The RESOLVE Reporter

Kentucky Governor Ernie Fletcher also addressed the action-oriented summit, announcing a $500,000 solicitation for building intellectual capacity and making energy efficiency expertise available to all Kentuckians. Fletcher noted that “the economic and environmental benefits of energy efficiency can only be achieved by everyone working together.”

Schultz agreed, stressing the importance of “working with a diverse group of folks… [who] represent non-profits, environmental concerns, business and industry and others.” Along with feedback from customers and regulators, Schultz described this collaborative input as “fundamental to our efforts to decide how best to grow existing programs and develop new approaches.” Duke began working with RESOLVE staff last summer to plan and organize the Kentucky conference. A similar one-day summit will be held in Indiana on February 12.

Under Rogers’ leadership, Duke, EPA, Edison Electric Institute and others are working with RESOLVE to conceptualize and build support for implementing NAPEE on a national scale. The NAPEE leadership group is forming an advisory committee that will identify three to five energy user sectors to target in 2007, with the idea of creating sector-specific collaboratives to identify and implement energy efficiency strategies much as Duke is doing within its service territories.

RESOLVE contacts: Jennifer Peyser, and Abby Arnold

Leadership Forum First Step Towards Implementing Western Governors' Clean, Diversified Energy Resolution

The Western Governors Association (WGA) kicked off efforts to implement the recommendations of its Clean and Diversified Energy Advisory Committee (CDEAC) this July with a leadership forum in Denver. Using action plans developed by event co-host the National Wind Coordinating Collaborative (NWCC), Implementing Transmission Recommendations in the West brought together over 150 people representing the governors, legislators, wind developers, utilities, environmentalists, independent transmission operators, and other stakeholder groups to strategize about how to implement the proposals of CDEAC’s wind and transmission task force reports. The event was co-sponsored by Bonneville Power Administration, Energy and Environmental Research Center, Interwest Energy Alliance, Horizon Wind Energy, National Grid, National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, National Association of State Energy Officials, National Conference of State Legislatures, TransElect, and WestConnect. RESOLVE facilitates the NWCC, helping members to craft the action plans and plan the leadership forum.

Created by the governors in 2004, CDEAC was charged with finding ways to achieve 30,000 MW of clean energy by 2015, increase energy efficiency 20% by 2020 and ensure secure, reliable transmission for the next 25 years. CDEAC gathered input from over 250 stakeholders, eventually presenting the governors with a series of resource-specific and system-wide recommendations. At their annual meeting last June, the governors voted unanimously to adopt a policy resolution based on the CDEAC recommendations. Governors Richardson (NM), Schwarzenegger (CA), Freudenthal (WY), and Hoeven (ND) serve as lead Governors on this initiative.

“Transmission is crucial to attaining the Western Governors’ goal of 30,000 MW of clean energy by 2015,” suggested NWCC Transmission Workgroup Chair Charlie Smith. Concurring with the necessity for “physical, economic and institutional changes” to transform the western electricity grid so that it can accommodate the Western Governors’ renewable energy goals, Carl Linvill, formerly with the Nevada Governor's office and currently Director of Energy Planning & Analysis at Aspen Environmental Group, notes “it is clear that differences in stakeholders’ perceptions of the problem will require a continuing dialogue such as the one we had in Denver.”

“Vision, planning and hard work are all needed to move our nation toward a smarter energy mix with more renewable energy like wind power,” says Bob Sahr, Chairman of the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission. “It was an honor to work with top leaders from government, associations and industry to lay the groundwork … that will set the stage for the future development of western renewable energy.”

RESOLVE Contact: Katie Kalinowski

Massachusetts Releases Interconnection Guide for Distributed Generation

The Distributed Generation (DG) Collaborative, established in 2002 by the Massachusetts Department of Telecommunications and Energy (DTE), has completed its charge to review the performance of the Uniform Interconnection Standards which were adopted by each of the state’s four utilities in April 2004. The standards, along with a draft interconnection tariff, were created by the Collaborative to facilitate the development of reliable distributed generation sources, including wind and solar generation.

In September 2004, DTE tasked the Collaborative with: 1) tracking and analysis of the standards; 2) addressing network (secondary and area) interconnection; and, 3) addressing the role of DG in distribution planning. The DG Collaborative met monthly, engaging RESOLVE and Navigant Consulting to provide facilitation and technical support. Reports were filed with the DTE in May 2005 and June 2006. The consensus report recommends standards for the DTE to consider to facilitate distributed generation connection to the grid. Collaborative participants plan to continue working together voluntarily, to pursue some of the opportunities identified in its final report. Two planned Distributed Energy Planning Workshops took place in September and November, 2006; a Policy Workshop was held in December 13, 2006

The Collaborative’s Interconnection Guide for Distributed Generation is available at http://www.masstech.org/cleanenergy/howto/interconnection/index.htm

