PROGRAM AGENDA:

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

7:45 - 8:15 a.m. :: Registration and Continental Breakfast

8:15 - 8:30 a.m. :: Opening Remarks and Announcements

8:30 - 9:45 a.m. :: Keynote Session: Key Considerations for the Energy Grid and Renewable Energy

Chairman Ray Baum, Oregon Public Utility Commission

Chairman Jon Wellinghoff, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

• Can we ensure system reliability?
  
• At what cost?

9:45 - 10:00 a.m. :: Networking Break

10:00 - 11:00 a.m. :: Renewable Transmission Issues and Challenges

Giji John, Associate, Holland & Hart

• Acquiring rights-of-way through negotiated acquisitions or the use of condemnation
  
• General land use and permitting rules and regulations in several Western states
  
• Regulatory oversight of large transmission lines in various Western states

11:00 - 11:45 a.m. :: Transmission Corridor Developments

Rich Halvey, Energy Program Director, Western Governors' Association

• Impact of nine agency Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)
  
• Renewable Energy Zones
  
• Available capacity vs. need
  
• Regional Transmission Expansion Planning project

11:45 a.m. - 12:45 p.m. :: Group Luncheon

12:45 - 1:30 p.m. :: Impact of Integrating Renewable Energy into the Grid

Judy Chang, Principal, The Brattle Group

• Operational impacts
  
• Allocation of risks and costs
  
• Policies available to minimize and distribute costs and risks

1:30 - 2:00 p.m. :: FERC

Jason Johns, Associate, Stoel Rives

• Efficient integration of renewable resources into the grid
  
• Open access to transmission
  
• Ensuring reliability remains paramount

2:00 - 2:40 p.m. :: A Report from the California Renewable Transmission Initiative (RETI)

Dariush Shirmohammadi, Chief Consultant, Shir Consultants, Inc.

• History behind the RETI
  
• RETI political and technical processes
  
• Economic vs environmental issues
  
• RETI results

2:40 - 3:25 p.m. :: Environmental Reviews Required for Development

Steve Stielstra, Principal, SWCA Environmental Consultants

• NEPA
  
  • Programmatic EIS: solar, wind, transmission
  
  
• ESA, NHPA and other state and local regulations

3:25 - 3:45 p.m. :: Networking Break

3:45 - 5:00 p.m. :: PANEL: Who Pays the Tab?

Judy Chang, Principal, The Brattle Group

Kelcey Brown, Oregon Public Utility Commission

David N. Hicks, Director of Renewable Energy Procurement and Technical Services, NV Energy

Developers understand the importance of developing a good resource despite their proximity to major load centers, but they must also consider the associated costs to update infrastructure needed to bring the electricity to the demand. The question remains: Who bears the cost of the additional infrastructure? How does that factor into obtaining financing and/or winning a utility bid? What is the ultimate impact on the rate payer?

5:00 - 6:00 p.m. :: Networking Reception

Thursday, August 12, 2010

8:00 - 8:30 a.m. :: Continental Breakfast

8:30 - 9:15 a.m. :: The Midwest ISO: Leading the Path to Improved Renewable Energy Integration through Visualization

Raja Thappetaobula, Technical Manager, Real Time Operations, Midwest ISO

Mark L. Feldman, CEO, Space-Time Insight

• Use of smart technology to accomplish objectives for grid reliability and increased, effective, and economic integration of wind energy into the grid
  
• Real-time monitoring of the grid with enhanced visualization, alerts and alarms, contingency analysis of and fast response to transmission grid vulnerabilities

9:15 - 10:00 a.m. :: Renewable Development: Connecting the Dots

David N. Hicks, Director of Renewable Energy Procurement and Technical Services, NV Energy

• Site selection: location and project sizing
  
  • Reconciling developer's comparative advantage, technology choice, offtake market, and transmission access
  
  
• Permitting issues: federal vs. private land
  
  • Navigating the federal, state, and local government processes
  
  
• Transmission interconnection and integration
  
  • FERC and state commissions
  
  
• Market for renewable energy and credits FERC and State Commissions
  
  • Utilities and other potential offtakers, RFP vs. bilateral negotiations, approval processes

10:00 - 10:30 a.m. :: Networking Break

10:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. :: Panel: Streamlining the Development Process: Can it Work?

Stefanie Stavrakas, Alternative Energy Coordinator, Region I, United States Fish and Wildlife Service

Steve Stielstra, Principal, SWCA Environmental Consultants

Michael Haske, Deputy State Director for Resource Planning, Use and Protection, OR/WA Bureau of Land Management

Deb Schallert, Project Manager, Permitting, Cascade Crossing Transmission Project, Portland General Electric

Jim Sauser, Lands and Recreation Residence Special Uses, USDA Forest Service, Regional Office, Pacific Northwest Region, (R-6)

The siting and permitting processes for both renewable energy development and transmission expansion are long and arduous processes with some distinctly different components. Policy makers are trying to identify ways to streamline the process within renewable development and transmission expansion, respectively, but is there also room to combine the two for an even more comprehensive process? This panel will discuss some of the efforts being made to streamline the processes and provide suggestions for those currently navigating the different paths.

12:00 p.m. :: Conference Adjourns