com/articles/2009/10/21/news/doc4adf3a1033dad626235056.txt

Behind closed doors: council ponders Desert Claim Wind Power Project

The state Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council, or EFSEC, today resumes deliberations on whether to approve the 95-turbine, $330 million Desert Claim Wind Power Project proposed for eight miles northwest of Ellensburg.

EFSEC’s seven members were scheduled to gather again behind closed doors in Olympia at 1 p.m. today, according to EFSEC Manager Allen Fiksdal.

The council first began deliberations at a Sept. 22 session and since have been communicating among themselves via e-mail and telephone conversations.

It was earlier speculated that EFSEC members may reach consensus this month on whether to recommend approval of the wind farm to Gov. Chris Gregoire, who makes the final decision.

The project, planned to be located north of Smithson Road, is detailed in “thousands” of pages of testimony, hearing transcripts, letters, e-mails, reports, legal briefs and other documents, according to Fiksdal, which EFSEC members are now studying.

Fiksdal said the project’s final environmental impact statement, with its supplemental report, likely will be approved a few weeks before the council meets in an open, public session to make their decision.

According to the state’s Administrative Procedures Act, EFSEC members act as judges in a quasi-judicial process in making a decision on the wind farm proposed by the international wind development firm of enXco Inc. USA.

According to the act, EFSEC may deliberate in private and is not subject to the state’s Open Public Meetings Act.

The recommendation, once finalized, then goes to Gov. Gregoire who makes the final decision within 60 days of receiving the recommendation.

Meeting at 905 Plum St. in Olympia today, EFSEC members are charged with reaching consensus on the project, and then directing EFSEC’s administrative law judge to write up a draft order to reflect that consensus.

Fiksdal said the document then will be circulated among the members to make sure it accurately reflects the council’s direction on the project.

It’s likely EFSEC will set a public meeting in Ellensburg to take final, formal action on the draft order that will reflect its recommendation to the governor.

Fiksdal said EFSEC can continue today’s meeting to another date, or members can continue to work on the recommendation by communicating outside the closed-door meeting.

The recommendation also can contain a minority report if some EFSEC members have objections to parts or all of the recommendation and draft order.

Fiksdal said enXco previously has signed agreements with the state Department of Fish and Wildlife and with the Counsel for the Environment on procedures and mitigation measures to lessen the environmental and visual impact of the wind farm and to monitor its operations.

EFSEC conducted a public hearing and a short adjudicative hearing on the 5,200-acre project on July 13 in Ellensburg.

In an earlier report, an economic study commissioned by Desert Claim concluded the wind farm will create an estimated 282 jobs and generate more than $33 million in economic activity throughout the state in the year it is constructed.

It also estimates that it will create 36 jobs and $6.2 million in annual economic activity statewide after wind farm operations begin.

Documents on the project can be accessed online at the EFSEC Web site: http://www.efsec.wa.gov.

By MIKE JOHNSTON, Daily Record – http://www.kvnews.com/articles/2009/10/22/news/doc4ae0996c3482e210057310.txt

Oregon Utility seeks to add turbines despite roadblocks October 20, 2009

Amid the nation’s headlong rush for clean energy, two projects in Lane County show just how hard it can be to develop new sources of eco-friendly hydroelectric power.

Efforts to add electricity generating turbines to two flood-control dams on Willamette River tributaries are bogged down with environmental and financial problems. The turbines would generate enough electricity to power about 2,700 homes.

The Emerald People’s Utility District wants to add turbines to the Dorena dam on Row River and the Fall Creek dam on the Middle Fork of the Willamette. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers owns the two dams, which were built decades ago to rein in devastating seasonal flooding.

EPUD, which buys 98 percent of its electricity from the Bonneville Power Administration, wants its own hydroelectric sources in order to increase its portfolio of renewable energy and to help keep down customer costs as BPA hikes its rates. The member-owned utility serves about 20,000 customers, mostly residential, in an area that roughly surrounds Eugene-Springfield.

The utility has partnered with Symbiotics Inc., an Idaho-based corporation that specializes in adding hydropower to existing dams. A unit of Symbiotics, Dorena Hydro LLC, received a license from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission almost a year ago, and EPUD had planned to begin construction on the project last summer.

But the economic downturn has altered that, EPUD officials said.

