CWEB.104/August.31.2004
If Bonneville Power Administration shrinks its role in the Northwest energy scene, it should guarantee continued regional investment in energy conservation and renewable energy, according to many attendees at an Aug. 17 public meeting in Seattle on BPA's future power supply plans.
Some groups and private citizens believe there aren't enough details on how the Northwest will encourage conservation and renewables with the federal agency's retreat to managing its own system.
The meeting, one of six planned around the region, was held to gather comments on BPA's recent "Policy Proposal for Power Supply Role for Fiscal Years 2007-2011." The document calls for BPA to surrender its mandate to serve new load of its customer utilities, and to restrict its power sales to the output of the existing Federal Columbia River Power System.
It also outlines a continuing--but potentially different and in some ways diminished--role for BPA in regional conservation and renewables development. BPA plans to pursue its share of Northwest energy-saving potential, emphasizing low costs and local initiatives. For renewables, the agency sees itself mainly as a facilitator. But the proposal left many details still to be determined on specific conservation and renewables approaches (see Con.WEB, July 29, 2004).
BPA is seeking public comment on its proposal through Sept. 22. Bonneville administrator Steve Wright plans to sign a final record of decision on these policies by December.
Public Comments
The Aug. 17 gathering attracted nearly 50 people who shared their views during three hours of testimony on Bonneville's plan.
Sara Patton, director of the Northwest Energy Coalition, said, "If the region insists on going down this path, contracts between BPA and its customers must stipulate that adequate resources will be acquired, including energy efficiency and renewable energy identified in the Northwest Power and Conservation Council's [work-in-progress] Fifth Power Plan."
The Council has identified 2,800 average megawatts of achievable cost-effective energy efficiency available in the region through 2025. Patton commended BPA for committing to acquire a share of that, but said the agency still needed to define the scope of "its share."
For renewables, BPA has committed to spend up to $21 million a year to help Northwest renewables development, through such potential means as integration services for wind power, transmission upgrades and acting as an "anchor tenant" for projects. These are positive, Patton said. But the coalition wants BPA to set a renewable energy target.
"The coalition is worried that turning over load growth responsibility to more than 100 utilities, many of whom have never handled power planning, load forecasting and resource acquisition before, will jeopardize the region's ability to achieve a clean, affordable or stable energy future," Patton said.
The coalition is concerned that while BPA recognizes the potential risk of over- or under-investment through its transfer of load growth responsibility, it has not endorsed an adequacy standard. "The Energy Coalition strongly recommends that BPA adopt enforceable adequacy standards as part of the contract procedures," she said.
Jake Fey, chair of Tacoma's Public Utility Board, agreed: "I believe that if there's an allocation of BPA power, then it needs to come with contract conditions and penalties for non-performance."
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| (Courtesy of BPA) |
BPA does not believe its vision for renewables will decrease their development, said spokesman Ed Mosey. "In fact, what we are doing is moving from direct acquisition toward more engagement by utilities and merchant developers as the market matures," he told Con.WEB. "We have confidence that these resources can stand on their own feet now, and what they need is a push rather than a direct lift."
It is also unclear whether utilities developing energy efficiency and renewable energy would consequently receive a smaller piece of the federal hydropower pie, Patton said. "That would be a serious disincentive to aggressive pursuit of these resources," she said. NWEC proposes that utilities investing in renewables and efficiency be allowed to sell their surplus federal power on the market.
Seattle City Light superintendent Jorge Carrasco also encouraged BPA to make use of conservation and renewables as it moves forward, noting that City Light and many of its customers have generated efficiency improvements that would not have happened without Bonneville support. That sentiment was echoed by representatives of major Seattle property owners such as the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and Vulcan Inc.
Ash Awad, vice president of energy at Seattle-based McKinstry Co., which designs and implements energy-saving ventures, said consistency in energy efficiency funding is vital for building companies that last in the industry. "Being able to provide a level of consistency around energy efficiency and renewable energy and having it stated clearly so that it is not a guessing game year over year is critical. We appreciate the dialogue. But we've got to have consistent action."
Several who testified also noted benefits of using renewables and conservation investments to hedge against volatile natural gas prices. "I'm very concerned ... that if we have a scenario of new load growth met mainly by natural gas that we are subjecting ourselves not to a stable source of energy, but to rates that are going to be set by the Chicago Board of Trade," said Rich Feldman, director of the Worker Center, a division of the King County Labor Council. "When there's a cold snap in the Midwest, we'll see our power prices go up."
Bonneville has no official opinion on natural gas-fired generation, said Mosey, instead leaving siting of such projects to others. BPA's planned McNary-John Day Transmission Line Project could facilitate natural gas-fired plant construction, he said. However, high natural gas prices may prompt regional power planners to view coal as the Northwest's least-cost supply-side resource.
Looming is the question of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions, added Mosey. If such emissions were tightened from a regulatory standpoint, it could boost the economic viability of renewables such as wind and solar.--Garrett Hering
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Idaho Power envisions a much increased role for renewable energy and energy-saving programs in its future resource mix.
The investor-owned utility--whose current resource base is mainly hydropower and coal-fired generation--has unveiled a draft integrated resource plan that points toward a more diverse energy future as it seeks to meet an anticipated 2.2 percent annual load growth over the coming decade.
The plan's favored acquisition scenario through 2013 calls for 500 megawatts of coal power, but also 450 MW of non-hydro renewables (primarily wind and some geothermal) and 124 MW from demand response and energy efficiency ventures. Another 198 MW would come from gas-fired power, combined heat and power at industrial facilities, market purchases or distributed generation.
Idaho Power "believes that a blended approach based on a portfolio of diverse resources is the most cost-effective and least-risk method to address the increasing energy demands of our customers," states the draft 2004 IRP released in July (a final version was due Aug. 31).
"Supply-side generation resources are likely to be the primary method" of powering the utility's growing customer base, the document continued. "However, IPC customers have expressed an interest that all generation resources be financially, environmentally, and socially responsible. Renewable energy and demand-side measures are significant contributors" to the proposed portfolio.
With this plan Idaho Power has "really made an attempt" to examine DSM and renewables more closely, according to Randy Lobb, administrator of the Idaho Public Utilities Commission's Utilities Division.
The utility's current resource mix contains virtually no renewables, and its own energy-saving initiatives in 2003 acquired less than 1 average megawatt.
Should its preferred resource vision come to fruition by 2013, Idaho Power would remain a predominantly hydro/fossil-fuel-reliant utility, but non-hydro renewables would supply about 9 percent of its power needs and DSM would account for roughly 1 percent.
Idaho Power wants to get started: the IRP action plan schedule calls for requests for proposals this autumn for 200 MW of wind power and 88 MW of peaking power.
Broadened, Expanded Resource Base
Idaho Power's move to broaden and expand its resource base is rooted in a number of circumstances, the IRP shows.
