Program Information

Conference Objective "To focus attention on current wind energy development opportunities in North Dakota as well as barriers to that development." Conference Program Program in PDF (2.2MB)

Tuesday, February 17, 2004
6:30 - 8:30 p.m.	Open Registration (exhibits open)
Wednesday, February 18, 2004
7:30 - 8:30 a.m.	Registration
8:30 - 9:30 a.m.	Opening Session - Crystal II and III Introduction Pam Gulleson, Deputy State Director, Office of Senator Byron Dorgan, Fargo, ND Welcome Gerald Groenewold, Director, Energy & Environmental Research Center, Grand Forks, ND Keynote Addresses The Honorable Byron Dorgan, U.S. Senator, Washington, DC Admiral Richard Truly, Director, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Denver, CO
9:30 a.m.	"Update of North Dakota Projects," Jay Haley, President, EAPC Architects Engineers, Grand Forks, ND Currently, several large wind energy projects are under development in the state. This presentation will provide an update on new projects, lessons learned from previous efforts, and plans for the future.
10:00 a.m.	Break
10:30 a.m.	"What Are Other Countries/Areas Doing?" Session Goal: Surveying projects in Canada and other parts of the world, this session will look at both public and private efforts to commercialize wind and renewable energy systems. Session Chair: Kim Christianson, Energy Program Manager, North Dakota Department of Commerce, Division of Community Services, Bismarck, ND Panelists: Minister Tim Sale, Minister of Energy, Science, and Technology for the Province of Manitoba, Canada Brad Crabtree of the Great Plains Institute for Sustainable Development, who will cover the "Powering the Plains to Europe" trip that took place last summer Leif Andersen, Director of Sales, NEG Micon, North Palm Springs, CA2:
12:00 - 1:30 p.m.	Luncheon/Comments The Honorable John Hoeven, North Dakota Governor, Bismarck, ND The Honorable Earl Pomeroy, Representative in Congress, Washington, DC "Conquering the Wind," a piano piece composed and performed by Darcy Brandenburg, Edgeley, ND
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1:30 p.m.	Session 1A: Current Legislation Session 1B: How to Successfully Install, Operate, and Maintain a Home-/Farm-Sized Wind Turbine Session Goal: This panel will examine the energy title of the farm bill, review some issues in the energy debate over the last 2 years on the national level, and look forward to ways we can develop a sustainable national energy strategy for the 21st century. Session Goal: This session will provide a good overview to home and small business owners who are interested in purchasing and installing a small wind turbine. Mr. Sagrillo will discuss the basic components of small wind generators and will cover the important details of maintaining and operating small wind systems. Session Coordinator: Jerome Hinkle, Office of Senator Byron Dorgan, Washington, DC Session Coordinator: Kim Christianson, Energy Program Manager, North Dakota Department of Commerce, Division of Community Services, Bismarck, ND Panel Moderator: Jaime Steve, Legislative Director, American Wind Energy Association, Washington, DC Presenter: Mick Sagrillo, Sagrillo Power & Light, Forestville, WI Panelists: "Status of the National Energy Policy Act," Jerome Hinkle, Office of Senator Byron Dorgan, Washington, DC "Carbon and Carbon Credits: Additional Farm and Rural Income Opportunities on the Horizon," Debbie Reed, Legislative Director, National Environmental Trust, Washington, DC "The Farm Bill and USDA Renewable Energy Program," Lloyd Ritter, Minority Counsel, Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, Washington, DC (INVITED) "U.S. DOE Renewable Energy Programs," presenter in progress
3:00 p.m.	Break
3:30 p.m.	Session 2A: Emerging Markets for Wind Energy Session 2B: Financing Methods for Wind Farms Session Goal: As development of renewables continues to grow throughout the world, the energy industry and others are finding novel ways to access and develop markets for renewable energy. This session will inform you regarding a variety of activities taking place around the country to expand the market for renewable generation. Session Goal: This panel will examine three different wind farm scenarios and their financing. Scenarios will range from small projects that are financed by individual farmers, to small projects owned by local "cooperatives," to the larger 50-100-MW projects. Session Coordinator: Brad Stevens, Research Engineer, EERC, and Director, EERC Plains Organization for Wind Energy Resources (POWER), Grand Forks, ND Session Coordinator: Jay