As the nation weighs the benefits and costs of various energy sources, and states adopt renewable portfolio standards, electric system operators face significant challenges to integrating weather-driven energy sources. The variable nature of wind and solar energy requires new information and practices for operating our nation’s electric grid. System operators must constantly square the energy supply and demand within a given balancing authority. To ensure a reliable source of electricity, utility companies maintain dispatchable energy reserves, such as coal and natural gas, on-line and running, but at reduced operating levels. Without accurate forecasts of weather-driven renewable energy production, utility companies must maintain an excess number of fossil fuel plants running to ensure it can meet energy demand. More accurate weather forecasts are needed to help utility companies know with greater precision when, where, and how much wind or solar energy can be generated to balance the energy supply with demand. More accurate weather forecasts are required to obtain the reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and financial savings derived as a result of using less fossil fuel. Several recent grid integration studies assess the costs, benefits, impacts, and challenges of using larger and larger amounts of variable energy resources, such as wind and solar energy. These reports find that market changes and improved forecasts, in addition to improved transmission resources, are needed to accommodate increasing amounts of renewable energy. Looking to the future, long-term predictions of renewable energy resources are needed to support sound decision making concerning the siting of renewable energy projects and for long-range market planning. In addition, the possibility of using waves, tides, and currents (marine and hydrokinetic energy) and offshore wind to produce electricity calls for increased understanding of these resources and how they could be used in an environmentally sound way. New observations are required to achieve the advances in predictions across a range of time scales to support renewable energy development. This Town Hall Meeting will build upon the work done at several AMS meetings in the last two years and the efforts of the Commission on the Weather and Climate Enterprise and its Renewable Energy Subcommittee to help identify appropriate roles for private industry, academia, and government sectors in developing renewable energy. Effective collaboration among these sectors is essential for integrating large amounts of weather-driven renewable resources into the nation’s energy supply. For additional information, please contact Melinda Marquis (e-mail: Melinda.Marquis@noaa.gov).

Weather is a critical driver for the consumption of electricity, natural gas, and heating oil in the United States. Meteorologists in academia, government, and the private weather enterprise all support decision makers across the full breadth of the energy complex. The economic impacts the these weather-related decisions are enormous. For example, U.S. electricity generators save upward of $160 million annually using 24-hour temperature forecasts to improve the mix of generating units that are available to meet electricity demand. Planning decisions for the production, transportation, and marketing of natural gas hinge upon temperature forecasts 1 week to 3 months ahead. The value of weather forecasts for the increased use and integration of weather-dependent renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar, has also been recognized by the Department of Energy. Hundreds of meteorologists support the energy complex for commodity trading, infrastructure planning, and utility management in order to meet the nation’s demand to heat and cool our indoor environments. But how does it all actually work? What happens when you flip the switch? This panel of experts will describe how the energy complex functions. How does power flow? What is the nature of energy trading? How do fuel sources differ across various regions of the country? How do oil and natural gas get to your furnace? Answers to these basic questions then lead us to consider the rapid modernization of the energy complex. How will the "smart grid" affect energy planning? How is renewable energy changing the grid? And, of course, how does weather affect energy decision making? It is important within this context to note that the patchwork of regional energy entities and varying regional climate impacts further complicate the relationships between energy supply and weather-driven demand. The objective of this Town Hall Meeting is to provide the AMS community with a better understanding of the energy industry and then open a discussion on the major issues facing weather experts in the energy realm. We will discuss the ongoing and emerging challenges presented by weather and climate. We will conclude with an open forum focusing on two distinct questions for panelists and participants: 1) What do meteorologists need to know from the energy industry? and 2) What does the energy industry need to know from meteorologists? This Town Hall Meeting serves as an introduction to the Second Conference on Weather, Climate, and the New Energy Economy as well as following up on Monday’s Town Hall Meeting discussion on renewable energy For additional information, please contact Stephen Bennett (tel: 858-246-0065; e-mail: stephenbennett@ucsd.edu).

Ralph Cicerone, head of the National Academy of Sciences, will provide a take-home message on what the scientific community in general and the AMS community in particular can do to increase their credibility with the public. Cicerone has been thinking deeply about how the practice of science and the behavior of individual scientists can be improved. As much as listening, communication is based on some level of trust. And, just as the Tuesday event should provide a teachable moment about how we influence our environment, the ”Climategate” e-mails were a teachable moment about human frailty being a part of the practice of science. The current political climate has been reinforced by Climategate and by a few errors in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) report, damaging the trust the public feels not only in climate science, but also toward science in general. Viewing this in a positive manner, provides an incentive to redouble the efforts of all scientists in promoting ethical professional conduct and improving the way the business of science is done and the manner in which scientific findings are communicated to the public. For additional information on the 2011 Presidential Town Hall, please contact AMS President Peggy LeMone (e-mail: amspresident@ametsoc.org).