One major factor is growth. From 1990 to 2003, Idaho Power recorded huge increases in customers (from 289,398 to 423,167), average firm load (1,206 average megawatts to 1,658 aMW) and peak firm load (2,052 MW to 2,944 MW). But its generation capacity grew much less, from 2,635 MW to 2,912 MW.
Looking ahead, Idaho Power expects a 2.2 percent annual increase in system loads, rising from 1,678 aMW this year to 2,049 aMW in 2013. Peaking requirements are anticipated to expand at more than 60 MW annually and average energy needs are estimated to rise more than 30 aMW each year during this 10-year planning period.
And, the IRP notes, Idaho Power assumes it will retain its obligation to serve all retail customers in its service areas, as a vertically integrated utility.
Meanwhile, the IOU's resource portfolio is already shifting. In 1998, hydro accounted for more than 50 percent of Idaho Power's energy supply, and wholesale market purchases were 15 percent. But a swelling customer base and dry years have changed those proportions; in 2003, hydro represented 37 percent of the power supply, and power purchases were 21 percent.
Buying from the market is beneficial when wholesale market prices are low, but not during high-priced periods such as 2001, the IRP said. Idaho Power wants to lessen its market purchases to about 4 percent of its total portfolio by 2012.
Balanced Portfolio
The IRP, which Idaho Power developed with a broad-based advisory council, had two main purposes: "Identify sufficient resources to reliably serve the growing demand for energy service" over 10 years, and, "Ensure that the portfolio of resources selected balances cost, risk, and environmental concerns."
Secondary goals were to "give equal and balanced treatment to both supply-side resources and demand side measures," and to enhance public participation.
Idaho Power has "been criticized in past ... IRP review processes because they've failed to look closely at DSM and renewables," said Lobb. "I think they've really made an attempt to improve that part of the IRP."
Idaho Power scrutinized 12 separate collections of resource options.
Summarized the IRP: "The resource portfolios were developed to explore a variety of different resource alternatives and to analyze the costs and benefits associated with each resource strategy.
"The resource portfolios varied from a portfolio consisting entirely of combustion turbines to a portfolio containing 1,000 MW of wind generation with over 800 MW of combustion turbines for backup capacity. Other portfolios included a [predominantly] coal-fired portfolio which included almost no natural gas fired generation, and a number of diversified portfolios that include varying amounts of wind, geothermal, coal, simple and combined-cycle combustion turbines, and demand-side resources."
In addition to present value power supply costs, Idaho Power also examined quantitative risks--such as capital, production tax credits and capacity (for wind power), fuel prices and carbon dioxide taxes--as well as qualitative risks of public policy shifts, resource commitment, timing and siting, public acceptance and DSM implementation.
The winning portfolio offers an eclectic blend of supply- and demand-side resources, with a staggered purchase schedule.
It calls for 78 MW of demand response savings and 48 MW of DSM throughout the planning period; 350 MW of wind capacity, in 2006, 2007 and 2010; 48 MW of combined heat and power, in 2007 and 2010; 88 MW from combustion turbines, in 2007; 100 MW of geothermal, in 2008; 62 MW from combustion turbines/distributed generation, in 2010; and 500 MW of coal, in 2011.
This assemblage has several advantages, according to the draft IRP: "Lowest risk-adjusted portfolio power supply costs ... Diversifies Idaho Power Company's overall resource mix ... Positions Idaho Power Company to meet potential public policy changes (CO2 tax and renewable portfolio standards ... Reduces the resource commitment early in the planning period by closely matching resource additions to capacity needs."
The planning document acknowledges pluses and minuses with various resources.
Coal, as an example, is touted for low costs (fuel and operating), minimal fuel price volatility and tried-and-true technology, but it also features high CO2 emissions and capital costs, and potential local siting opposition.
Wind is a clean, renewable resource with low operating costs and moderate capital costs, but it's also unproven in Idaho and its availability is unclear. Geothermal power, likewise, has yet to be developed in the Gem State. Yet both those renewable resources are beyond the research and development phase, the plan said, and Southern Idaho has viable potential sites for both.
At least two major wind farms and two geothermal power projects have been publicly proposed in Idaho, according to Renewable Northwest Project, although none have yet been constructed.
The utility's wind and geothermal acquisitions depend largely on the marketplace, Lobb said, noting uncertainties about renewable resource potential and costs. "The company has to have a backup plan if they're not as available or as cost-effective as it assumes."
On the demand side, the IRP said, "it is difficult to assess the real potential of the programs" without responses to requests for proposals. The draft demurs on which specific DSM ventures Idaho Power will pursue, pending a study of systemwide DSM potential and perhaps further ideas from program developers.
Still, the plan lists eight potential DSM ventures with benefit/cost ratios exceeding 1, although only six were included in the portfolio. Irrigation and air conditioning demand response initiatives could together furnish 75 MW of peak savings. Four efficiency programs are favored: commercial new construction (4 MW peak, 1 aMW energy), irrigation efficiency (29 MW peak, 7 aMW energy), industrial efficiency (12 MW peak, 11 aMW energy) and residential new construction (16 MW peak, 4 aMW energy).
The portfolio target would be a boost from Idaho Power's current demand response/efficiency ventures, which, in 2003, contributed 5.9 million kilowatt-hours of energy savings and 189 KW of summer peak reduction, according to the utility's 2004 DSM report. The IOU separately recorded estimated 2003 savings of between 1.9 aMW and 2.5 aMW from its share of market transformation programs from the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance.
Now What?
A final IRP was scheduled for delivery by Aug. 31 to the IPUC, which intends to hold a 30-day public comment period; Lobb said the commission typically accepts resource plans, with comments but without approval or denial.
Meanwhile, Idaho Power has outlined an action plan through 2006. It includes RFPs this fall for 200 MW of wind and 88 MW of peaking power, and, in 2005, design and funding of DSM measures and RFPS for 100 MW of geothermal and 12 MW of combined heat and power.
The numbers in this plan could change, the draft IRP cautioned. "The energy and capacity values in future resource plans in 2006 and 2008 may be modified to reflect the actual production experience that Idaho Power Company gains with wind resources, geothermal resources, demand-side programs, and combined heat and power projects."--Mark Ohrenschall
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Energy efficiency makes good business sense for industries.
That's the pitch from the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance, which is launching a new venture to promote energy savings in regional industrial facilities, specifically in the pulp and paper and food processing sectors. The Alliance also wants to spread the energy-saving message to firms that supply industrial equipment and services.
This coordinated strategy was approved by the Alliance board at its July 21-22 meeting in Seattle, with up to $11 million allocated through 2007. It focuses on making industrial company officials more aware of energy-saving opportunities and benefits, and getting them to incorporate efficiency--particularly in energy-using systems--as a standard procedure.
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"What our thrust is here is to go after business practices," said Alliance board member Norm Beckert, a former Boise Cascade purchasing executive. The regional market transformation collaborative is seeking "a recognition by [industrial] management that energy efficiency and the projects related to energy efficiency are indeed prudent investments."
