Wyoming Infrastructure Authority

By DUSTIN BLEIZEFFER - Star-Tribune energy reporter | Posted: Tuesday, January 5, 2010 12:00 am

Conservationists are hailing a federal plan that would limit oil and natural gas development in prime sage grouse habitat in Wyoming.

On Monday, the Bureau of Land Management in Wyoming announced it would modify its sage grouse management plan to more closely align with the state’s “core areas” approach, which severely limits new industrial activities across large areas of the state.

For example, the plan would restrict oil and natural gas development to one well pad per square mile in sage grouse habitat. Further, the state’s core areas plan requires that potential developers demonstrate how any proposed activities would not diminish grouse habitat or bird populations before the activity is permitted.

Previously, the BLM has attempted to make changes in sage grouse management retroactively.

Conservationists say it’s a long-awaited move by the BLM, and a critical step in possibly avoiding a listing of the sage grouse under the Endangered Species Act.

“This is not the kind of policy move that would necessarily stop an endangered species listing process, but it’s likely to help,” said Erik Molvar, wildlife biologist for the Biodiversity Conservation Alliance.

Reached for comment Monday, the staff of the Petroleum Association of Wyoming said it had not read enough of the BLM documents to comment on the new sage grouse management plan.

The federal government estimates as many as 16 million sage grouse inhabited the West in the early 1800s. Populations, particularly in the past 40 years, have dropped dramatically. Only an estimated 150,000 to 500,000 of the birds remain on an estimated 770,000 square miles in 11 states — roughly half of the bird’s historical range.

Wyoming’s sage grouse population is by far the largest of those 11 states; the Wyoming Game and Fish Department’s estimate is around 200,000. Statewide numbers have increased in recent years, officials say, though population declines have been documented in areas of intense energy development.

In 2008, Gov. Dave Freudenthal signed an executive order creating the sage grouse “core areas” conservation plan. It has been hailed by many as one of the best arguments against the need for an endangered or threatened species listing of the bird.

Yet the BLM, which oversees the bulk of sage grouse habitat in Wyoming, has been criticized for not strictly adhering the state’s core areas plan. BLM continued offering oil and gas lease parcels within the state’s core areas, as well as in areas considered critical winter habitat for elk.

Now that the BLM has promised to embrace Wyoming’s sage grouse policy, conservationists say they expect a major shift restricting oil and natural gas development within the core areas. But whether land managers follow through on the policy, and whether it’s enough to avoid a listing, remains to be seen.

“Under this memorandum, it’s even more questionable whether critical sage grouse habitat areas outside core areas will get protection, and if so, how much,” Molvar said.

An estimated 80 percent of the state’s sage grouse core areas are already under lease by the oil and gas industry. Some of those leases were protested and remain under review by the Wyoming BLM state director. Molvar said the BLM now has the opportunity to impose restrictions on those lease parcels.

“The BLM is, at same time, trying to do as little as possible to impede oil and gas development,” Molvar said. “As they walk that line, you have to ask, ‘Will it be enough to save and recover sage grouse populations?’”

Brian Rutledge, executive director and vice president of Audubon Wyoming, said he’s pleased with the BLM decision. However, it remains to be seen how the policy is implemented and enforced.

“We look to both industry and federal managing agencies to approach this with an enlightened and determined manner to avoid listing of this species,” Rutledge said. “For me it’s not even about the sage grouse. It’s about the sagebrush ecosystem.”

Energy reporter Dustin Bleizeffer can be reached at (307) 577-6069 or dustin.bleizeffer@trib.com. Go to http://tribtown.trib.com/DustinBleizeffer/blog to read Dustin’s energy blog.

By MATT JOYCE - Associated Press writer | Posted: Tuesday, January 5, 2010 12:00 am

CHEYENNE — The U.S. Bureau of Land Management on Monday announced the routes it will analyze for a proposed power line from eastern Wyoming to western Idaho, setting aside some of the most contentious proposals.

The BLM’s draft environmental impact statement for the Gateway West Transmission Line Project will study routes proposed by Rocky Mountain Power and Idaho Power, along with possible alternatives. The document is to be released this summer.

The utilities plan to build a $2 billion, 1,150-mile line to carry wind and other power to their customers in Wyoming, Idaho and other Western states. They plan to construct new 230-kilovolt and 500-kilovolt lines, depending on the segment.

The proposed line would start near Glenrock, drop south to Interstate 80, and run across southern Wyoming and southern Idaho to a proposed substation near Melba, Idaho.

The companies hope to complete the project by 2014, but they delayed the siting process for several months this summer to address concerns raised by landowners and local governments along the route. Earlier proposals ran into opposition in Converse and Lincoln counties in Wyoming and in the Idaho counties of Power, Cassia, Ada and Owyhee.

