WREZ Technical Committee

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WREZ Technical Committee

• Briefing Webcast Part 2
• December 18, 2008

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Agenda Review

• ZITA criteria to refine CSAs into proposed REZs
• EL/STG exclusion areas and initial avoidance
  areas, criteria for categorizing land within
  proposed REZs, and wildlife data request
• Public comment package
• Public notice details of request and process
• Documents included in package
• Review draft Phase 1 Report outline

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Purpose

• Brief Technical Committee on information about
  WREZ model and WECC study request to be presented
  at January meeting
• Answer questions and secure feedback on materials
  to achieve approval in January
• Approve WREZ model documents for public comment
• Approve submission of study request to WECC

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REZ Map Creation and AnalysisDRAFT FOR
DISCUSSION

• Black Veatch
• December 18, 2008

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Agenda

• REZ Identification Process
• Draft REZ maps
• Remaining data needs

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Caveat

• All maps shown today are for example only
• They are indicative of current progress, but not
  final results
• There are known (large) holes
• They are for discussion purposes only

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Each states wind CSAs include the best wind
resources in that state
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Each states solar CSA includes only the best
solar resource in that state
Lower quality solar may supplement other
resources in some regions
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ZITAs CSA resource maps are being transformed
into REZ maps in five major steps

• Develop exclusions
• Apply exclusions
• Generate a grid
• Identify REZ areas
• Quantify biomass, non-REZ defining hydropower,
  undiscovered geothermal potential

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Avoid areas developed by EL and ZITAs
exclusions were applied to the CSA maps

• EL provided a number of environmental exclusion
  area types that are excluded from development
• Statutorily excluded areas
• Non-statutorily excluded consensus-avoid areas
  agreed upon by the work group members
• ZITA provided technical exclusions that exclude
  certain areas from development in addition to the
  minimum resource criteria
• Slope
• Land use (urban areas, water bodies)
• Military restrictions
• Minimum contiguous land area needed for project
  development

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PRELIMINARY DRAFT FOR COMMENT ONLY
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NOTE Discovered, conventional geothermal
resources, which will also define REZs, are in
the process of being assessed
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Minimum and maximum REZ size criteria will be
used to identify REZs

• Minimum REZ size
• Solar thermal, wind and large hydro (Canada
  only) 1500 MW
• Discovered, conventional geothermal 500 MW
• Maximum REZ size
• A collector system cost of 10 per MWh

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Remaining data needs

• Discovered, conventional geothermal data for
  Idaho and Utah
• Decision on the treatment of military lands and
  airspace as exclusion areas
• Biomass data for each REZ
• Canadian hydropower cost information
• Final exclusion areas from EL

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EL/STG Public Comment Documents

• Qualified Resource Area maps will include
• Exclusion areas development precluded by
  statute or regulation (i.e. National Parks,
  Wilderness Areas)
• Initial avoidance areas based on purpose,
  policy, restrictions, conflict or controversy
• Qualified Resource Area maps will not include
• No wildlife assessment in maps wildlife data
  collection and assessment will take place from
  December March
• Wildlife maps early April
• Categorization Criteria to be applied to
  wildlife lands data

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EL/STG Wildlife Data Request

• EL assisted STG and Western Governors Wildlife
  Council in developing a targeted wildlife data
  request.
• Sent out December 17 to
• State Agencies
• NGOs
• Federal Agencies
• Universities/Professional Organizations
• Data will go to states for review and analysis,
  with input from EL

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WREZ Public Comment

• WREZ charter calls for maximized transparency and
  public outreach as integral to the WREZ
  initiative
• A well designed and publicized public comment
  period will help meet these goals by
• ensuring interested parties/individuals are aware
  of the WREZ initiative,
• keeping them updated on developments, and
• providing an opportunity to submit comments.
• The Technical Committee previously approved a
  public outreach strategy that included a 30-day
  public comment period on draft materials.

