Gaelectric North America

Northwest Power and Conservation CouncilMissoula Meeting

January 12, 2011

How does wind compare to other resources?

Colstip 4 M

arket S

ale

PPLM M

arket S

ale (mix

of coal, h

ydro)

Judith

Gap W

ind

Energy Efficie

ncy

New coal p

lant

New gas plant w

ith $5 gas

New gas plant w

ith $8 gas

New wind plant

-

10.00

20.00

30.00

40.00

50.00

60.00

70.00

80.00

90.00

100.00

Fossil Integration

Wind Integration

Fuel Cost

Resource Costs

Resources

Ener

gy C

ost i

n $/

MW

h From NWE Rate Case Testimony

From NWPCC 6th Resource Plan

Economic Reality of Operating Projects

Job Type Glacier Rim Rock (est.) Total

Engineering 19 28 47

Direct Construction 206 303 509

Indirect Construction 80 117 197

Material Suppliers 181 266 447

Total 486 714 1,200

Taxes:• Glacier Wind 1&2 will contribute roughly $3.6 million for taxes in 2010• Increase tax base for funding local public projects

Job Creation (shown in man-years):

Economic Reality of Operating Projects

•Wheatland Cty Tax Revenue                 > $ 5,000,000 to date•Judith Gap -- 12 full time employees         = $ 3,000,000 payroll•Royalties to MT Landowners                       >$  2,200,000 to date•Montana Const Jobs/Work (~200)     >$18,000,00

Total Economic Benefit over 5 years:Over $28,000,000 and counting!

Per Department of EnergyFor each 1000 MW of wind generation in Montana:

• $14.8 million in tax revenue• $2.7 million in royalty payments• 271 new long term jobs w/$21.1 million payroll

Gaelectric Impacts• ≈ $1 Million in Annual Payroll in MONTANA

• Doesn’t include payments to contractors• Nothing built yet in America!

• Harlowton Project Alone• Our most advanced project• ≈ $1 Billion in investment• What was the last investment in MT ≥ $1 Billion?

• At least 3X that in our pipeline

Billings

GreatFalls

Havre

FortBenton

Cut Bank

Helena

Butte

Missoula

Gaelectric Project Sites

Lewistown

Harlowton

CouttsLiberty

Tiger Ridge

Roy

Frenchman’s Ridge

Kelly Hills

Lennep

Geyser

≈ 280,000 acres under long term lease options

≈ 3,000 MW of wind generation potential.

≈ $6 Billion investment potential

Common Misinformation

Wind is wind! Montana’s is no

different than any other state’s wind!

Comparison to Annual BPA Wind & Load Shape

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

PNW Hydro (arb. units)Columbia Gorge WindGaelectric Site Harlowton

Win

d Sp

eed

(m/s

)

Data height = 20m due to limitations of BPA anemometers

Hydro data shown for profile comparison purposes only.

Peak Load Months

Surplus Hydro Months

Comparison to Daily BPA Wind & Load Shape

00:00 - 01:00

02:00 - 03:00

04:00 - 05:00

06:00 - 07:00

08:00 - 09:00

10:00 - 11:00

12:00 - 13:00

14:00 - 15:00

16:00 - 17:00

18:00 - 19:00

20:00 - 21:00

22:00 - 23:00

3.00

4.00

5.00

6.00

7.00

8.00

9.00

Diurnal Comparison

Columbia Gorge Wind

Gaelectric Site Harlowton

Win

d Sp

eed

(m/s

)

Data height = 20m due to limitations of BPA anemometers

Hydro data shown for profile comparison purposes only.

Peak Load Hours

We planned to sell into the Pacific Northwest

Mid-C500 MW

Seattle area460 MW

NWEGreen Line

BPA Network

BPA Network

Primary TransmissionPoint of IntegrationPrimary Point of DeliveryDelivery Alternatives

Trans Svc Request Deposits: $3.4 millionBPA Open Season Deposits: $15.0 million

500 MW

460 MW

Bonneville Open Season Reality Check

Mid-C

BPA Network

BPA Network

Garrison

•Only 300-650 MW of “non-wires” capacity attainable•BPA won’t build a new line at embedded rates

Reality Check!!!Little of this will be possible without new transmission for gathering and

export to market.

The Transmission Rate Fable

The cost of new transmission

will be charged to

native load!

Possible Sources for the Transmission Rate Fable

1. FERC’s rejection of NWE’s rate proposal for MSTI• NWE asked for a separate tariff• FERC said use existing tariff• Confusion over what a “tariff” is

2. FERC’s Proposed Cost Allocation Rule• Allocate costs to beneficiaries

3. FERC’s Acceptance of MISO filing• MISO proposing to over-build a 765 kV system• Will accommodate new load and resources

4. Wall Street Journal Editorial

Questions?