Energy efficiency can reduce operating costs in industrial facilities, goes the thinking, and thus can help improve their economic competitiveness at a time when the overall regional industrial sector is struggling--although industrial officials still have to contend with funding limitations for efficiency spending.
The Alliance's market research found efficiency awareness gaps at both the plant and corporate levels. This Industrial Sector Initiative will attempt to bridge that chasm and improve efficiency-related business operations, through personal communications, trainings, case studies, demonstration projects, Web sites and other activities. Utilities, industrial trade groups, trade allies and other market players also will have roles in this program.
If successful, the ISI promises large, inexpensive regionwide energy savings--nearly 130 average megawatts by 2015 at a total resource cost of less than 1 cent per kilowatt-hour, according to Alliance estimates.
In other action at the Seattle meeting, the Alliance board approved up to about $2.2 million in continued funding for three years for information services now provided by the Energy Ideas Clearinghouse and Con.WEB, and decided to competitively bid those services.
The board also adopted a new initiative to help improve the efficiency of power supplies for personal computers. It earmarked $960,000 for this program through 2005.
Industrial Sector Initiative
Since 1997 the Alliance has offered 12 industrial ventures, spending about $21 million. These efforts have concentrated on specific applications, such as motors, motor systems and compressed air, as well as industry sub-sectors, such as microelectronics and refrigerated warehouses.
The Industrial Sector Initiative represents a coordinated framework to help transform the industrial market, as the Alliance has previously adopted for the commercial and residential sectors.
The Alliance assessed the industrial sector and found significant energy-saving opportunities and potential, if challenging, market transformation.
Subsequent market research into major Northwest industrial categories and energy-using technologies showed that energy-saving options were not widely known.
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Beckert described a "disconnect" between "on-the-job" people such as engineers and maintenance workers, and their plant managers, but also between plant officials and corporate bosses. "Research indicated upper management has not been paying enough attention to these opportunities to indeed implement energy efficiency projects," he said.
An Alliance board presentation slide noted: "Business practices in the [Northwest] related to efficiency have significant room for improvement."
The Alliance defines business practices as "the inclusion of energy management practices within a customer's normal course of business activities that allow the customer to continously improve their energy use," with greater efficiency and reduced costs, according to Bob Helm, Alliance industrial/agricultural sectors manager. It should be folded into other corporate functions, such as planning, accounting, purchasing, engineering and operations and maintenance. However, about 95 percent of Northwest industries lack a systematic way to "significantly or consistently improve their energy efficiency," Helm told Con.WEB via e-mail.
The industrial initiative will emphasize a systems approach. This promises considerably more energy savings--in the range of 10 percent to 20 percent for motor systems, for example, compared to 2 percent to 3 percent for motors themselves--and equal if not greater cost-effectiveness, according to Helm. "However, since these opportunities often involve process considerations, they require higher-level approval on the part of industrial decision-makers. As a result, they often go untapped ... efforts targeted at system opportunities will be most successful when coupled with efforts targeted at changing business practices," he said.
Another long-term objective is for industrial trade allies to peddle "systems optimization services and equipment," according to the slide presenation.
Seeking Market Transformation
An Alliance board committee decided to concentrate on specific industrial markets.
To accomplish market transformation in the regional pulp and paper and food processing industries, the Alliance will rely primarily on the power of information. Training programs, site demonstrations, case studies and direct communications with industrial officials are among the envisioned activities, according to Beckert.
Utilities have a "critical" role in this project, working with their industrial customers, Beckert said.
Industrial trade associations also will participate, he said, specifically Industrial Customers of Northwest Utilities (for pulp and paper) and Northwest Food Processors Association.
"Our role is as a channel or conduit to our members, and ... interfacing between NEEA and our membership," said NWFPA energy/environmental affairs manager Pam Barrow. Her organization numbers about 90 members with more than 100 regional plants using some 420 aMW of electricity annually--the region's second-largest industrial load, behind pulp and paper, she said, quoting Alliance figures.
NWFPA will help inform its members about efficiency opportunities--technical and financial--along with training events, Barrow said. The association is creating an energy efficiency portal on its Web site, as an information resource for members.
"Our main objective is of course to get energy efficiency measures implemented in Northwest food processing plants and to reduce their energy use as a means to achieving reduced costs in production, and therefore increasing competitiveness," she said. Notable opportunities to save energy exist in motors, refrigeration, process heating, boilers and compressed air, she said.
Cost-cutting prospects are a major selling point for energy efficiency, within industries, according to both Barrow and Beckert.
"What they're looking for is savings, more so than worrying about market transformation," said Beckert. "What you can do is take advantage of their need for savings to assure their sustainability. If savings are aimed in the right direction, you can get market transformation in many of those areas," as, for example, when firms decide to buy only high efficiency motors.
Information gaps have hindered industrial efficiency, but so have capital spending limitations.
In deciding on internal investments, many industrial firms look first to safety measures, environmental issues, customer retention and basic infrastructure needs, according to Beckert. Then come projects that offer cost savings, ranked in priority on investment return. "You just don't go out and have an infinite source of money to pay for these things," said Beckert.
Barrow acknowledged payback concerns for efficiency spending, but she also noted NWFPA can steer its members toward utility incentives, tax credits, low-interest loan programs and other financial assistance.
Alliance officials have it mind to expand ISI beyond pulp and paper and food processing, but not in clear detail. "We'll be opportunistic," said Beckert. "Rather than necessarily target another industrial sector, what we'll do is see what success we have and see whether we can't leverage that into other plant sites or companies."
Information Services, Power Supplies for Personal Computers
The Alliance board also approved up to about $2.2 million for two information services it has previously funded: the Energy Ideas Clearinghouse (up to $1.69 million for three years) and Con.WEB (up to $525,160 for three years).
The board also decided to issue competitive bids for both EIC and Con.WEB services. EIC is now operated and managed by Washington State University Extension Energy Program, and Energy NewsData publishes Con.WEB.
"We've always been interested in getting the best value for the investments we make and using competitive bidding is an efficient way of doing that," board chair Mat Northway told Con.WEB via e-mail. He also believes the marketplace for energy information services has grown, potentially offering more options.
Meanwhile, the board endorsed $925,000 through 2005 for an unsolicited proposal titled 80 Plus Efficient Power Supplies for PC's. This energy-saving technology, which converts alternating current power to direct current for personal computer use, currently has a tiny market share but the Alliance believes this venture could lead to 71 aMW of savings by 2015 at a total resource levelized cost of 0.4 cents/KWh.
Alliance funding will primarily support manufacturer incentives. Successful market transformation would lead to Energy Star specifications for power supply efficiency, effective in 2006.--Mark Ohrenschall
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The Energy Trust of Oregon is a small organization with a long reach.
Since its official debut in March 2002, the Trust has focused on getting programs on the street quickly, building a network of "trade allies" and targeting underserved market niches, Trust officials told Con.WEB.