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WREZ Public Comment

• 30-day public comment period is scheduled to
  begin February 1 on draft work-group products
  approved by the Technical and Steering
  Committees. These include
• Qualified Resource Areas  with exclusion areas
  and avoidance areas
• criteria that will be used to identify sensitive
  wildlife habitats within Q RAs
• assumptions for the development of cost curves to
  calculate renewable energy generation costs
  within the QRAs and
• transmission model inputs.
•  After EL/STG meeting, we are proposing to the
  TC that we switch from using the term proposed
  REZs to qualified resource areas.

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WREZ Public Comment

• WGA will establish a Web-based platform to
  support the public comment documents and to
  receive written comments.
• Public comments will not be made public until
  the public comment period has ended.
• Each document approved for posting will include a
  brief description of the document, methodology
  for how the document was prepared and the
  assumptions that went into it, and how the
  document fits in the broader WREZ process.
• There may also be key questions posed if a Work
  Group is seeking specific feedback on a topic.

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Public Comment Website

• The Web site will be organized as follows
• Home Page for WREZ Comments
• Providing adequate background on the WREZ
  initiative
• links to the main WREZ Web page
• brief description on how to submit comments
• deadlines and any other necessary information

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Public Comment Website

• Categories of WREZ Materials for Public Comment
• Four proposed categories of materials will be
  established to help guide the public review of
  WREZ materials and the submission of public
  comments
•  Renewable resources - includes ZITA criteria for
  refining CSAs into QRAs
• Exclusions - includes EL exclusion areas and
  initial avoidance areas, and categorization
  criteria
• Supply curves - includes ZITA technology
  assumptions
• Transmission Model includes background and
  assumptions

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Submitting Comments

• Under each of the four categories, there will be
  links to the document, background information,
  potential questions from the Work Group, and a
  link to a comment form for electronic submittal
• Click here to submit your comments
• The link will take you to a comment form where
  comments can be typed or attached as a Word
  document.  Also included will be a space for
  providing contact information and representation

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Managing Received Public Comments

• WGA staff will initially collect, track and
  synthesize the public comments
• State-specific comments or those from a
  state-specific stakeholder, will be forwarded
  promptly to the Technical Committee member from
  that state
• WGA staff will be responsible for synthesizing
  the comments by subject matter and, as
  appropriate, preparing a recommendation for
  addressing the comment
• Within 10 days following the public comment
  period, the synthesis and any recommendations
  will be forwarded to the Technical Committee or
  one of the Work Groups for consideration as
  appropriate.

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Role of the TC and Work Groups in Public Comment
Review

• Technical Committee and/or Work Groups are
  ultimately responsible for making a determination
  on disposition of the public comments
• If Chairs of the Technical Committee or the Work
  Groups accept a WGA recommendation, that decision
  will be relayed to the entire Technical Committee
  or respective work group for their information
• Chairs may also decide to hold a conference call
  with their membership to consider the public
  comment and WGAs recommendation

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Wrapping Up the February Public Comment Period

• WGA staff will create a log for how public
  comments were addressed and rationale for why
  public comments were not addressed
• Once the Technical Committee or the Work Groups
  have completed the public comment review, WGA
  will make the public comments and the response
  log public on the WREZ Web site. Commentors will
  be made aware that these documents will be made
  public
• Within one month following the conclusion of the
  public comment period, WGA will review the
  comments and draft recommendations, which will
  be reviewed and revised as directed by the
  Technical Committee
• The final product will then go to the Steering
  Committee for final approval

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Proposed Report Outline

• June 13-14 at WGA annual meeting in Park City
• Covers Phase 1 only
• Project history and description
• Describe the efforts of the working groups
• Western Renewable Energy Zone maps
• Includes non-REZ resource maps
• Will not have recommendations this will be the
  responsibility of the Staff Council

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Upcoming Meetings

• Advance meeting materials approx. January 9
• Technical Meeting January 13-14
• Hotel information draft agenda on WREZ website
• Steering Committee briefing webcast at end of
  meeting in January 14
• Steering Committee webcast approve public
  comment package January 23 (time TBD)
• REMINDER Monday, December 29 input your
  availability for a webcast on the WECC study
  request Jan 6 or 7