“The market right now has dropped tremendously for wholesale power,” said EPUD General Manager Frank Lambe. Coupled with construction costs that haven’t dropped, the project has become financially challenging, he said.

On the plus side, in the intervening months the federal government has begun providing stimulus money for a wide range of projects.

Stimulus money for energy projects can only go to private companies, while state funds to encourage clean energy projects come in the form of tax credits, requiring that companies have a tax liability to benefit from them, EPUD officials said.

So, EPUD and Symbiotics need a private company to build the Dorena project and take the tax breaks, then sell the turbine system to them once it is constructed, said EPUD power resources manager Pamela Hewitt.

State and federal financial help could shave as much as 35 percent off construction costs, Hewitt said.

EPUD previously has estimated the cost of construction at between $12 million and $15 million. More recent estimates are higher than that, she said.

But the clock is ticking on Dorena. To take advantage of the stimulus money, construction has to begin by 2010 and be completed by 2014, officials said.

The Fall Creek hydro project also is snagged — but in a different way. Unlike the Dorena hydropower proposal, which already has been licensed by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, EPUD’s proposal to add power to the Fall Creek dam is still going through pre-license regulatory hoops, and one of them may be a deal-breaker for EPUD.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission doesn’t trust the fish screens proposed at the three power-generating turbines to keep imperiled juvenile salmon on their downstream passage from going through the turbines and being harmed or killed in the turbulence.

Federal regulators want EPUD to do a preliminary study on the effectiveness of the screens. The commission estimates the study would cost $500,000, and wants it done before issuing a preliminary license.

Here’s how the federal agency put it in a recent letter to Symbiotics:

“Given the importance of being able to provide safe and effective passage (for the fish), it is imperative that we work through the unknowns before the project is licensed. The alternative of issuing a license with performance standards is unacceptable since we have no basis for the assumption that the proposed protection measure will be effective.”

EPUD estimates the study at closer to $1 million and says the project can’t move forward without some confidence that the investment will pay off and that EPUD will win the license.

“It is not reasonable to expect an applicant to pursue final detailed design work before they are reasonably assured by a FERC license that no other hurdles will prevent development of the proposed project,” EPUD wrote in its appeal of the FERC decision.

If the commission insists on the study, that could jeopardize the project, Hewitt said.

“That’s going to be a decision our board is going to have to weigh in on,” she said.

Currently at Fall Creek, salmon heading upstream are captured by the corps below the dam, trucked above it and released. Salmon heading downstream go through a dangerous chute in the dam that injures many of them.

The utility expects the Dorena project to provide 15.5 million kilowatt hours per year, enough to power about 1,200 homes.

Fall Creek, if built, would provide 18.7 million kilowatt hours per year, or enough for about 1,500 homes.

EPUD’s goal is to obtain 15 percent to 20 percent of its power from renewable sources by 2011.

Susan Palmer, The Register-Guard – http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/web/news/cityregion/20497939-57/story.csp

BLM asks for more public comment on China Mountain Wind Farm October 18, 2009

Federal biologists are still researching what effects a 185-turbine wind farm would have on the desert southwest of Rogerson.

But the U.S. Bureau of Land Management is now asking for more public comment on the proposal, this time on a modification to the resource management plan that governs whether the agency can even consider allowing a wind farm in its Jarbidge Field Office.

The China Mountain project would place turbines generating up to 425 megawatts in parts of a largely federal, 30,700-acre area.

The BLM is nearing the end of a two-year environmental study on the project, with draft results expected early next year, and had expected to address the issue with the 20-year-old Jarbidge management plan during a comprehensive revision of it that started in 2006. But the agency needed more time than expected to gather and assess public feedback, said state BLM spokeswoman Heather Feeney, and the revision fell behind schedule.

To keep the China Mountain study on track, officials decided to pursue a smaller amendment. Thursday’s notice launched a 30-day comment period, and the input will help determine what issues the BLM examines in the analysis documents for both the study and the plan amendment.

The change wouldn’t approve the wind farm, but rather give the BLM the ability to consider putting it on federal land, Feeney said. The amendment language restricts any wind power to just the China Mountain site; no other wind farms are currently proposed in the Jarbidge Field Office, she said.

