Western Interconnection Regional Advisory Body


Noon	Joint WIEB Board/WIRAB luncheon

1:00 p.m.	WIRAB 101 (open to all interested parties)

	Background information
	WIRAB home page
	Presentation slides

2:30 p.m.	Break

	*Western Interconnection Regional Advisory Body Annual Meeting*

3:00 p.m.	Convene meeting - John Savage, Chair

	Perspectives on the implementation of mandatory reliability standards:
	o Dave Nevius, VP NERC
	o Louise McCarren, CEO WECC
	o Joe McClelland/Shelton Cannon, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
	· FERC work on cyber security
	· Coordination with Office of Enforcement on violations and application of penalties
	Standards and enforcement in Alberta, British Columbia, Mexico

	(The purpose of this item is to discuss with the key players setting and enforcing grid
	reliability standards their perceptions of the experience thus far with mandatory
	standards, expectations in the coming year, and major challenges.)

	Background information
	FERC action on cyber security standards
	NERC 101 webinar
	NERC reliability standards development plan: 2008-2010
	NERC 2008 compliance monitoring and enforcement implementation plan

5:00 p.m.	WIRAB business meeting
	· Approval of summary of March 21st meeting
	· Public comment
	· Election of chair and vice chair
	· Review of a proposed 2009 work plan and budget
	· Review of load calculations for WIRAB voting

	(The proposed Calendar Year 2009 WIRAB budget will be submitted to NERC in late
	spring. The business meeting is a good opportunity to discuss priorities for WIRAB
	in 2009.)

5:30 p.m	Adjourn

7:00 a.m.	Continental breakfast

8:30 a.m.	*Joint Board/WIRAB/CREPC Workshop on Assessments*
	Purpose and structure of workshop - John Savage, WIRAB and CREPC Chair

8:45 a.m.	Assessment Context
	WECC - Louise McCarren (WECC CEO) / others
	· Power Supply Assessment
	· WECC transmission expansion planning

	NERC Long-term Reliability Assessment, including a proposed 15% renewables
	scenario in 2008 and 2009 LTRAs
	o Dave Nevius, Vice President, NERC [present]

	(The purpose of this discussion is to understand the current assessment processes used
	by NERC and WECC.)

	Background information
	WECC 2007 Power Supply Assessment
	January 30, 2008 WIRAB Webinar slides
	TEPPC 2007 report
	TEPPC protocol
	NERC 2008 Long-Term Reliability Assessment: scenario instructions
	NERC 2007 Long-Term Reliability Assessment
	NERC wind integration and transmission webinar

9:30 a.m.	How to Assess the Transmission Expansion, Resource Adequacy, and
	Operational Impacts of Significant Renewable Generation in the
	Western Interconnection: A Key Building Block to a Low Carbon
	Resource Assessment

	o Wally Gibson, NWPCC [present]
	o Nick Miller, GE [present]
	o Brian Parsons, National Rewnewable Energy Laboratory [present]
	o Mike Jaske, CEC [present]

	(The purpose of this panel is to identify ways to assess transmission expansion,
	resource adequacy and operational impacts of integrating large amounts of
	renewables in the Western Interconnection.)

10:45 a.m.	Break

11:00 a.m.	Assessment Task: Low carbon resource mix in 2018
	(CO2 levels 15% below 2005 levels in 2020)

	(In response to continuing changes in public policy objectives that are impacting
	resource priorities of Western load-serving entities, WIRAB has requested that
	WECC, as part of its 2008 transmission expansion study work, evaluate the
	transmission implication of changes to the Western electric power system that
	would reduce CO2 emissions to 15% below 2005 levels by 2020. This is the
	goal of the Western Climate Initiative and the leading climate change legislation
	in Congress. WIRAB's requested study will also better position WECC if it
	evaluates the impact of carbon limits as part of a NERC-required Long-Term
	Reliability Assessment. Evaluating the impacts of a low carbon electricity
	future is challenging.)

	Parameters and approaches to meeting the analytic challenge
	o Tom Carr, WIEB (overview of the magnitude of changes needed to meet goal) [present]
	o Jeff King, Northwest Power and Conservation Council (observations from
	NWPCC's examination of how to reduce carbon emissions in the Northwest) [present]
	o Mike Jaske, California Energy Commission (observations from CEC's work on
	compliance with AB 32) [present]

	Background information
	CEC, Scenario Analyses of California's Electricity System
	CEC, Scenario Analyses, Addendum 3
	Carbon Dioxide Footprint of the Northwest Power System

Noon	Lunch on your own

1:30 p.m.	LSE resources planners - What changes in generation mix could meet the carbon reduction goal?
	o Rob Anderson, San Diego Gas & Electric
	o Jim Lobdell, VP, Power Operations & Resource Strategy, Portland GE [present]
	o Paul Smith, Arizona Public Service
	o Greg Duvall, Director, Long Range Planning & Net Power Costs, PacifiCorp
	o Charlie Black, resource planning & acquisition services consultant to
	multiple Northwest utilities [present]

	(The purpose of this panel are to: (1) gain insights from LSE resource planners on
	the low-carbon demand and supply side options available in the Western
	Interconnection; (2) determine the value of establishing a Western Interconnection
	forum for sharing information on low-carbon resource options.)

	Panel questions including:
	» What resource choices do you see for Western LSEs to meet carbon limits?
	» What new resources should be developed? To what extent are western LSEs
	going to rely on buying offsets or carbon credits?
	» In the face of growing demand, what strategies should Western LSEs implement
	to reduce emissions below current levels ? Are coal plants going to be backed off?
	» How would you evaluate various risks (e.g., future significant carbon limits,
	natural gas prices) when considering demand side and supply side resource
	acquisition options?
	» What actions should state/provinces and FERC take to reduce the cost of
	providing power at the lowest cost possible while meeting significant carbon
	limits?

	Background information
	LBNL Study Assesses Western Utilities’ Plans to Respond to Possible Future
	Carbon Emission Regulation

4:00 p.m.	Break

4:30 p.m.	WIRAB Transmission Expansion Study Request
	· WIRAB study request - Doug Larson, WIEB [present]
	· WECC action on 2008 study requests - Steve Walton, TEPPC facilitator [present]
	· Discussion of requisites for executing the analysis of a low carbon scenario

	(The purpose of this discussion is to allow WIRAB and CREPC members to raise
	questions and make suggestions on the assumptions to be used in modeling a
	low-carbon resource scenario.)

	Background information
	WIRAB low carbon scenario study request
	TEPPC 2008 tentative study plan

	Views on the use of results of regional transmission planning
	o WECC - Louise McCarren/Steve Walton
	o FERC - Commissioner Moeller/Shelton Cannon
	o CREPC - John Savage (OR) / Steve Ellenbecker and others

	Discussion topics:
	» How do states see the role of WECC and subregional planning? Should WECC
	and subregions only present results of transmission studies or should they make
	recommendations on transmission projects that make the most sense from the
	perspective of supporting reliability, improving system economics, or
	supporting state RPS goals?
	» Should WECC and subregions only present results of transmission studies or
	should they make recommendations on transmission projects that make the most
	sense from the perspective of supporting reliability, improving system
	economics, or supporting state RPS goals?
	» Are there any instances where failure to build a transmission project will result
	in violations of grid reliability standards?
	» What role should FERC play in defining the beneficiaries of proposed
	transmission projects?

5:30 p.m.	Adjourn workshop