The independent non-profit organization also has brought needed stability to energy efficiency funding in Oregon and found new ways to make efficiency an attractive buy, according to outside observers.
"Our job is to deliver energy efficiency to peoples' homes and peoples' businesses and industrial facilities. We look at renewable opportunities that most benefit ratepayers," Trust board chairman Steve Schell told the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance board in January. "We're looking to take things down fairly close to the shelf and put them into operation."
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| (Courtesy of Energy Trust of Oregon) |
By the end of 2003, Trust programs had acquired nearly 18 average megawatts of energy savings, two-thirds from commercial and industrial sectors, and 208,000 therms (20.8 million cubic feet) of natural gas savings, according to the Trust's 2003 annual report.
On the renewables side, the Trust had put in place 70 grid-connected solar electric systems and the 41-megawatt-capacity Combine Hills wind farm in northeastern Oregon.
By 2012, the Trust's goals are to save 300 aMW of electricity and 19 million therms (1.9 billion cubic feet) of natural gas, and to meet 10 percent of Oregon's electricity needs through renewable resources.
Trust programs serve the Portland General Electric, PacifiCorp and Northwest Natural Gas service territories, funded by public purposes dollars collected from utility ratepayers.
Oregon Entrusts the Trust
Senate Bill 1149, Oregon's 1999 electric utility restructuring law, earmarked 3 percent of PGE and PacifiCorp in-state revenues for conservation, renewables and low-income weatherization and housing initiatives.
The legislation allowed for the possibility of a non-governmental entity to administer the conservation and renewables portion of these funds, and the Oregon Public Utility Commission--which was legislatively authorized to direct how public purposes dollars are collected and spent--subsequently endorsed what became the Energy Trust of Oregon. (For more background on the Trust, see a Con.WEB special section, March 30, 2002.)
The OPUC works collaboratively with the Trust under the terms of a 2001 grant agreement. "The Energy Trust has clear authority to develop and implement the programs necessary to achieve energy efficiency and renewable resource goals, but also has very clear responsibility to cooperate and communicate with the PUC on what it is achieving and how it is spending the money," said the Trust Web site.
About 75 percent of statewide public purpose funds are turned over to the Trust. In 2003, OPUC authorized the Trust to take over Northwest Natural Gas' efficiency programs, at the utility's request.
The Trust's 2004 budget totals $55 million, with revenues from public purpose funds collected by PGE, PacifiCorp and Northwest Natural Gas.
Thoughts on The Trust
Funded with Oregon public purposes dollars, the Trust took energy efficiency out of the "lost revenues game" that had kept utility conservation programs on a funding "roller coaster," said Tom Eckman, conservation resources manager for the Northwest Power and Conservation Council.
"What's engaging about the Trust is that they seem aware of their unique attributes. They understand the value of cooperative approaches and the synergy between market transformation and local (resource) acquisition," said Charlie Grist, senior analyst with the Council. The Trust doesn't have the rate impact or lost revenue worries that are a disincentive for utilities to operate aggressive conservation programs, Grist noted.
"Given that they have been around [operating programs] for only a little over a year, I'd say they're doing very well. They've been able to do things that have not been done before," said Ken Canon, executive director of Industrial Customers of Northwest Utilities.
Having conservation programs run by the Trust will bring "needed consistency to the pursuit of conservation in Oregon," said Stan Price, executive director of the Northwest Energy Efficiency Council, a trade association of energy efficiency businesses. He said the Trust is "very effectively using trade ally partnerships" with business customers.
The Trust does not focus solely on getting the most kilowatt-hours of savings at the lowest possible cost, said energy efficiency director Steve Lacey. Funding is allocated across sectors. Of the $42 million budgeted for 2004 efficiency programs, 24 percent is allocated for commercial, 29 percent for industrial, 33 percent for residential and the remainder to other programs, including PGE's and PacifiCorp's share of funding for the Alliance's market transformation programs.
"We want to be cost-effective, but we want to distribute the money equitably," Lacey said. "There are a number of balances we have to achieve. We want to get 300 aMW but distribute funding so we can serve the whole state."
Leveraging existing resources will be a key strategy to maximize acquisitions at the lowest possible cost, Schell told the Alliance board.
Trust Efficiency Programs
The Trust operates a broad range of energy-saving programs, with features including financial incentives, technical support, energy modeling, recommendations, tax credit assistance, and contractor and retailer referrals.
Trust residential efficiency programs target new construction, retrofits, home products and multifamily dwellings. Commercial/industrial initiatives are offered for building retrofits, new commercial construction and industrial processes.
Most of the Trust's programs are actually delivered by contractors, according to its 2003 annual report to OPUC. For example, the New Building Efficiency and Production Efficiency programs are managed by Aspen Systems. Ecos Consulting manages the Home Energy Savings program.
Another aspect of the leveraging strategy is the Trust's network of more than 250 trade allies--contractors, installers, distributors and equipment providers--who can market the Trust's efficiency programs "in ways we could never match," said Trust executive director Margie Harris. "We're building on their expertise."
In addition, working with trade allies will help sustain the market for efficiency, said Lacey, who called this strategy "influencing the influencers."
"If someone needs a new furnace, we give contractors the tools to sell an efficient furnace," he said. Then, efficiency starts to get pervasive. It's wholesale behavior change.
"We give (trade allies) a lot of training and do a lot of relationship development on how to market energy efficiency benefits. Once they get religion, they see how it helps them sell products and the customers get the efficiency benefits," Lacey said. "These people know their customers better than anybody else."
The Trust's trade ally network will boost business for efficiency contractors, Price said. MacDonald-Miller, a Seattle-based mechanical contracting company, is expanding into Oregon, he noted.
Strong customer relationships help sell efficiency to the industrial sector, Lacey added. "Industrial customers are used to relationship sales. They have relationships with vendors who know their (manufacturing) processes."
As a result, the Trust has contracted with four industrial production specialists "who talk the talk, understand problems and can identify process improvements specific to a particular industry. It's not just selling lights, motors, compressors and variable-speed drives," Lacey said.
Oregon industries can acquire efficiency either on their own or through the Trust's programs, Canon said. "Greater competition is one thing that industry is accustomed to, instead of take-it-or-leave-it programs run by utilities. With more options, that is spurring people to consider more (efficiency) projects."
Canon said a process efficiency project at the Blue Heron Paper Co. "demonstrates what's possible." Contractors working with the Trust's Production Efficiency program will modernize a system used to de-ink recycled fiber at Blue Heron's Oregon City facility. The project is expected to start construction this autumn.
"We identified a lot of energy efficiency savings, 106 million kilowatt-hours every year, 25 percent of the load," Harris said. "That will mean a $500,000 annual savings. We'll pay 5.1 cents per kilowatt-hour, half of what we expected, for a 2-year payback." The project will be partly funded by $500,000 from The Climate Trust, and will qualify for Oregon's Business Energy Tax Credit.