The agency has already completed a separate general analysis for wind projects bureau-wide, Feeney said. But it can’t be used in this case because recent wildfires – notably 2007’s Murphy Complex Fire – have already complicated natural-resource issues in the area.

The analysis completed for the smaller amendment would also be used for the management plan’s broad revisions, keeping both actions consistent.

Magic Valley Times – http://www.magicvalley.com/news/local/article_d7cda27a-a655-5df3-918c-d14c40caf9a4.html

Work begins on Juniper Ridge micro-Hydro project

A thunderous roar from a small explosive charge marked the official start of construction Monday on the $26 million Juniper Ridge Project, an unprecedented project that will return water supplies to the Deschutes River and generate carbon-free energy.

U.S. Congressman Greg Walden, along with state officials, representatives from the Central Oregon Irrigation District, Deschutes County, the Deschutes River Conservancy and Portland General Electric Company attended the groundbreaking ceremony five miles north of Bend along Highway 97.

Immediately following the ceremony, construction crews began replacing 2.5 miles of open irrigation canal, owned and operated by the Central Oregon Irrigation District, with underground steel pipe and an innovative, small hydropower system.

By conserving water supplies previously lost through the porous canal, the Juniper Ridge Project will benefit Deschutes River salmon and reintroduced steelhead.

Walden called the project a step forward for the environment: “The amount of water that will be going into the Deschutes River, for fish, equals 11 Olympic swimming pools per day – 11 per day.”

Unlike the Swalley Irrigation District canal piping, this project has not drawn an uproar from nearby residents, because there aren’t many.

COID will have to shell out $100,000 during construction, to provide eight landowners supplemental water.

Board Chairman Carroll Penhollow said the district will finance a six-day per week water-hauling service to landowners. “They’ll water their cattle then by hauling the water in by truck, so that they have that water available to them through the Winter.”

Approximately 20 cubic-feet per second of water presently diverted from the Deschutes River for irrigation purposes by COID will be permanently returned to the river, increasing instream river flows for fish and wildlife species.

Once the new pipe is in place, a small hydropower unit will be installed in the summer of 2010. This state-of-the-art unit will generate up to 3.37 megawatts of clean, renewable electricity annually, or enough power for roughly 2,000 homes.

Irrigation district patrons will also benefit because the project will modernize district conveyance facilities and improve overall system efficiencies.

“We appreciate the support we’ve received from the State of Oregon, the federal government and many others,” said Carroll Penhollow, chairman of COID’s board of directors. Penhollow added, “Our farmers, ranchers and everyone else who relies on our district should be proud that we’re improving district efficiencies while protecting the environment.”

The State of Oregon, along with several business and conservation groups played an instrumental role in financing the project.

“We are very pleased to help fund this important project through a state tax credit and small energy loan,” said Mark Long, Director of the Oregon Department of Energy. “This project not only benefits fish and wildlife species, it will provide economic benefits to the local community.”

“This project will improve water quality and fish habitat in a very important part of Oregon,” said Dick Pedersen, Director of the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality. “DEQ is pleased to work with a group of people who share our goals of improved water quality. The collaboration between the irrigation district, Oregon Department of Energy and DEQ worked very smoothly.”

“This project is a great example of how we can generate clean renewable local power in Oregon,” said Betsy Kauffman, senior program manager with Energy Trust of Oregon. “We’re happy to be involved with a project that has benefits for the district, the community, and the watershed.”

“The city felt it was important to step forward as a partner in this project,” said Bend City Manager Eric King. “The benefits to the community and the environment are truly significant.”

“Projects like this don’t come along every day. It is gratifying to see so many people come together to make the project happen,” said Julie Keil, Director of Hydro Licensing for PGE. “PGE and the Confederated Tribes are happy to be a part of the effort.”

Total project costs are estimated at $26 million. Oregon’s Department of Energy has provided a $4.2 million Business Energy Tax Credit (BETC) to COID, and a $12 million low-interest loan. Oregon’s Department of Environmental Quality awarded the District a $2 million grant, along with a $2 million zero-interest loan from federal stimulus funds.

The Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board awarded COID a $1 million grant and the Deschutes River Conservancy is providing a $1 million grant for the project from federal Bureau of Reclamation stimulus funds. Energy Trust of Oregon is providing a $1 million grant.

The City of Bend is contributing $278,000 and the Portland General Electric Co. is contributing $250,000. The District is financing $5 million in upfront capital costs and will repay approximately $19 million in loans and debt service.