RESOLVE Contact: Abby Arnold

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Keep an Eye On

• Free Review Copies of Culturally Sensitive Conflict Style Inventory
  Riverhouse ePress announces the release of free review copies of Style Matters: The Kraybill Conflict Style Inventory. A recently developed five-styles-of-conflict inventory used by business managers, organizational consultants, and conflict resolution trainers worldwide to teach personal conflict management skills, Style Matters is based on the Mouton-Blake Grid with the addition of a unique feature making the instrument culturally sensitive. Users as diverse as the Canadian Defense Force, a law school in Australia, and numerous state and federal agencies have adopted Style Matters. Trainers and consultants may request a free review copy in PDF form by sending a note indicating their organizational affiliation to StyleMattersOffer@RiverhouseEpress.com. Riverhouse ePress is a print and web publisher based in Harrisonburg, Virginia, specializing in resources for conflict resolution.
  
  
• State of Environmental Justice in America 2007
A conference on the State of Environmental Justice in America will be held at Howard University School of Law on March 29-31, 2007. For additional information, please contact Michelle Hudson.

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New and Notable

RESOLVE staff are currently assisting stakeholder dialogue through the following new projects:

• National Action Plan for Energy Efficiency (NAPEE), Phase II
  RESOLVE has been asked to facilitate the NAPEE leadership group to create sector-specific collaboratives to identify and implement energy efficiency strategies on a national scale. (See Duke Energy story, above.) Contacts: Jennifer Peyser and Abby Arnold


• Duke Energy Efficiency Summit Meetings
  Following up on the success of its statewide energy efficiency conference in Kentucky last November (see “Recent Results,” above), Duke Energy has retained RESOLVE to assist with organizing and facilitating one-day conferences in its other service territories. The Indiana summit on energy efficiency is scheduled for February 12, 2007. Other conferences are being discussed for Duke’s North and South Carolina and Ohio service territories.
  Contacts: Jennifer Peyser and Abby Arnold


• National Wind Coordinating Collaborative (NWCC)
  Following a competitive bidding process, the Department of Energy has awarded a contract to RESOLVE to continue furnishing the 12 year-old national collaborative with facilitation, mediation, project management, and outreach and information dissemination services to create opportunities for NWCC members to build long-term relationships and provide trusted information on wind power through NWCC publications and events. With over 1,000 interested parties in the NWCC database and an average of 700 visitors per day on the NWCC web site, the NWCC continues to provide a valued place for parties to discuss issues and share information associated with development of wind power.


• Ohio Wind Working Group
  The Ohio Wind Working Group contacted RESOLVE to facilitate a special planning meeting at the end of October. Senior Facilitator Rob Williams assisted OWWG in defining priority projects for the group and creating a responsive organizational structure that will support work on these projects. RESOLVE continues to provide process assistance to support OWWG Quarterly meetings. Contact: Rob Williams


• American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) Consensus Outlook
  ACORE has retained RESOLVE to facilitate an intensive 6-week process, begun with a scoping meeting in December 2006, leading up to the completion of a draft consensus outlook on the future of renewable energy in the United States. This outlook will provide the substance of a report to the White House and US State Department on the nation’s renewable energy potential, which in turn will inform an invitation to a world meeting on renewable energy to be hosted by the US government in March 2008. ACORE is a non-profit organization in Washington, D.C., focused on accelerating the adoption of renewable energy technologies into the mainstream of American society through work in convening, information publishing, and communications. Contact: Abby Arnold and Paul De Morgan
  
  
  

  RESOLVE President Gail Bingham Receives Association for Conflict Resolution's Mary Parker Follett Award

RESOLVE President Gail Bingham was honored by her peers at this year’s annual conference of the Association for Conflict Resolution, becoming the 2006 recipient of the prestigious Mary Parker Follett Award. Named for an early pioneer in the study and practice of mutual problem solving, community development, and the importance of human relations as the basis for democratic institutions, the Follett Award is presented “to an individual who has shown a passion and willingness to take risks, is tackling a contemporary problem or opportunity in the field of dispute resolution, has used innovative and experimental techniques, and draws upon the talents and ideas of all persons involved.”

Gail Bingham is herself a nationally recognized pioneer in promoting consensus-building tools in public decision making. She has mediated complex public issues for nearly 30 years and has worked to enhance the capacity and competence of others in dealing with conflict, providing intellectual leadership to advance current knowledge about the effective use of consensus-building processes to address complex public decisions.

Gail shared that “The honor means a lot to me for many reasons,” explaining that Mary Parker Follett was “one of my inspirations for becoming a mediator.” Noting that “the reasons for the award are ones that are not mine alone to claim,” Gail exemplifies her gift for drawing upon others’ talents and ideas by sharing her recognition “with all the wonderful people who have been and are still part of RESOLVE.”

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