In addition to delivering energy savings, the project will result in equal or even superior pulp quality, a Trust fact sheet said.
The Trust expects industrial efficiencies to provide its biggest chunk of 2004 savings--17 aMW out of the 30 aMW targeted for acquisition. Industrial conservation measures represent about 36 percent of the Trust's 1,082 aMW technical electric energy-saving potential identified in a recent report.
But the Trust also wants to acquire savings from historically underserved markets, Harris said.
For example, the Home Energy Savings venture aims to acquire conservation from 5,200 multifamily housing units in 2004. "We'll be appealing to business drivers for multifamily property managers," Harris said, including the tenant-retention benefits of making units more comfortable through efficiency upgrades.
Last year, the Trust paid nearly $21,000 in incentives for upgraded windows, insulation and compact fluorescent lights at the three-decades-old, 49-unit Rachel Anne Apartments in Gresham. The improvements will reduce tenant energy bills, slow the spread of mold from window condensation and give the apartments greater "curb appeal," Jerry Mason, vice president of property owner Westland Investment Realty, said in a Trust case study of the project.
Renewable Energy Initiatives
Trust renewables programs cover solar electric and solar water heating (with financial incentives), wind (including utility-scale ventures and anemometer loans) and an open solicitation offering incentives for innovative renewables applications. As an example of the latter, Energy Trust paid $1,800 per system for installation of solar water heating at eight Habitat for Humanity homes in Bend. Habitat for Humanity agreed to do marketing and public outreach about the benefits of solar water heating.
The Trust is pursuing "market-defining" programs to overcome barriers and stimulate self-sustaining industry growth that can eventually take place without cash incentives, said Peter West, the Trust's renewables program director.
"It's easy to throw out an incentive, if you don't care about market impact," West said. "But if you want to consider the impact, you step back. We stepped back and asked: 'What are the barriers? Which can we remove? Where is the market today? What can consumers do? Is industry willing to partner with us?'"
For example, one barrier to development of small-scale wind is a lack of detailed understanding of resource potential at different locations. "You have to find the right location with the right turbine at the right height. Without the data, you don't have enough to make an informed decision" to develop a successful wind project, West said.
To help landowners make such decisions, the Trust instituted an anemometer loan program. Oregon State University's Energy Resources Research Laboratory, "the premier West Coast wind research group," administers the program for the Trust and processes the gathered data, West said.
For solar photovoltaic development, the leading barrier is that information about equipment performance is too technical for laypersons to decipher, West said.
To overcome that obstacle, the Trust has taken on a Consumer Reports-style role of helping potential buyers understand which installations work best and training contractors on optimizing system performance. Acting as a neutral, credible information source about high-quality solar installations is an "appropriate role for us and one that we can do fairly cheaply," West said.
For solar contractors, West said, "We run rebates through them so they can market the products." If installed by a trade ally contractor, home projects are eligible for up to $3 per installed watt, and a maximum of $10,000 per site. Business installations are eligible for $2.25 per watt, up to $15,000 per site.
In addition, every PV system must be equipped with a meter, which "helps us understand what's a good-performing system and what's a bad-performing system," West added.
The Trust had hoped to launch a biomass program this year, but "there are a lot more difficulties than we had thought," West said.
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The Trust estimates Oregon has 410 aMW of biomass potential, but "there are good reasons why there is a lot of untapped biomass potential," West said. Small-scale technology is costly, different biomass fuel sources have widely varying characteristics, development lead times are long and energy markets do not value other biomass attributes, such as eliminating the water quality threat posed by dairy waste lagoons, West explained.
The Trust is preparing a biomass market analysis. "We hope we can chip away at those barriers in a logical, consistent way," West said.
Program Integration, Economic Development, Energy Values
Also in the Trust's future, Harris said, are integrating the Trust's offerings "across programs and across sectors."
An example, she said, was the integration of solar electric and thermal at the Stewart Aquatic Center in Eugene, a project involving the Trust, Eugene Water & Electric Board and Oregon Department of Energy. A solar water heating system replaced leaking gas-fired heaters for warming a therapy pool, while a 24-kilowatt, grid-connected photovoltaic array was installed atop the center's covered parking area. The Trust paid a $23,108 incentive for 5,700 therms of annual gas savings.
"We will also be engaging from an economic development point of view," Harris said. "In working with the Portland Development Commission, whenever we see a business considering locating here, we can provide incentives for efficiency and renewable energy to help them decide to locate here."
Another issue the Trust is pondering, Harris said, is ensuring that its programs capture the most valuable savings.
"Not every kilowatt-hour is equal," she pointed out. "We're very much part of a system," where energy values vary depending on location and time of day." To that end, she added, there may be opportunities to develop renewables that take pressure off the transmission and distribution system. "I think we can work with utilities to focus and concentrate our efforts in specific places or times of day," Harris said.
Seeking Success
The Trust's programs are only one of many factors that will determine whether the organization can meet its resource acquisition goals, observers said.
Eckman raised concerns about fiscal constraints. The 300 aMW goal "has to be done with fixed revenues. That constraint puts them not in the acquisition business, but in the budget business. From the perspective of classical integrated resource planning, if there is justification for more than 300 aMW, then you get it," he said.
"There is some risk that they won't get as much as is justified," especially efficiency measures that have high capital costs but low life-cycle, levelized costs because of their decades-long lives, Eckman said.
Resistance to energy efficiency has not gone away, Price said. "No doubt, there is still this persistent strain of thinking that this is social engineering, that efficiency is a philosophy as opposed to practicality," he said.
As a result of Oregon state's fiscal problems, there is an ongoing risk of an "open season on the Trust's funds as a way to solve the state's budget woes," Price said.
In 2003, the Legislature considered but rejected proposals to shift public purposes funding to the state general fund; to cut off public purposes funding by Jan. 1, 2005, unless 20 percent of eligible retail customers had elected direct access by that date; and to require Oregon Department of Energy approval for payments to the Energy Trust, and an ODOE determination whether the Trust should continue (see Con.WEB, Sept. 29, 2003).
At the federal level, meanwhile, renewable energy developers are anxiously awaiting congressional action on the wind energy production tax credit that expired Dec. 31, 2003. The American Wind Energy Association forecasts that new wind installations nationwide will total only 500 MW capacity in 2004, compared to 1,687 MW installed in 2003.
West said the uncertainty about the federal tax credit's future has led to "incredible instability" in the wind development industry.
The economic environment, however, could be favorable to energy efficiency, and by extension to the Trust, according to Grist. "My gut tells me that a lot of things are going on that resemble what happened in the 1970s," including growing concern about importing Middle East oil and rising natural gas prices.
The energy efficiency industry "is as strong as I've seen in the last decade," Price said.