During the project’s construction in 2009/2010, COID will provide eight landowners with a supplemental water supply to compensate for the shutdown of the irrigation canal.

These eight landowners have large livestock herds and no alternative water supply. The District will finance a six-day per week water hauling service to each landowner; the hauler will provide a 2-day supply. District costs for this service are roughly $100,000.

The project’s construction will be managed locally by the Slayden Construction Group along with Jack Robinson & Sons. Materials for the project are being produced by the Northwest Pipe Company of Portland, and the James Leffel & Company of Central OH. All of the project’s materials are made in the U.S.

The Juniper Ridge Project is scheduled to be complete and producing energy by next summer.

COID Manager Steve Johnson said, “So together with this plant, and the existing plant, we’ll be providing carbon-free energy to 5,000 homes, in the Central Oregon area. That’s roughly 10 percent of the Bend market.”

KTVZ (TV) – http://www.ktvz.com/Global/story.asp?S=11300833

PSE solar project to be completed in Wash.

The 500 kilowatt solar-power system on Whisky Dick Mountain is scheduled to be completed in two to three weeks.

Contractors began Monday to install the final array of solar power panels near Puget Sound Energy’s Renewable Energy Center at the 3,500-foot level.

The array, when completed, will have the capacity to generate 50 kilowatts of electricity and be close to the center for visitor viewing. It includes 315 panels.

The first phase of the solar-power system, 2,408 photovoltaic panels, was completed in October 2007 near the 3,873-foot summit of Whisky Dick Mountain. That array has the capacity to generate 450 kilowatts.

The solar power component of the Wild Horse facility was earlier estimated to cost more than $4 million.

As for the Renewable Energy Center, now in its second year, it has attracted more than 19,300 visitors since April 1 and more than 235 groups.

The visitor and interpretive center closes Nov. 30.

By MIKE JOHNSTON. Daily Record – http://www.kvnews.com/articles/2009/10/09/news/doc4acf913abba78843555915.txt

New Wild Horse turbines energized in Wash.

The 22 new turbines at the Wild Horse Wind and Solar Facility east of Ellensburg are up and running and are expected to begin putting power into the grid in about 45 days.

Officials of Puget Sound Energy, owner and operator of the renewable energy facility east of Ellensburg, indicated the 45-day target was an estimate that could change.

The additional turbines atop towers north of the existing 127-turbine wind farm were “energized” last week, said David Bowen, Puget Sound Energy’s municipal liaison manager for Central Washington.

Currently the new turbines, mostly spread on 1,260 acres north of the existing 8,600-acre wind farm, are in a testing and monitoring mode, Bowen said.

The 1,260 acres includes 960 acres purchased by PSE and the remainder are leased state lands, according to past announcements.

The estimated $100 million project to add the turbines began with road construction in April,  foundations of the towers were completed in May and June and towers, turbines, blades and other equipment began going up in July.

At the peak of work in late summer, it’s estimated more than 100 workers were at the expansion site on the north slopes of Whisky Dick Mountain 17 miles east of Ellensburg.

The added turbines bring the total towers to 149, raising the wind farm’s generating capacity from 229 megawatts to 273 megawatts.

Bowen said ongoing work to expand the onsite substation to handle the extra power load is estimated to be completed in about 45 days.

Work also is under way to rehabilitate areas disturbed by construction, including reseeding and putting in native plantings.

The wind farm project was initially approved by state and Kittitas County government for up to 158 turbines. The wind farm’s initial 127 turbines began full operation in December 2006. That initial project was estimated at $380 million.

By MIKE JOHNSTON, Daily Record – http://www.kvnews.com/articles/2009/10/09/news/doc4acf913abba78843555915.txt

Klickitat County wind project gets $178M in expansion funding

A wind farm project near Goldendale in Klickitat County received $178 million in funds from Siemens Financial Services Inc. (SFS) to expand.

Windy Point Partners II LLC received the senior secured credit facility to buy more Siemens wind turbines and to recapitalize existing debt. Windy Point Partners is an affiliate of Cannon Power Corp. of San Diego, which is developing the project.

“Providing the funding for this major wind project’s expansion was particularly gratifying in that it allowed SFS to value-add Siemens technology to its financing solution and further underscores our overall commitment to support renewable energy,” said Roland Chalons-Browne, president and CEO of SFS Inc., in a statement.

