For the NCAR/RAL Wind Power Forecasting System. The NCAR/RAL Wind Power Forecasting System enables utilities to integrate large amounts of wind energy into the power grid by providing comprehensive forecasts of wind power generation. Accurate forecasts are crucial for efficient energy planning and resource management as well as for advancing the role of wind energy as a major component of our national energy supply. The RAL team has collaborated with Xcel Energy over the past 2.5 years to develop an advanced wind power prediction system. Implementation of the system has resulted in a 40% reduction in wind energy prediction error, improving the integration of wind power into the electric grid and, in 2010 alone, saved Xcel Energy rate payers $6.0M. This wind energy forecasting system is widely considered - nationally and internationally - to be the most advanced system of its kind. A NOAA evaluation of the system's performance skill and associated cost savings conducted for the Utility Wind Integration Group concluded that a national rollout of NCAR's system would save the nation's utilities approximately $4.5B per year.