Slides & Audio, 12-06-2007 Webinar "An Introduction to Community Wind"

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Audio & Slides from
Web Seminar on Community Wind
A 90 minute introduction

Thursday, December 6th from 9:30-11am

This webinar will be an introduction to important community wind issues, presented by a handful of leading experts in the field.

Hosted by the Minnesota Project, the Midwest Ag Energy Network, and the RE-AMP Network.

Summary | Topics | Agenda | Presenters

Webinar Summary
Recent legislation promoting renewable energy in several Midwest states is projected to result in over 20,000 megawatts of wind generators built over the next several decades. This represents over 30 billion dollars of investment in rural communities. Numerous studies have shown the increased benefits to local communities of local ownership of wind generation. Further, with so much wind development in the pipeline, local support for wind development of any kind will be necessary. Rural communities with a financial stake in that development are more likely to support it. Thus many people have an interest in promoting community wind.

Topics Covered
Many questions will need to be addressed if community wind is to have a significant share of the development rush:

• What business models work and provide maximum benefits to rural communities?
• What policies are most effective at promoting community wind?
• What does it take for community wind developers, especially smaller projects, to navigate the complex transmission interconnection process?

Webinar Agenda

Community wind overview, Carl Nelson (15 minutes)
An overview of some of the key issues facing community wind developers, with an emphasis on the Minnesota situation and policies that have supported community wind development.

Navigating the transmission interconnection process,
Tom Wind (25 minutes)
Access to the transmission grid is crucial to the success of any wind project, including community wind projects. Currently, the capacity of the grid to support further wind development in some areas is reaching its limits. What are the implications for community wind developers?

Financing community wind, Dan Yarano (25 minutes)
The “Minnesota Flip” has been a common financing mechanism for community wind projects, whereby equity partners own the majority of the project for the 10-year life of the tax credits, after which time ownership flips to the local investor. Find out new financing mechanisms that are being developed. What are the risks and benefits of Minnesota Flip or other financing mechanisms?

About the Presenters

Carl Nelson is the Associate Director of Green Institute, a non-profit focusing on practical solutions to environmental issues. There he has worked on a number of renewable energy and energy efficiency projects, including a recent biomass fuels assessment for a local recycled paper mill. He is currently contracting with Minnesota Project as a Community Wind Specialist. He is also the project manager for a small, 6 MW C-BED (community-based energy development) project in western Minnesota, and serves on the C-BED Advisory Task Force to the Minnesota Legislature.

Tom Wind is the owner of Wind Utility Consulting, PC. Mr. Wind specializes in small wind generation projects and in the integration of large wind turbines into the utility grid system. He was employed at Iowa Southern Utilities for 15 years before becoming a self-employed consulting electrical engineer. He is a member of the American Wind Energy Association, the Utility Wind Integration Group, the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, the Technical Advisory Group for wind generation for the U.S. National Committee of the International Electrotechnical Committee, the MidContinent Area Power Pool Transmission Design Review Subcommittee, and is a Iowa Power Fund Board member. He has given over a hundred technical presentations at meetings and seminars over his career.

Dan Yarano is a co-chair of Fredrikson & Byron’s Energy Practice Group. Dan leverages his corporate and finance expertise to advise wind energy providers, investors and developers in connection with the acquisition, development and financing of wind projects. Dan has assisted rural farmers, as well as large and small national energy companies in the development and financing of wind energy projects. His projects account for more than 600 MW of wind energy capacity, and wind projects that are currently in process will account for an additional 1,200 MW. Dan’s projects are located in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, and New Mexico. Dan also represents leading wind energy supply and service companies.