Puget Sound Business Journal – http://seattle.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2009/10/12/daily5.html

U.S. Geothermal Begins Exploration at Neal Hot Springs October 5, 2009

Boise-based U.S. Geothermal said this week it has begun development drilling at the Neal Hot Springs Geothermal Project in eastern Oregon at a 10-square-mile site about 90 miles northwest of Boise. The company hopes the project will produce about 26MW of power once developed. U.S. Geothermal is already selling more than 10MW of geothermal power from its Raft River site near Malta to Idaho Power, and plans to sell a similar amount from Raft River to Eugene Water and Electric Board in Oregon. Raft River is the first commercial-scale geothermal generation project in the Northwest.

At Neal Hot Springs, U.S. Geothermal said the first well is currently drilled to about 300 feet on the way to a total depth of about 2,800 feet. A total of three large-diameter wells are planned in the current project, the company said.

“Further definition of the Neal Hot Springs geothermal resource is a significant part of our company’s growth plan,” U.S. Geothermal President and CEO Daniel Kunz said in a news release. “These drilling programs are expected to maintain our current project development schedule and help define a geothermal reservoir needed to construct a power plant that will deliver 22 megawatts of electricity.” In Idaho, a megawatt is roughly enough power to supply about 700-800 homes or more, depending on the season.

By Ken Miller, Snake River Alliance, (Sun Valley Online) – http://www.sunvalleyonline.com/news/article.asp?ID_Article=7506

More on Geothermal possibilty at Newberry Volcano

Last year, Davenport Power drilled two exploratory wells 10,000 feet below the flanks of Newberry Volcano searching for hot rocks and water but found nothing but heat.

Now the company, which hopes to tap into geothermal power in the Deschutes National Forest south of Bend, is making plans to use a suite of other less-intensive methods to further map the underground rocks and temperatures in the area to find other potential drill sites.

When crews bored two wells just to the west of Paulina Lake, outside of the Newberry National Volcanic Monument last year, instruments measured plenty of heat but not enough water or steam to turn turbines and generate power, said Doug Perry, president of Davenport Power.

The company hopes eventually to drill production wells that could fuel a power plant capable of providing electricity to about 100,000 homes.

But first, scientists will try to get a broader picture of the area’s geology, building on geologic mapping that other companies had done in previous years.

“One of the things we want to do is engage in some more exploration activity,” Perry said. “The idea is to still try to get the best picture we can of what it looks like down deep. Hopefully, from that we would end up targeting where we would drill some more exploratory wells.”

One way to get a better picture is with narrow temperature gradient wells that reach about 3,500 feet below the surface — an easier and cheaper procedure than the exploratory wells drilled in 2008. These temperature gradient holes can be drilled from the back of a truck, like a water well, Perry said, as opposed to the 180-foot-tall derricks needed to drill the exploratory wells.

Davenport plans to create a string of up to 12 temperature wells west of the monument to gauge the extent of the area’s hot rocks.

“We think that the area of heat may be larger than just the area where we were drilling those (exploratory) wells,” Perry said. “But we can do exploration and drill these temperature gradient wells a lot less expensively.”

There’s still no guarantee that a site will have water or steam, he said. The company would have to bring back the big drilling rigs later to test for that.

But the company also plans to try out a relatively new technology. Davenport plans to drop listening devices into the temperature gradient holes, Perry said, to see if they can pick up any background sounds that might be a hint of water moving through the ground.

“This is to try to hear if there’s any liquid moving,” Perry said.

Davenport also plans to conduct ground-level surveys, he said, continuing work geophysicists started in 2006. A gravity study could help tell scientists about the different rock layers, while a survey of changes in the magnetic field could help provide clues about the location of hot water.

“We’ve tried to come up with a program to hopefully give us additional and better information about what’s down there,” Perry said.

While Davenport is still hoping to find steam to fuel a power plant, he said the company is also considering using a technology called enhanced geothermal systems, or engineered geothermal systems.

In those systems, crews drill a well and create small fractures in the deep rock, then circulate fluid through the hot rocks. That way, they don’t need to find naturally occurring steam.

The technology created some controversy after a project set off a small earthquake in Europe.