Haley, President, EAPC Architects Engineers, Grand Forks, ND Session Chair: Ron Rebenitsch, Manager, Member Marketing, Basin Electric Power Cooperative, Bismarck, ND Panel Moderator: Leif Anderson, Director of Sales, NEG Micon, North Palm Springs, CA Panelists: "Green Tags - A Cooperative Perspective," Ron Rebenitsch, Manager, Member Marketing, Basin Electric Power Cooperative, Bismarck, ND "The Chicago Climate Exhange (Cap and Trade Carbon Exchange)," Michael Walsh, Senior Vice President, Chicago Climate Exchange, Chicago, IL (INVITED) "U.S. DOE Renewable Energy Programs," Cathy Iverson, Team Lead, U.S. Department of Energy, Denver Regional Office, Golden, CO Panelists: "Financing Wind Farm Projects under Two Megawatts," Mike Hansen, Vice President, First Farmers and Merchants National Bank, Pipestone, MN "Financing Large-Scale Farmer-Owned Wind Farms," Earl Cummings, President, Turning Point Management, Mankato, MN "Financing Traditional Large-Scale Wind Farms," Russel Stidolph, Vice President, Whitney & Company, Stamford, CT
5:00 - 7:00 p.m.	Exhibit Social with Appetizers and Cash Bar
7:30 p.m.	USDA Farm Bill Workshop - Symphony Hall
Thursday, February 19, 2004
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8:00 a.m.	Session 3A: Transmission Issues Session 3B: Emerging Technology - Innovations for Integrating Wind Energy Session Goal: Large-scale development of the vast wind resource in the upper Midwest will require upgrading the existing transmission system as well as adding new lines. This session will inform you of the current developments to address the problems related to transmission in the region. Session Goal: This panel will present information on technologies and services that improve the integration of wind energy into the current electrical grid, thereby adding value to wind energy. Topics that will be discussed include storage technologies, wind/hydro hybrid systems, and wind energy forecasting. Session Coordinator: Mike Hohl, wHOHLe Management Solutions, Inc., Fargo, ND Session Coordinator: Troy Simonsen, Research Engineer, EERC, Grand Forks, ND Session Chair: Beth Soholt, Director, Wind on the Wires, St. Paul, MN Panel Moderator: Larry Flowers, Team Leader, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, National Wind Technology Center, Golden CO Speakers: "Upper Great Plains Transmission Coalition Presentation," Tim Rogelstad, Otter Tail Power Company, Fergus Falls, MN (INVITED) "MISO Transmission Presentation," Jeff Webb, Director of Planning, MISO, Cincinatti, OH (INVITED) "National Interest Electric Transmission Corridors (NIETC)," U.S. DOE Presentation, Office of Electric Transmission and Distribution "Determining What Is a 'National Interest' Transmission Bottleneck," Lawrence Mansueti, Director, Electric Markets Technical Assistance Program, Office of Electric Transmission and Distribution, U.S. Department of Energy, Washington, DC "MAPP/MISO Issues," Will Kaul, Great River Energy, Elk River, MN (INVITED) Panelists: "Update of National Wind Technology Center (NWTC)," Bob Thresher, Director, NWTC, NREL, Golden, CO "Integrating Wind and Hydro," Tom Acker, Professor, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ "Storage Options," Steve Eckroad, EPRI, Palo Alto, CA (INVITED) "Advances in Electric Energy Storage - New Energy Storage Options," Garth Corey, Senior Member, Technical Staff, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM "Wind Energy Forecasting," Kenneth Westrick, Chief Executive Officer, 3TIER Environmental Forecast Group, Inc., Seattle, WA
10:30 - 11:00 a.m.	Break - Exhibits Open
11:00 a.m.	11:00 a.m. Town Hall Q & A Conference session chairs and moderators will make their expertise available to you in a panel format, addressing questions from the audience following the completion of the technical sessions. Moderator: Brad Stevens, Research Engineer, EERC, and Manager, EERC POWER, Grand Forks, ND Question-and-Answer Session Panelists: Leif Anderson, Director of Sales, NEG Micon, North Palm Springs, CA Kim Christianson, Energy Program Manager, North Dakota Department of Commerce, Division of Community Services, Bismarck, ND Larry Flowers, Team Leader, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, National Wind Technology Center, Golden, CO Jay Haley, EAPC Architects Engineers, Grand Forks, ND Ron Rebenitsch, Manager, Member Marketing, Basin Electric Power Cooperative, Bismarck, ND Mick Sagrillo, Sagrillo Power & Light, Forestville, WI Beth Soholt, Director, Wind on the Wires, St. Paul, MN Jaime Steve, Legislative Director, American Wind Energy Association, Washington, DC