Commodity production industries competing in a global economy will have to seek opportunities to improve their financial outlook, which is "opening new doors" to conservation programs, said ICNU's Canon. "The first driving force for large facilities is to get more efficient and to get more corporate capital. If they don't get more corporate capital, it will go to a sister facility, and that's a recipe for long-term demise."
Canon said a key to the Trust meeting its goals is stability. He added that the Business Energy Tax Credit is the state's "most successful industrial efficiency tool. Why? Because it's been around for 20 years."
Canon said, "We bought into the 3 percent (public purposes funding) and Energy Trust is the tool to carry that out. It's very important that that be carried out. Keep it out there so the information gets out to all sectors."--Jim DiPeso
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PacifiCorp has narrowed its quest for additional renewable power to seven potential suppliers collectively offering more than 1,000 megawatts capacity of wind and geothermal resources.
The investor-owned utility plans further evaluation and negotiations, which could lead to power purchase deals by year's end, although PacifiCorp officials note challenges in reaching their goal of acquiring to 1,100 MW of renewables by 2010.
These seven options resulted from PacifiCorp's request for renewables proposals, issued in February. The IOU received dozens of bids totaling more than 6,000 MW of renewables across its six-state service territory.
PacifiCorp's Aug. 16 announcement of the seven leading candidates lacked details about names or specific resources, but utility officials told Con.WEB most of the renewables megawatts still under consideration would be wind-powered. These remaining proposals come from Oregon, Utah, Wyoming and Nevada.
"We're pleased to be moving forward with our commitment to renewable energy development, although there remain significant issues to resolve before we can be confident of achieving our target procurement level," said Stan Watters, PacifiCorp senior vice president of commercial and trading, in a news release.
A key uncertainty is the expired federal wind energy production tax credit, according to the news release and to PacifiCorp environmental policy analyst Virinder Singh. A proposed PTC extension is under consideration by Congress as part of a corporate tax bill.
Without this tax break, which amounted to 1.8 cents per kilowatt-hour generated when it stopped at year-end 2003, reaching agreements with renewables suppliers will be quite difficult, Singh said. Other factors, including transmission access and financial soundness of projects, also come into play, he said.
Seeking Renewables
PacifiCorp's renewables solicitation stemmed from the IOU's 2003 integrated resource plan, which foresaw a need for 4,000 MW of new resources by 2014 to address a widening gap between its power supplies and growing customer demand.
The IRP emphasized resource diversity, along with low costs and minimized risks. Most of the added resources would come from natural gas- and coal-fired power--an estimated 2,100 MW of baseload capacity and 1,200 MW of peaking capacity. Renewables and demand-side management also were accorded notable future roles, at 1,400 MW and 450 average megawatts, respectively.
PacifiCorp obtains nearly two-thirds of its energy from thermal resources, and most of the remaining one-third is purchased. The utility's 2004 generating capacity is slightly more than 8,800 MW, with peak requirements of about 10,000 MW, according to utility information.
The IOU's current portfolio includes about 132 MW of Wyoming and Oregon wind capacity and 26.1 MW of geothermal--numbers that could increase exponentially. If PacifiCorp achieves its stated goals, the utility's renewables capacity could approach 10 percent of its total resource portfolio capacity, according to Singh. (However, wind power typically produces energy at only about one-third of its capacity, year-round.)
PacifiCorp's solicitation is among the region's largest, matched only by Bonneville Power Administration's since-abandoned 2001 RFP for energy from 1,000 MW or more of wind capacity. Rachel Shimshak of Renewable Northwest Project described PacifiCorp's quest as "among the largest drivers for renewables in the region."
The Feb. 5 RFP sought up to 1,100 MW of additional renewables capacity by 2010, divided among 500 MW for its Washington, Oregon and Northern California service territories and 600 MW for Idaho, Wyoming and Utah.
PacifiCorp had no specific requirements for new or existing renewables resources, or for locations, although selected resources have to connect with PacifiCorp's transmission system.
In evaluating renewables bids, PacifiCorp gave up to 60 percent weighting to price factors, such as resource integration, dispatchability, level of firmness and value of environmental attributes, according to the RFP. Non-price operational factors were given up to 30 percent weighting, and environmental issues were considered at up to 10 percent.
The seven highest-ranking bids will be further reviewed, according to PacifiCorp's news release. A final shortlist, negotiations with bidders and conclusion of long-term power-buying arrangements are also upcoming.
PacifiCorp hopes to make deals with at least some of these renewables proposers by year's end, the news release said.
Shimshak said in the spring she is "hopeful" PacifiCorp can reach its 1,100 MW target. "Lots of things have to come together in order to allow this to be successful," she said. "The production tax credit needs to be extended, the utility needs to work productively, not only with suppliers, but with the transmission and operations side to design new products and integrate it into the mix. None of this is automatic."
Jason Eisdorfer of the Citizens' Utility Board of Oregon believes the 1,100 MW goal may be a "stretch," but he also said PacifiCorp's efforts to address transmission and integration obstacles for renewables may accelerate regional solutions to those issues. Singh predicted this would be a learning exercise for the utility as well as developers and regulators.
"It (1,100 MW) may seem like a huge number, but remember that California gets 11 percent of its power from renewable energy sources," Singh said. "We serve a large territory with some of the best wind resources and geothermal resources in the country."--Mark Ohrenschall, Lynn Francisco and Steve Ernst
Nearly 2-1/2 years after it was first publicly proposed, a Central Washington wind farm venture is inching nearer to a decision on whether it will be allowed.
But the Kittitas Valley Wind Power Project remains locally controversial, and in the midst of a lengthy permitting process.
Planned by a Zilkha Renewable Energy subsidiary at between 181.5 megawatts and 246 MW of capacity at a site about 12 miles northwest of Ellensburg, Kittitas Valley will be the subject of upcoming formal hearings by the state Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council. Zilkha applied to EFSEC for site certification approval in January 2003, and early this year asked the state agency to pre-empt local land-use and zoning processes.
EFSEC hearings on Kittitas Valley were scheduled for August, but have been delayed until late September to allow for public comments on a draft supplemental environmental impact statement evaluating potential alternatives to Kittitas Valley elsewhere in the county.
Two of those other options are proposed wind farms undergoing separate permitting reviews, Wild Horse (see related story) and Desert Claim. A third locale, near the Kittitas Valley site, was identified in the draft SEIS as the most viable alternative to Kittitas Valley, although its projected capacity of 63 MW renders it commercially questionable.
An Aug. 25 public hearing in Ellensburg on the draft SEIS gave a glimpse at the continuing high-pitched local dispute over Kittitas Valley. Only five people spoke, but all expressed opposition to the project; three suggested Wild Horse was a far more appropriate wind farm site.
Meanwhile, a jurisdictional issue has arisen. Kittitas County officials believe they, not EFSEC, should take the lead on assessing environmental impacts of proposed local wind farms. However, another state agency in late August ruled in EFSEC's favor on lead agency status.
At the moment, EFSEC predicts a decision on Kittitas Valley permitting by spring 2005.