Perry said the geology is different in Central Oregon, and if Davenport receives funding to try the enhanced geothermal technology, the company will do further analysis, reviewed by outside experts, to determine the local risk. The company would also have to get additional OKs from federal land management agencies.

For now, though, Davenport is focusing on the temperature wells and geophysical surveys.

The company still has to get permission from the Bureau of Land Management for the temperature wells. The agency is getting ready to start an environmental assessment of the potential impacts of the series of drill sites, said Linda Christian, environmental coordinator with the BLM’s Prineville District.

Davenport is proposing to do the work without building new roads or cutting down trees, she said, but will instead drill along existing forest roads and in previously clear-cut areas.

“The total area that’s going to be disturbed in this whole environmental assessment (area) is 2.5 acres, in 100-by-100-foot lots,” Christian said.

The work could damage some habitat, but once the company gathers data it will restore the area, she said.

And the information will help provide a better picture of the geology in the area, she said.

“We’re trying to get the science and figure out if this is a viable alternative energy source,” Christian said. “Maybe it won’t be, but they need to look at all avenues.”

Davenport Power’s attempts to find steam to fuel a power plant have yet to succeed. Now the company will use much smaller drills in hopes

of finding the right site.

Kate Ramsayer, Bend Bulletin – http://www.bendbulletin.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090928/NEWS0107/909280363/1006/NEWS01&nav_category=NEWS01

Wind farm becoming possibility in Fairview, Mont. September 26, 2009

A 60-meter high meteorology tower to measure wind levels was erected this week at a farm near Fairview.

Airborne Wind Development, Boise, Idaho, will keep track of the readings to see if the company wants to put turbines at the site in the future. The tower is on property owned by the Elizabeth Buxbaum estate along with Scott and Anita Buxbaum.

If the wind is strong enough, Bob Buxbaum, Fairview, says the turbines would be 2.1 megawatts and 240 feet high.

Cliff Broadbent of Builders Construction Services, Walla, Walla, Wash., which put up the tower, believes the wind rate has to average nine miles per hour.

An Internet pack logger on the tower measures the wind velocity. It also tells the temperature and the air density. A sample is taken each second. The information is kept on a data card, similar to one for a digital camera.

Once a day, the information is automatically transmitted to Airborne Wind Development.

“They will have a good study after a year’s time,” Broadbent said. If a very strong wind is evident, the company may decide to proceed in nine months.

Buxbaum said officials from Airborne Wind Development are expected to view the site in about six weeks. The company learned about Fairview because one of Buxbaum’s niece’s sons knew somebody at Airborne.

“It’s the new green energy that people are talking about,” Buxbaum said. “It’s going to be very interesting if it all comes about.”

Broadbent says each turbine costs about $2.2 million so picking the right location for a wind farm is vital.

“It’s not so much a real windy spot, but if it’s close to a power line or big city,” Broadbent said, noting the Fairview site is fairly close, three miles, to a power line. “You only can build so many lines to get to a power line before losing your profit.”

Preliminary studies show the Buxbaum site may work well for a wind farm. Broadbent points to the fact that the area has rolling hills and few trees.

“There are a lot of generic maps that measure winds; this area is pretty high up on those,” Broadbent said.

Bill Vander Weele, Sidney Herald – http://www.sidneyherald.com/articles/2009/09/25/news/doc4abd41fd279e3982083122.txt

Garbage to power McMinnville, Ore. homes

Waste Management Inc. on Wednesday broke ground on a $10 million plant in McMinnville that will create enough electricity from garbage to power 2,500 homes.

The plant will be located in the company’s Riverbend Landfill west of McMinnville and is expected to be operational in mid-2010.

As waste decomposes naturally, the new energy plant will collect the resultant methane gas and use it to power engines to generate electricity. The power will then be sold to McMinnville Power & Light.

Waste Management said the volume of electricity it generates could increase if the Yamhill County Board of Commissioners approves an expansion of the landfill.

Houston-based Waste Management Inc., the world’s largest solid waste company with annual revenue of $13.4 billion, developed the landfill-to-energy technology more than 20 years ago and now operates 111 landfill energy facilities in North America.

It has plans to develop another 160 by 2012, including one under way at its Columbia Ridge Landfill in Arlington, Ore., which will go online later this year.