“A lot of groups worked real hard with us to develop these alternatives,” said Walt George, project manager for the BLM. “We wanted to emphasize these routes because these are the routes that the public is going to see in detail.”

The Northern Laramie Range Alliance fought a proposed segment of the line that would have crossed the range and run along its eastern edge. The latest map includes several routes running west of the range.

“The alliance has been pleased that Rocky Mountain Power has been responsive to the concerns expressed by the nearly 800 citizens about routes that had earlier been proposed for segment 1,” said Kenneth G. Lay, a founder of the alliance.

In Lincoln County, developers ran up against conflicts with historic trails, as well as habitat for sage grouse and big game, George said.

Ryan Lance, deputy chief of staff to Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal, said the governor’s office has supported siting the new transmission lines along the routes of existing lines.

“You have a convergence of private land issues with historic trails and viewsheds, and you have also a convergence with big game and sage grouse habitat out there, and so you’re going to have to find a way forward,” Lance said.

The governor’s office was pleased that Gateway West developers dropped the contentious eastern segment in the northern Laramie Range and routed the proposed line around the community of Fort Steele in south-central Wyoming, Lance said.

The public will get a chance to comment on the proposed routes when the BLM releases the draft environmental impact statement this summer.

By DUSTIN BLEIZEFFER - Star-Tribune energy reporter | Posted: Wednesday, October 28, 2009 12:00 am | No Comments Posted

Font Size: Default font size Larger font size TETON VILLAGE — Western state lawmakers say they’ll work more cooperatively on a short-term regional energy strategy, finding broad agreement on a desire to permit and promote new interstate electrical transmission.

The informal agreement among Western lawmakers came on the same day that President Barack Obama announced a memorandum of understanding by nine federal agencies to better collaborate on siting electrical transmission on federal lands.

The president also announced on Tuesday a $3.4 billion grant for a “Smart Grid” build-out to harness more domestic renewable energy and make the nation’s grids more energy efficient. The grant, which is part of the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act, is expected to attract matching funds from industry for a total investment of more than $8 billion.

The administration’s actions seem to be line with the West’s desire to promote transmission, as well as a concern among Western states that federal agencies are not adequately staffed to effectively analyze and permit such a build-out.

“It takes six years to run a transmission line across Nevada, and we’re 87 percent federal land. We have to develop a partnership with the federal government and with FERC (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission),” said Nevada Sen. Michael Schneider, D-Clark County.

Schneider was among some 75 state legislators from 14 states who took part in the Western States Energy and Environment Symposium here this week. The three-day symposium was funded by a $400,000 appropriation from Wyoming’s general fund.

With vast amounts of wind energy potential in Wyoming and largely untapped solar energy in Nevada, New Mexico and Arizona, Western lawmakers are eager to help their neighboring West Coast states meet self-imposed renewable energy targets.

Lawmakers said the memorandum of understanding among the nine federal agencies should go a long way toward clearing what has been an onerous regulatory path toward getting permission to build large-scale power lines.

At the state level, several lawmakers said they will try to convince their colleagues at home to pass legislation to allow their individual public utility commissions to take into account the regional benefits when deciding whether to approve transmission projects. Additionally, lawmakers said they’ll consider changing the entire organization of the Western grid from a patchwork of separate ownership to a regional transmission organization.

Steve Ellenbecker, executive director of the Wyoming Infrastructure Authority, reminded lawmakers at the symposium that Western governors declared an emergency regarding the inadequacy of the electrical grid after rolling brown-outs in California in 2001. He said the states vowed to seriously consider regional transmission authorities to manage the Western grid.

“It was individual states and their opposition to that strategy that destroyed that effort that time,” Ellenbecker said. “I hope you develop an absolute commitment as a region.”

Ellenbecker said he believes FERC is on board with regional initiatives.

“You have an administration that supports the construction of more transmission,” he said.

The Western States Energy and Environment Symposium isn’t the first effort in the West to come to agreement on such issues. In fact, the federal government has worked for years to identify energy “corridors” across the region with the express goal of making it easier to encourage transmission line construction in the West.

Also, the Western Governors’ Association has years invested in developing plans such as “Western renewable energy zones,” wildlife corridors, energy efficiency and ways to promote cleaner coal technologies.

“We feel at times our voice is not heard,” said Wyoming House Speaker Colin Simpson, R-Cody.

Contact energy reporter Dustin Bleizeffer at 307-577-6069 or dustin.bleizeffer@trib.com.

