Transmission Summit Tidbits

I titled this post tidbits for two reasons:

1. This entry would be way to long if I tried to tell you everything that went on last week at the Transmission Summit in Sweetwater, Texas. So long in fact that you would probably look at it and think no way I'm reading all of that and move on, and nobody wants that.

2. I am going to go into detail about what I learned at the summit in this month's newsletter that goes out to all of our members. So if you're a member, you can it there; if you're not a member you can find a membership application here:
http://www.caprockplainswind.com/htm/membership.html.
Sorry I couldn't pass up the opportunity, but if you want more information about memberships check out the web site and if you still have questions shoot me an email or give me a call.

Now, down to business...
The Transmission Summit held last Thursday and Friday was put on by the Texas Wind Energy Clearinghouse and featured speakers from several transmission service providers building CREZ lines as well as representatives from Southwest Power Pool, Tres Amigas, ERCOT and several others.

Here are a couple of the things that were discussed that I thought were the most relevant to our immediate area.

• Developer financial commitments for panhandle CREZs

Cameron Fredkin, director of project development, gave an overview of what has happened concerning the the PUCT's recent docket (#37567) which asked developers in the Panhandle A and B zones to post collateral in order to justify the build out of transmission lines in the area. If you want more background on the issue check out topic # 3 on our previous blog entry: Texas Renewables.

The PUCT asked wind developers to post collateral for 50% of the capacity for each Panhandle zone. Existing operations in the zones that are connected to the ERCOT grid were counted as collateral and after the initial letters of intent were revised the PUCT did receive 50% commitment for each zone in the form of letters of intent (actual collateral will have to be posted at a later date).

Developers who were involved in the process include: Scandia, Higher Power, Horizon, Clipper, Cielo, Pattern, E.On, Iberdrola, RES, and Invenergy. Some developers didn't participate in the process, but this doesn't exclude them from moving forward with developments.

• Sharyland/Cross Texas transmission line progress

It seemed like a common theme from both of the TSPs working in our area that for the most part landowners have been pretty easy to work with throughout the process. Both companies have been holding open meeting throughout the area and getting landowner input so that they can put together line routes.

Right now Cross Texas has public meetings scheduled for January 26th, 27th and 28th in Turkey, Childress and Silverton, respectively. Check out their Web site for more detailed information about the routes they are currently looking at: http://www.crosstexas.com/teslasilverton.htm. The PUCT filing date for this line is July 5th, 2010. The line could be potentially located in any of the following counties: Briscoe, Floyd, Hall, Motley, Childress, and Cottle.

Sharyland plans to file their CCN for their Silverton to Cottonwood line would could potentially pass through Briscoe, Floyd, Dickens and Motley Counties in May of this year. Sharyland was selected to build 4 substations in the panhandle located close to Silverton, White Deer, Nazareth and Hereford. All of the land for the stations have been selected and options have been signed. Each option is for a section of land or 640 acres, giving Sharyland the option to expand the subs as more wind comes on line. Sharyland is on schedule to energize all of their lines sometime summer or fall 2013. Once the lines are energized developers should be able to connect with in six months.

• City of Garland intervening in CREZ process

Last week was the first I had heard of the City of Garland intervening in the CREZ process. Many people are concerned that these proceedings will slow down the development process. There was only brief mention of the topic at the summit, but when I made it back to the office Monday morning I found that my Google reader list (side note: if you don't use Google reader to follow blogs and key words in the news, well, you definitely should) had several news articles concerning the City of Garland and the PUCT. Here are a couple so you can read about the issue in more depth:

$5B Wind Plan Back in PUC's Lap

Judge orders halt to work on wind transmission project

• SPP transmission plans

It was nice to hear about SPP's plans for transmission expansion. We have heard so much lately about the CREZ process that it is nice to know that another grid operator is looking to tap into our wind rich region. $3.2 billion worth of transmission improvements have been approved at SPP. They are hoping to create a collector system that will be able to take some of the wind energy generated in the Panhandle of Texas into the Eastern grid. Included in their currently approved portfolio of transmission expansion projects is a 345 kV line that will stretch from Mooreland, OK to just north of Abernathy, TX into the Tuco substation.

SPP has plans for more transmission expansion, but they have yet to be approved. There is a lot in store for the future of wind development in the panhandle of Texas.

Until next time...

The Future of Agriculture

If you were a member of your high school's FFA chapter chances are you remember having to memorize the National FFA Creed. Its the first thought that I had when I starting working on this blog entry. I remember a good chunk of it, but I had to go and look it up to fill in some of the holes in my memory. It's been a long time since I have taken a real close look at the ole creed and looking back I must say that while I memorized the words in high school I don't think that I paid close enough attention to the meaning behind the words.

Looking back, the creed in general is very enlightening stating things like, "...the promise of better days through better ways..." and "...the ability of progressive agriculturalists to serve our own and the public interest..."

Little did I know back then how relevant those words would be to me. In high school I had never laid eyes on a wind turbine (yes, I had seen a wind mill, but not one of the modern day giant energy producers) and most definitely hadn't considered working in the industry. Today that is quite different. I have been at Caprock Plains Wind Energy Association for almost exactly a year now and continue to be intrigued by wind development and the opportunities that it offers to agriculture.

Wind energy development offers so much to landowners and farmers in rural areas who work so hard to make a living. For many farmers having wind development on their land simply means a supplemental income that allows them to keep doing what they have always done with their land. Wind development will in general only occupy 3 to 8 percent of the land. It means just as much to rural communities as well providing local jobs and increased tax bases.

While all of this is pretty new it seems like its offering a pretty bright future to agriculturists, but it's important to stop and wonder just what people are thinking about this and other trends happening in the agricultural industry. I recently received an invitation to participate in the planning process for a new research project. The purpose of the project is to find out what people's beliefs, opinions, and attitudes are towards current trends in the industry like wind development, water management and carbon sequestration. My role is going to be contributing questions we have for our target audiences so that the research can provide as much use to people throughout different areas of agriculture. I'm thinking general things like:

• Do you support wind energy development?
• If presented with the option would you lease your land out for wind energy development?
• Do you believe that wind energy is a viable electric generation option for the future?
• Have you been contacted by a wind energy developer? What was your opinion of them?
• What do you think wind energy development will mean for farming and ranching in your area?
• What are your concerns with having wind energy development on your land?

These are just a few that I came up with, but I wanted to open it up for suggestions. If you are curious about a specific topic concerning wind energy or the future of agriculture in general for your area please post it as a comment to the blog and I will take it with me to the planning session for this important new research project.

I believe in the future of agriculture and am optimistic about what the future brings. Until next time...