Alternatives to Kittitas Valley
EFSEC in December issued a draft environmental impact statement for Kittitas Valley, which identified visual impacts as the most significant dilemma posed by the proposed wind farm along U.S. Highway 97 between Cle Elum and Ellensburg. The draft also explored a wide array of other potential impacts, finding some insignificant and others more notable but generally manageable (see Con.WEB, Jan. 30, 2004).
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| (Courtesy of Washington Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council) |
The draft supplemental EIS--issued in mid-August--does not contain any updates to the original draft EIS on major negative impacts, unresolved issues and cumulative effects from the county's three big potential wind farms.
Instead, the new document analyzed prospective "reasonable" alternatives to Kittitas Valley, "to assist the Council in its decision making process," the draft SEIS stated.
EFSEC had earlier looked at other potential wind farm sites in four general Kittitas County areas--west and east of U.S. 97, and farther east, on Whiskey Dick Mountain (the vicinity where Wild Horse is proposed) and Boylston Mountain, south of Interstate 90 near the Columbia River.
For the draft SEIS the Council re-examined those four broad locales and two others, Skookumchuck Creek and Quilomene near Wild Horse. These were assessed on the basis of wind resource, transmission availability, land size, zoning and environmental issues.
For a closer look EFSEC chose Wild Horse and Desert Claim, the latter a 180-MW-capacity wind farm proposal about 8 miles north of Ellensburg. Two others also earned a further appraisal: Swauk Valley Ranch and Springwood Ranch, both located roughly 10 miles northwest of Ellensburg, near Kittitas Valley. Neither of those sites, though, has been formally announced for a proposed wind farm.
After the latest review, the draft SEIS concluded that, besides Wild Horse and Desert Claim, "it appears that only one site, Swauk Valley Ranch, stands out as a practical off-site alternative" to Kittitas Valley.
EFSEC estimated Swauk Valley could host a 63-MW-capacity wind farm, roughly one-third of Zilkha's midlevel proposal for Kittitas Valley. "This reduced scale raises questions whether this could be a commercially viable site," said the draft SEIS, as it falls below Zilkha's planned minimum size of 158 MW and the renewable capacity amounts recently sought by some Northwest utilities.
A wind farm of comparable capacity (64.5 MW) could be built on Springwood Ranch, the draft SEIS said, but unlike Swauk Valley it would also need a 5-mile transmission connection, including easements on private land and a crossing of the Yakima River. In addition, this potential site is comparatively small (4,200 acres) and contains anadromous fish habitat.
Public Comments, Jurisdictional Issue
At the Aug. 25 draft SEIS hearing at Central Washington University, several speakers voiced support for Wild Horse as an alternative site to Kittitas Valley, given its relatively remote location, lesser opposition and apparently less significant environmental and other impacts.
"If for some reason this big, industrial, expensive, ugly, noisy mistake has to go in Kittitas County, I would request it be placed in the Whiskey Dick Mountain area and not in our beautiful western (county) valley," said Jeff Howard of Cle Elum. Kittitas Valley would "affect property values, way of life, business in this community ... for decades, I would say."
A couple of project opponents said EFSEC should consider alternative locations throughout Washington, as EFSEC is a statewide agency and Kittitas Valley would serve power needs beyond the county. The draft SEIS is "lacking in quite a range of considerations as it relates to alternatives," said James Carmody, an attorney who has represented Residents Opposed to Kittitas Turbines.
Geoff Saunders said the document lacks objectivity because it is mainly based on Zilkha-supplied information.
Meanwhile, a recent dispute between Kittitas County and EFSEC over lead agency status for Kittitas Valley and Wild Horse environmental reviews has--at least for the moment--been settled in EFSEC's favor, by a state Department of Ecology ruling in late August.
County officials argued that renewable energy projects not required to seek permitting through EFSEC fall within local government jurisdiction for environmental reviews, said county planner Clay White. For both Kittitas Valley and Wild Horse, Zilkha chose to apply to EFSEC instead of the county.
EFSEC siting manager Irina Makarow said her agency's position was that once a renewables proposal arrives at EFSEC, it must follow the council process. She said the county also missed legal deadlines to make a jurisdictional challenge.
"As far as we know," Ecology's ruling is the final word, said Makarow.
After the adjudicative hearings, which start Sept. 27 in Ellensburg, and a final EIS, the Council will make a recommendation on Zilkha's application to the Washington governor, who will have 60 days to say yes or no, or send it back to EFSEC for more investigation. EFSEC also will forward a recommendation to the governor on Zilkha's pre-emption request, Makarow said. Both EFSEC and gubernatorial decisions are appealable in court.--Mark Ohrenschall
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A proposed Central Washington wind energy project of up to 312 megawatts capacity is moving through permitting with minimal contention.
The Wild Horse Wind Power Project would occupy a series of ridge tops in sparsely populated eastern Kittitas County, between Ellensburg and the Columbia River. A Zilkha Renewable Energy subsidiary has applied for Wild Horse approval from the state Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council.
Judging by a draft environmental impact statement, a recent public hearing on the draft EIS and prior comments, Wild Horse has yet to generate substantial opposition--unlike Zilkha's proposed Kittitas Valley Wind Power Project northwest of Ellensburg (see related story), and to some extent enXco's proposed Desert Claim wind farm north of Ellensburg.
As in real estate, it's location, location, location. "Wild Horse ... obviously is the most remote project," said Kittitas County planner Clay White. "A lot of the concerns expressed on the [Kittitas Valley] and enXco projects aren't there for Wild Horse, from aesthetics to transportation to people being concerned about property values." EFSEC siting manager Irina Makarow also cited the relatively less populous nature of the Wild Horse vicinity.
Meanwhile, Puget Sound Energy recently short-listed 150 MW of Wild Horse's capacity for possible acquisition by the investor-owned utility.
Despite these positive indicators, Wild Horse remains some time away from actual construction.
Puget has not formally committed to a project purchase, and state permitting approval wouldn't happen until at least early 2005.
Zilkha faces ongoing uncertainty over the expired federal wind energy production tax credit, whose absence since Jan. 1 has stunted new wind development nationally and regionally.
The developer and Kittitas County also still need to reconcile the proposal's inconsistency with local land-use plans and zoning laws. Kittitas County, meanwhile, has challenged EFSEC's authority as the lead agency overseeing the environmental review process--unsuccessfully so far (see related story).
Wild Horse Summary
Publicly announced in July 2003 (see Con.WEB, July 16, 2003), Wild Horse was originally unveiled as a 165-MW-capacity wind farm, although Zilkha is seeking EFSEC approval for up to 312 MW capacity.
The project would consist of as many as 158 turbines atop ridges of Whiskey Dick Mountain, about 11 miles east of Kittitas, and some 8 miles west of the Columbia River. Most of the 8,600-acre project site is privately owned, and livestock grazing is the predominant land-use activity. Zilkha has secured wind option agreements with the private landowners, along with a lease for one state-owned parcel; another state-owned portion is under review for a possible lease, according to the draft EIS.
