Windustry's Community Wind Energy 2006
Registration is now open!

This is a national conference bringing agriculture and wind energy together to advance opportunities for locally-owned clean energy production and rural economic development. We will share experiences and information to harness the growing momentum for new models, new policies, and new projects.

Visit http://www.windustry.org/conferences/march2006/register.htm to register today. The early registration deadline is February 24, 2006.

Details:
March 7-8th
Des Moines, Iowa
Iowa Events Center

The conference agenda outline is posted at: http://www.windustry.org/conferences/march2006/program.htm

We look forward to seeing you in March!

Contact: Cole McVey
(612)870-3461
2105 First Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55404
p.612.870.3461
f.612.813.5612
cole@windustry.org
http://www.windustry.org


Presented by Windustry, a non-profit organization working to increase wind energy opportunities for rural landowners and communities. Join us for Windustry's Community Wind Energy 2006 - Des Moines, Iowa - March 7-8, 2006 http://www.windustry.org/conferences/march2006/

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Cole McVey,

Thanks for the great suggestions! We will certainly bring them to the planning team.
There will be a Public Policy component to Windustry's Community Wind Energy 2006, which will cover some state and national issues, including the ones you mention in Iowa.
I agree that an example of power purchase agreements (PPA) and various business models will be valuable to those exploring their wind energy options. The second day of the conference will outline the step-by-step details of the project development process, explaining what it takes to put a community wind energy project together.
Iowa certainly has some great examples to demonstrate and we look forward to seeing you in March!
Please feel free to forward the "Mark your calendar" document (posted in Sarah's message above" to any groups or networks that you think might be interested in joining us!
Take care,
Cole

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Cole McVey,

Community_Wind_Conference_Postcard.pdf (594 Kb, 483 downloads)

Cole,

Would appreciate the following:

1) An update on self-erecting towers so that farmers can have a chance to install larger generation systems and be cost competitive.

2) An update on net billing in Iowa, particularily as it related to farmers served by REC's (rural electric cooperatives). In light of this potentially dismal update, I would like to see a summary of power-purchase agreements that individual REC's are willing to sign.

3) A discussion of the opportunity for and problems with wheeling by individual producers to potentially circumvent not-so-progressive policies of retail electricity providers.

4) A listing of vertical axis wind turbine manufacturers, a revies of their current development status and an assessment of performance.

5) A generic business plan would also be nice with documentation for the various assumptions. The "Iowa Value Added Resource Manual" for three ethanol plants of different sizes would be an excellent model for this.

Do this and you will have everyone banging down you door. I look forward to it.

I'm uploading a PDF flyer for the March 2006 conference. A draft program will be available soon and registration will open January 2.

Windustry's_Communtiy_Wind_Energy_2006_-_Mark_your_calendar.pdf (108 Kb, 583 downloads) Mark Your Calendar!