Energy Department Announces New Private Sector Partnership to Accelerate Renewable Energy Projects

New Financial Institutional Partnership Program will accelerate
deployment of billions in lending under Recovery Act

Washington DC — U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu today announced the Department of Energy (DOE) will provide up to $750 million in funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to help accelerate the development of conventional renewable energy generation projects. This funding will cover the cost of loan guarantees which could support as much as $4 to 8 billion in lending to eligible projects, and the Department will invite private sector participation to accelerate the financing of these renewable energy projects.

To this end, the Department announced the creation of its new Financial Institution Partnership Program (FIPP), a streamlined set of standards designed to expedite DOE’s loan guarantee underwriting process and leverage private sector expertise and capital for the efficient and prudent funding of eligible projects.

“A renewable energy economy is a true opportunity to create new jobs, reinvigorate America’s competitiveness and support the president’s goal of doubling renewable energy in the United States,” said Secretary Chu. “American innovation can be the catalyst that jumps starts a new clean energy Industrial Revolution.”

The Recovery Act created a new Section 1705 under Title XVII of the
Energy Policy Act of 2005 (Title XVII) for the rapid deployment of
renewable energy projects and related manufacturing facilities, electric
power transmission projects and leading edge biofuels projects that
commence construction before September 30, 2011.

This first solicitation under the new program will seek loan guarantee
applications for conventional renewable energy generation projects, such as wind, solar, biomass, geothermal and hydropower. Past solicitations for renewable energy generation projects have focused on loan guarantee applications using new or innovative technologies not in general use in the marketplace.

The goal of FIPP is to leverage the human and financial capital of
private sector financial institutions by accelerating the loan
application process while balancing risk between DOE and private sector partners participating in the program.

Under this first FIPP solicitation, proposed borrowers and project
sponsors do not apply directly to DOE but instead work with financial
institutions satisfying the qualifications of an eligible lender which
may apply directly to DOE to access a loan guarantee. The solicitation
invites applications from eligible lenders for partial, risk-sharing
loan guarantees from DOE. The guarantee percentage will be no more than 80% of the maximum aggregate principal and interest during a loan term, and the project debt must obtain a credit rating of at least ‘BB’ or an equivalent with a nationally recognized credit rating agency.

This solicitation marks the eighth round of solicitations issued by the
Department’s Loan Guarantee Program since its inception.

Read more information on this solicitation and the Department’s Loan
Guarantee Program at www.lgprogram.energy.gov
.

Katina Tsongas
Special Assistant
Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs
US Department of Energy
(202)586-7880
Katina.Tsongas@hq.doe.gov

Media Advisory
September 22, 2009

TransCanada Announces Open Seasons for
Zephyr and Chinook Power Transmission Lines

CALGARY, Alberta - TransCanada will commence open seasons for the Zephyr and Chinook power transmission lines on October 13, 2009. The proposed projects would transport significant amounts of wind-generated electricity from the high-quality wind resources in Wyoming and Montana to markets in the U.S. Southwest, including California, Nevada and Arizona. The projects would promote U.S. national and state policy goals to facilitate construction of new renewable energy generation and would provide substantial benefits to the western power grid.

Each of the proposed 500 kilovolt high-voltage, direct-current projects would be more than 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometres) long, have 3,000 megawatts of capacity, and would terminate in the Eldorado Valley near Las Vegas, Nevada. The Zephyr project would originate in southeast Wyoming, and the Chinook project would originate in southwest Montana.

Bidder conferences will be in Las Vegas for companies that are interested in participating in the open seasons. The Zephyr bidder conference will take place on October 14, 2009, and Chinook’s will occur on October 15, 2009. Both sessions will be restricted to qualified industry participants and a confidentiality agreement must be completed prior to participation in either the bidder conferences or the open seasons. A copy of the confidentiality agreement can be obtained by contacting Chinook@transcanada.com or Zephyr@transcanada.com. More information is available at www.transcanada.com, and as the open season approaches, additional information will be posted to the web site.

TransCanada will determine whether or not to proceed with the necessary regulatory applications for each project, which would include a stakeholder engagement process with landowners, public officials, agencies and other interested parties, after sufficient firm commitments have been received from the open seasons. The decision to proceed will be made for each project individually.

With more than 50 years’ experience, TransCanada is a leader in the responsible development and reliable operation of North American energy infrastructure including natural gas pipelines, power generation, gas storage facilities, and projects related to oil pipelines. TransCanada’s network of wholly owned pipelines extends more than 36,500 miles (59,000 kilometres), tapping into virtually all major gas supply basins in North America. TransCanada is one of the continent’s largest providers of gas storage and related services with approximately 370 billion cubic feet of storage capacity. A growing independent power producer, TransCanada owns, or has interests in, approximately 10,900 megawatts of power generation in Canada and the United States.

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For TransCanada media inquiries, please contact:
Terry Cunha or Cecily Dobson
Media Relations
(403) 920-7859 or (800) 608-7859
www.transcanada.com