The relatively uninhabited nature of the area is illustrated by a project map that shows four residences within about two miles of the project boundaries, and 17 residences within approximately four miles.
Two Bonneville Power Administration high-voltage transmission lines run nearby, as does a smaller PSE line. Zilkha has made transmission interconnection requests with both entities.
Wild Horse is also among seven options short-listed by Puget from recent resource solicitations that attracted nearly 50 proposals (see Con.WEB, June 30, 2004). The IOU is evaluating buying 150 MW of the project.
In addition to the wind turbines, proposed Wild Horse infrastructure includes about 17 miles of new roads, improvements to some 15 miles of existing roads, about 27 miles of underground power lines, close to 16 miles of overhead lines (primarily transmission feeder lines), up to three substations, a 5,000-square-foot operations and maintenance facility, and up to six permanent meterological towers.
Draft Environmental Impact Statement
As it did with its Kittitas Valley project, Zilkha decided to pursue Wild Horse permitting through EFSEC and not Kittitas County.
EFSEC, however, has ordered the Texas-based firm to work with the county on resolving the proposal's inconsistency with local regulations, specifically land-use provisions for wind farm placement as well as proposed locations for a concrete batch plant and special utilities. The state agency has set a Nov. 15 deadline for this conciliation. Zilkha can ask for state pre-emption of local requirements, as it has with Kittitas Valley.
The EFSEC review process for Wild Horse includes a draft environmental impact statement, which was released in early August. Although the state agency is conducting the environmental assessment, most of the information and analysis in the draft EIS are based on information from Zilkha's site certification application.
The document acknowledges the likelihood of bird deaths--an estimated 50 to 300 passerine deaths a year at the "most likely" scenario of 136 turbines of 1.5 MW capacity apiece, along with one to 10 raptor deaths annually. Some migrating bats also probably would be killed.
Some animal habitat would be affected, especially during construction, the DEIS reports, although Zilkha has proposed a 600-acre mitigation parcel with fencing to keep out grazing livestock.
Still, wildlife effects are one of two "potential significant unavoidable adverse impacts" from Wild Horse, according to the DEIS. But this designation is uncertain, as measures to limit grazing areas could improve big game habitat, while controlled game hunting would keep herd sizes manageable. The document projects a temporary habitat loss of 356 acres during construction, and 164 acres permanently lost.
Wild Horse's other inevitably negative effect is truck noise at homes along access roads to the site, during construction, the DEIS said.
Visual effects of wind turbines are an issue of special importance for wind power, and for Wild Horse the draft EIS predicts "moderate" view impacts in the project vicinity, but "low" in populous areas of Kittitas County and east of the Columbia.
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| (Courtesy of Washington Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council) |
Fire is listed as the main health and safety risk from Wild Horse, "especially during the hot, dry summer season. Fires could be started by lightning strike or by human activities," the DEIS said.
More than 800 daily vehicle trips are forecast during the construction period, with associated impacts. Zilkha would prepare a traffic management plan.
Economically, Wild Horse would employ about 250 people during construction, and 14 to 18 people for operations. It would generate a total labor income of $4.8 million during construction, including spinoff jobs. The DEIS forecasts increased tax revenues for public agencies and reduced local property tax rates, but does not list specific amounts, although it estimates the project would raise the entire county's property valuation by 8 percent.
The document predicts little or no impact from Wild Horse on cultural resources, noise, water, plant species, recreational opportunities and public facilities.
The draft EIS also addresses cumulative impacts from Wild Horse and the two other big wind projects proposed for Kittitas County, Kittitas Valley and Desert Claim.
It finds a number of prospective impacts--including on birds (up to 755 deaths annually) and bats (up to 782 deaths a year), views, economic activity, demand for public services, traffic and fire risk--but none are deemed significantly and broadly adverse.
Public Comments: Much Support, Some Environmental Concerns
An Aug. 24 hearing on the draft EIS attracted about 40 people to Central Washington University in Ellensburg. Of the 17 people who spoke, only three expressed outright opposition to the project. Several others shared concerns, centering on Wild Horse's potential effects on wildlife and shrub-steppe habitat, along with views. A number of speakers favored the wind farm proposal.
"My whole support is economical benefit to this county through jobs and tax dollars," said local resident Desmond Knudson. "We are a county drying up of money, and this will help--industrial money that does not drain money out and creates good-paying family wage jobs. This county needs that."
Ellensburg's Helen Wise touted the clean energy produced by wind power. "I am very proud to be a part of something pushing for a bettering of our Earth, our county, our families and our future," she said.
Sonja Ling of Renewable Northwest Project praised the DEIS as a complete evaluation. She also supported proposed mitigation measures as well as ongoing monitoring of Wild Horse impacts.
Some others were wary of potential effects, but stopped short of condemning the proposal.
"I'm really torn by all of this," said Steve Verhey of Ellensburg, a CWU assistant biology professor. "I'm in favor of wind power, in favor of the other two projects that have been proposed [in the county]. I might even be in favor of this one. My primary concern is visual impact," specifically the "really long views" of the wide open spaces in eastern Kittitas County. He liked the idea, suggested by speaker Robert Kruse, of shifting the turbines farther south on Whiskey Dick Mountain.
Kruse, who owns property in a canyon near the proposed site, said he was "very concerned about the impact on wildlife I believe the project will unfold," especially on wintering big game animals.
He advocated more study on Wild Horse's wildlife impacts. So did Janet Nelson of Easton, who suggested two years of data were needed on migratory birds and bats (wildlife field studies for Wild Horse were conducted for a year). "The wind industry is rapidly expanding into habitats and regions not well studied," including this locale, she said.
Denise Horton of Ellensburg said the lithosol habitat around the Wild Horse site is possibly endangered in Washington, and essentially irreplaceable. She wanted a state review of this habitat type's status to run its course.
"I'm against the Wild Horse wind farm project," said Lee Bates of Ellensburg. He thought the wildlife studies were too abbreviated and the proposed mitigation for bird and bat deaths inadequate, but in any case, "The only mitigation is not to build turbines, period." The number of potential passerine deaths is "unacceptable for the minor amount of electricity produced by these bird- and bat-killing turbines." Bates also worried about fire hazards and visual impacts.
Erin Duleba of Bellevue also is opposed to Wild Horse. The site "lies within the largest remaining block of shrub-steppe" in Washington, and its development threatens deer and elk habitat as well as "great" recreational opportunities such as hiking, camping, vast silence and scenic views, he said.
Process
EFSEC plans to hold adjudicative hearings on Wild Horse in early 2005, and then recommend to the governor whether to approve or deny the application. The governor then has 60 days to say yes or no, or to punt it back to EFSEC for further consideration. These council and gubernatorial decisions can be appealed in court.--Mark Ohrenschall
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