The company in May formed a joint venture with Bend-based InEnTec LLC called S4 Energy Solutions LLC that will market, operate and develop InEnTec’s technology turns waste-created gas into multiple fuel types.

Portland Business Journal – http://portland.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2009/09/21/daily41.html

Skagit, Wash. manure-to-power plant on line September 25, 2009

It takes slightly more than three gallons of liquid cow manure to create one kilowatt-hour of electricity.

A lot of poop. A small amount of electricity. A big environmental boost to a dairy farmer.

A fledgling anaerobic manure digester is now running at roughly 80 percent capacity near Rexville in southwestern Skagit County. The plant produced its first power on Aug. 30 and will host Gov. Chris Gregoire at a ceremony next Monday.

The digester accepts the liquid manure in a big holding tank, where it gives off methane gas that is then burned to produce electricity.

It is the first or fourth of its kind in Washington – depending on how you catalog the device. Ferndale-based Andgar Corp. built all four.

Washington already has three conventional poop-to-methane-to-power digesters near Lynden, Monroe and Sunnyside. However, they essentially accept manure from one dairy farm each.

The Rexville operation – built and run by Farm Power – is different in a couple ways.

It is set up to accept manure from two or more dairy farms – enabling smaller operations to participate.

And it is designed to accept and extract methane from icky, slop-like wastes from seafood and chicken processing – as well as other food wastes. Farm Power had to get a bill passed in the Legislature this past spring to make combining the food and cattle wastes easier from a regulatory aspect.

Dairy farms produce huge amounts of manure that can ooze into groundwater and eventually into streams and rivers to cause pollution problems.

Farmers take many measures to deal with this problem, but digesters are a more cost-efficient way to tackle the matter, said Daryl Maas, one of two brothers behind the Rexville operation.

Kevin and Daryl Maas – who grew up around Skagit County dairy operations – saw Washington’s first digester built near Lynden in 2004 and became fascinated by its potential.

But they saw that very few farmers could afford to build similar digesters, Daryl Maas said.

The brothers created Farm Power in 2007, which raised $3.5 million – including $1 million in federal and state grants – to build the Rexville facility that is currently taking manure from two nearby dairy farms. The site has the capability to expand to accept manure from additional farms.

At full capacity, the Rexville site can handle 55,000 gallons of liquid manure a day. That translates to 750 kilowatt-hours – enough to power about 500 homes.

That’s one-tenth of 1 percent of the roughly 500,000 homes served by Puget Sound Energy (PSE).

The Rexville facility adds to what PSE can offer in “Green Power,” a program in which utility customers can request to have their electricity partly or totally supplied by renewable sources such as wind, solar and biomass facilities.

Roughly 24,000 of PSE’s 1.1 million overall customers have signed up for Green Power sources, said utility spokesman Andy Wappler.

“Now farmers have a brand-new product to sell – renewable energy,” Wappler said. Maas said the brothers have three more digesters on the drawing board – two in Whatcom County and one near Enumclaw. They hope to build an average of one per year.

Meanwhile, Maas said the manure can be returned to the farmers in better shape after the methane is extracted.

The returned manure has its nutrients broken down, which makes it a better fertilizer. Without going through the digester, the same manure would take longer to break down into essential nutrients for fertilizer.

Also, the process produces a mulch that can be used for livestock bedding.

By JOHN STANG, Seattle Post Inteligencer – http://www.theolympian.com/northwest/story/978878.html

Bids to be requested for Forks, Wash. biomass boiler in October September 19, 2009

Quillayute Valley School District wants to make the Forks area greener — at least in terms of saving energy.

The district in October will put out to bid its biomass boiler, which would heat half of the middle school and the entire new high school once it is completed.

The biomass boiler — which would use chipped wood waste as fuel — is to be partially paid for through a $1 million grant approved by the state Legislature. The district is seeking an additional $500,000 through the federal Environmental Protection Agency.

Construction should begin in November and the project should be completed in time to heat Forks Middle School by the end of 2010, Superintendent Diana Reaume said.

“This has been such a journey,” she said. “And we have had so much help from the community, and my staff has been fantastic.”

The design resembles a brick tower that harkens back to old-fashioned plants, Reaume said.

“The idea is to symbolically represent history while combining with the new green concepts and incorporating as much energy-saving concepts as possible,” she said.

