Governors Tackle Complex Energy Issues at their Annual Meeting

Whitefish, Mont. -- Western governors continued to deal with critical energy issues at their annual meeting held here. The focus during a Monday plenary session was how best to work within a changing energy landscape after the BP tragedy and how the West can meet its growing energy demands.

Experts who spoke to the governors were Dr. Arun Majumdar, Director of Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy; Vinod Khosla, founder of Khosla Ventures; David Leuschen, Co-Founder and Senior Managing Director of Riverstone; Rob Bernard, Chief Environmental Strategist for Microsoft, and Ronald T. Evans, President and Chief Operating Officer of Denbury Resources.

The experts agreed that the one thing that is certain is that things will change dramatically and rapidly. They supported continuously working on creating increased demand for clean energy.

Gov. Schweitzer (Mont.) also unveiled WGA's "Transmission Roadmap," a report that can be used by anyone who wants to build a renewable energy facility with transmission. It will be especially helpful for anyone who has not previously done a project. The report will be available soon on the WGA Web site and will be continually updated.

The Governors also passed a major energy resolution that will have the WGA reporting on industrial and commercial energy efficiency programs, the impacts of plug-in vehicles on the electrical transmission system, and issues associated with the expansion of nuclear energy in the West. Of great importance will be using grant funds from the U.S. Department of Energy to develop transmission expansion plans for the West that will not only consider the development of renewable energy, but also wildlife and water concerns.

 

Incoming Chair, Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter (Idaho), said he would continue to make energy policy a key concern over the next year.

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The Renewable Energy Transmission Roadmap report is now available online.