UTCLE THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS SCHOOL OF LAW WIND ENERGY INSTITUTE 2008 THE PREMIER GATHERING OF KEY PARTICIPANTS IN TEXAS WIND DEVELOPMENT Tuesday, February 19 – Wednesday, February 20, 2008 Austin Convention Center • Austin, Texas PLATINUM SPONSORS FPL Energy, LLC Invenergy LLC RES Americas GOLD SPONSORS AES Wind Generation • Airtricity Inc. • Siemens Power Generation • Stoel Rives LLP SILVER SPONSORS Baker Botts L.L.P. • Chadbourne & Parke LLP • Clipper Windpower, Inc. • Gexa Energy, LLC • Horizon Wind Energy Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell LLP • Lone Star Transmission, LLC • Stahl, Bernal & Davies, L.L.P. Steakley, Wetsel & Carmichael, L.L.P. • Suzlon Wind Energy Corporation • Vinson & Elkins LLP PRESENTED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS SCHOOL OF LAW AND THE OIL, GAS AND ENERGY RESOURCES LAW SECTION OF THE STATE BAR OF TEXAS 2008 WIND ENERGY INSTITUTE Presented by The University of Texas School of Law and The Oil, Gas and Energy Resources Law Section of the State Bar of Texas February 19-20, 2008 • Austin Convention Center • Austin, Texas Earn up to 14.50 Hours of MCLE Credit Specialization Credit Expected for Oil, Gas & Mineral Law TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2008 10:45 a.m. .50 hr Presiding Officer: Power Markets and Nodal Pricing: How the New Andy Bowman, Airtricity, Inc., Austin, TX Rules will Change the Economics and Location of Wind Developments This session provides a snapshot of common methods by 7:30 a.m. Registration Opens which power is currently bought and sold in Texas, and continues with non-technical highlights of the new nodal Includes continental breakfast. pricing system, using illustrative and practical examples Edward W. Zaelke of how the switch in 2009 to nodal pricing will change the 8:10 a.m. Optional Breakfast and A Movie economics and location of wind developments and the Edward W. Zaelke is the manner in which transmission congestion is managed. former President of the Texas Wind Farms: A Tour from American Wind Energy Turbines to Market Professor Ross Baldick, The University of Texas, Austin, TX Association and has been This short documentary takes you onto working wind a Board Member of the farms in the Sweetwater, TX region from ground opera- 11:15 a.m. .50 hr American Wind Energy tions to the top of the turbines, to explain construction, Association since 2002. generation, operation, and interconnection. CREZ: What Was Decided by the Interim CREZ Now a managing partner Order, and What Is Left to Do? at Chadbourne & Parke LLP, he focuses his prac- 8:50 a.m. Welcoming Remarks This session will set the framework for the afternoon tice on project develop- CREZ discussions by reviewing how and why the Texas ment and finance, with Public Utility Commission chose the first set of CREZs, a particular emphasis on what work remains to be done in the CREZ docket, 9:00 a.m. .75 hr representing companies and how the CREZ docket fits together with the par- engaged in the develop- Wind in Texas, 2008: The State of the Industry allel competitive-transmission and dispatch-priority ment, finance and oper- This session previews many of the issues to be cov- rulemakings. ation of wind power and ered in more detail throughout the program, start- other alternative energy Mike Grable, ERCOT, Taylor, TX ing with a big-picture look at the key metrics and projects. characteristics of wind power in Texas—past, pres- ent and future—as well as the current and projected LUNCHEON PRESENTATION geographical concentration of development within Texas. The session will also touch on the main eco- 11:45 a.m. Pick up Box Lunch nomic drivers of wind development: meteorology, Included in conference registration fee. leasing, construction, turbines, siting, power sales, and transmission; as well as common misconceptions about wind development. 12:00 p.m. .75 hr Andrew Swift, Texas Tech Wind Energy Center, New Storage Technologies: Are they Finally Lubbock, TX Here? Commentator: Mike Sloan, Virtus Energy Research A look at new storage technologies and options for Associates, Inc., Austin, TX wind energy: do current technologies and financial conditions finally make storage ready for primetime? Chairman 9:45 a.m. .75 hr Moderator: Brad Roberts, S&C Electric Company, Barry T. Smitherman Franklin, WI Land: Survey and Title Issues Barry T. Smitherman is a Dr. Michael Nakhamkin, Energy Storage Power A discussion of real estate survey and title issues typi- Corporation (ESPC), Basking Ridge, NJ fourth generation Texan cally encountered in wind energy project develop- appointed by Governor ment. Practical solutions to common problems, sam- Mark Wilby, Shell WindEnergy Inc., Houston, TX Rick Perry to the PUC on ple survey certification language, and due diligence April 21, 2004. He was re- checklists will be provided. 