“There will also be a learning theme throughout the building to teach about the wave of the future with green energy conservation resources, as well as some of the history of the area.”

The 50-foot tower will feature information on green energy to teach students and community members about the process and windows will give an outside glimpse of what the boiler looks like on the inside.

Reaume said that, as the first biomass boiler of such size at a school, it would be considered an “icon for the state,” as well as allowing the school to retire a diesel tank and one of its propane tanks.

“I cautiously estimate that we could save between $75,000 and $90,000 a year,” Reaume said.

“The reason I’m cautious is that the cost of the market for the chips fluctuates a great deal, and as this is the wave of the future for energy savings, it could drive the price up.”

The wood chips would be delivered to the school a couple times a week, Reaume said.

She said she hoped that local mills could supply it, but that the wood chips would have to be bid upon just as with any other district fuel.

“We are very hopeful that they will be able to, though,” she said.

Emissions controls

The boiler will have a variety of emissions control devices, Reaume said.

“The emissions standards in Washington are much higher than almost any other state,” she said.

“We’ve been working very closely with [the Occupational Safety and Health Administration] to make sure we will meet those requirements.”

Reaume said that Bill Henderson, “our director of maintenance, has worked very hard to make sure everything on this will be working well.”

Rod Fleck, city attorney and planner for Forks, was instrumental in helping the school district acquire the original grant for the boiler, she said.

Paige Dickerson, Peninsula Daily News – http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/article/20090919/news/309199998

Eastern Washington winds set to power Gig Harbor Peninsula September 17, 2009

The long, winding roads through Yakima and approaching Goldendale give way to wheat fields and the summer sun in Eastern Washington. And in a few months, the wind that powers through its valleys will boost the Gig Harbor Peninsula into the era of renewable energy.

It’s where the Harvest Wind project is located, some 260 miles from Gig Harbor. And it’s where 43 windmills – each larger than the length of a football field – are being erected high on a ridge overlooking the Columbia River.

As contractors from Lotus Works of Vancouver, Wash., worked with a large crane last Thursday to lift a 148-foot blade into its hub, Peninsula Light Company CEO Jafar Taghavi and Power Resources Director Ray Grinberg joined others with hard hats and construction vests on the site. They beamed at the $250 million project that will help PenLight reach 50 percent of the state’s renewable energy mandate by 2016.

“We see this as the first of several projects that we’ll need in the next 15 to 20 years to reach our goals,” Grinberg said.

Those goals are shared by statewide utilities which serve 25,000 people or more since voters passed Initiative 937 in 2006. It requires utilities to obtain 15 percent of their power resources from renewable sources – such as wind, solar, geothermal or biomass – by 2020, with an initial boost of 3 percent beginning in 2012 and 9 percent four years later.

Taghavi, who was hired by PenLight’s Board of Directors in 2007, said when Harvest Wind comes online, possibly as soon as December, it’ll be the first time in the company’s 85-year history that the cooperative will be generating its own power.

“We’ve always relied on big brother,” Taghavi said, referring to Bonneville Power Administration, from which PenLight buys the power that serves the peninsulas. “Business has changed.”

The giant towers are proof.

Accompanied by a two-man documentary film crew from North Woods Productions of Olalla, PenLight officials, including Marketing Director Jonathan White, toured the rolling hills and marveled at the sight of the off-white generators. They are part of the second wind farm in the area; the existing White Creek project, which came online in 2007, is twice the size of Harvest Wind.

Project Manager Ed Smith of Lotus Works said Harvest Wind’s 100-megawatt farm will produce enough electricity to power about 20,000 homes.

Each Siemens-manufactured turbine will generate about 2.3 megawatts and needs a 15 to 20 mph wind to reach its ideal production.

“We were aware of this project, and we did our due diligence to make sure it would serve our members’ needs,” Grinberg said.

Lee Test, an independent contractor who works as a consultant on the site, said the 260-foot towers are made in China and shipped to the states in three sections. When they are erected – and when one of the three blades is completely vertical – the structure is about 100 feet taller than the distance between the new Narrows bridge deck and one of its towers.

The windmill blades are shipped to Pasco by railroad from Iowa, and the nacelles, which generate the power, are made in Denmark, Test said.

BRIAN MCLEAN, The Peninsula Gateway – http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/northwest/story/882630.html