12:45 p.m. Break appointed on September Kimberlee Smith Centera, AES Wind Generation, 13, 2007 and promoted to San Diego, CA TUESDAY AFTERNOON Chairman on November Brent G. Stahl, Stahl, Bernal & Davies, L.L.P., Austin, TX Presiding Officer: 14, 2007. Steve Baron, 10:30 a.m. Break Consulting and Legal Services, Austin, TX Phone: 512-475-6700 Online: www.utcle.org 1:00 p.m. .50 hr 3:00 p.m. .75 hr 8:00 a.m. .83 hr CREZ and More: Where and How Will Siting Issues: A Checklist of Environmental Breakfast Discussion Transmission Be Constructed to Integrate and Wildlife Issues Involved in Wind Small Scale Wind: Landowner Wind into the Grid? Projects Self-Development, Community Wind ERCOT commissioned a wind energy ancillary The session will address the federal and state statu- and Distributed Generation services study and has undertaken a CREZ tory and regulatory issues related to environmental The first part of this session discusses landowners Transmission “Optimization” Study. These stud- and wildlife considerations involved in a wind proj- working collaboratively on preliminary site devel- ies will assist the Texas Public Utility Commission ect. The first part of this presentation will discuss pre- opment, analysis, and permitting, as a prelude in determining the major transmission improve- construction considerations, e.g., birds, wetlands, to passing the project to a major developer with ments necessary to deliver renewable energy clean water, endangered species, etc. and the access to turbines, financing and construction ex- from the CREZs in a manner that is most benefi- second part of this session will address potential is- pertise. The second part of the presentation cov- cial and cost effective to customers. This ses- sues that could arise as a result of the construction ers the regulatory issues and equipment options sion will report on the progress and results of and/or operation of the wind facility. for those looking to get off the grid via community these studies. M. Benjamin Cowan, Locke Lord Bissell & wind and distributed generation. Dan Woodfin, ERCOT, Taylor, TX Liddell LLP, Houston, TX Andy Kruse, Southwest Windpower, Flagstaff, AZ Gregory S. Friend, McElroy, Sullivan & Miller, Commentator: William H. Holmes, Stoel Rives L.L.P., Austin, TX LLP, Portland, OR 1:30 p.m. .50 hr CREZ and More: Who Will Build the 3:45 p.m. .75 hr 8:50 a.m Break Transmission, and When? The Texas Public Utility Commission has been con- Siting Issues: A Dialogue between Developers and Advocacy Groups ducting a rulemaking proceeding to establish 9:00 a.m. .50 hr the process and criteria for selecting transmis- A look at how some of the key siting issues play sion service providers to construct transmission out in practice: what are they; how are they typi- Niche Market Deals and Developments: facilities that will deliver renewable energy from cally resolved; and a discussion of the framework Avoiding the Pitfalls the CREZs to customers. This session will report on and options for negotiation and resolution at the The recent wave of consolidation among de- the progress and results of that rulemaking, and project and policy level. velopers has changed the landscape dramati- will provide a look ahead at what remains to be Glenn Hodges, Babcock & Brown, Austin, TX cally, but there remains a role and market for done to achieve the transmission build-out. small developers and creatively structured proj- Dr. Andrew C. Kasner, Audubon Texas, ects. This session provides an overview, both Chairman Barry T. Smitherman, Public Utility San Antonio, TX Commission, Austin, TX from a legal and business perspective, of com- Patrick Woodson, Airtricity, Inc., Austin, TX mon structures small developers may utilize to work with large developers and other potential 2:00 p.m. .75 hr partners, to move their projects forward while 4:30 p.m. 1.00 hr maximizing their return. CREZ and More: Who Will Have Access to Wind Leases: Emerging Issues Andy Bowman, Airtricity Inc., Austin, TX the Transmission, and On What Terms? This session will examine the fundamental provi- Texas is first in the nation in wind energy produc- sions of a wind lease including the royalty clause, 9:30 a.m. Break tion, and the CREZ proceeding elicited unprec- minimum rent and gross revenues definition. In this edented interest and commitment to additional session both landowner and developer concerns wind energy development. Will the transmission will be discussed on the topics of hunting rights, oil build-out be sufficient to accommodate the and gas exploration, siting considerations, includ- 9:45 a.m. 1.00 hr expected generation? If not, will transmission ing whether a wind farm is an appropriate alter- The Challenge of Turbine Acquisition access be addressed by a dispatch priority native for the particular landowner and site, and This session opens as an overview of key issues mechanism or the assignment of financial trans- severing wind rights. mission rights? How will such action mesh with and agreements including vocabulary, warran- Texas Nodal, and how will it affect wind energy Moderator: Lisa Chavarria, Stahl, Bernal & ties, delivery and framing agreements with a gen- development in the state? The Texas Public Util- Davies, L.L.P., Austin, TX eral (non proprietary) overview.