Energy News Digest for January 12, 2009

All the links in today’s news digest lead to current stories. Please note that some media organizations update their web sites regularly, which may result in broken links in the future.

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHTS (Details Below)

- Slide Causes Shutdown of Swift Dam Powerhouse
- Montana - $195 Million Rainbow Dam Upgrade Delayed
- Snohomish County PUD Wishlist: $1 Billion for Green Energy Efforts
- City of Richland Utility Credit: Saving You Money!
- Grays Harbor County PUD truck stolen, four arrested
- Optimizing Profitability Regarding Aluminum Prices and Electricity Prices
- Keeping Home Life-Support up When Power Goes Out
- Texas- Applause Over Pullout From Coal Venture Is misguided
- Exposing the Myth of Clean Coal Power
- Waste Spills at another T.V.A. Power Plant
- Nuclear Power's Core of Support Gains Strength
- Slovaks to Restart Nuclear Unit Due To Gas Shortage
- Connecticut - Economic Woes Slam Energy Market “Success”
- Monday Update: FERC Chief to Resign
- Judge Won't Hear Plea for Columbia River Salmon Passage
- Washington Offers Small Compromises in Spring Chinook Standoff
- Canadians Agree To Catch Fewer Columbia Salmon
- West Coast Trollers Take Biggest Hit in Salmon treaty
- California - 'Crisis Situation' For Marin's Coho Salmon
- Massive Flooding Has Negative Impact on Young Salmon Survival
- Salmon Researchers Look into Cormorants' Bulging Bellies
- Goldmark Inherits Taylor Shellfish Ruling
- Northwest researchers say 'dirty snow effect' magnifies early snowmelt
- United Kingdom - Wind Energy Supply Dips During Cold snap
- Experts Seek To Strike Wind, Coal Balance
- Evaluating ‘Green Power’ Programs
- Renewing Green Development - New Incentives May Be Needed as Projects Lack Financing
- Oregon Legislature Should Cut Back On Some Tax Credits
- Boise Startup Lights Way to 'Smart Grid'
- Obama's Green Energy Plans Build Hopes, Skepticism
- Baltimore Sun Editorial - Let's Think Big On Energy
- Mid-Columbians Fired Up To Save With Pellet Stoves
- Clatskanie Ethanol Plant Halts Operations
- Promoters Push Solar Panel Recycling as Path to ‘Double Green’
- Maryland - State Freezes Solar Energy Grant Program, Warns of Cuts
- BC Hydro must be 'encouraged' to plan for the right kind of growth
- As It Downsizes, Solo Cup Seeks To Sell Excess Electricity
- Connecticut - Energy Conservation Funds Targeted For Cuts
- Indiana - Waste District Makes It Easy To Recycle Bulbs
- Measuring Your Google Search's Carbon Footprint
- Green My Blog
- Montana Communication Users Still Having Trouble after BPA Line Cut near Libby
- Another $100 Million for Rural WiMAX Operator
- Watch Out For Bogus National Broadband Plans
- A Future in Directing Online Traffic
- Quietly, AOL Becomes an Overseer of Niche Sites
- FCC Chief: Don't Delay DTV Switch
- Microsoft lifts download limit for Windows 7 beta
- Lessons from another Year of Puget Sound Flooding Must Be Embraced
- Washington Lawmakers Start New Legislative Session
- Park Closures Attract Criticism
- $20 Million in Diesel Fuel Stolen From Harbor Island Terminal
- Mason County Has State's First All-Female Bench

These and links to more stories in today’s Energy News Digest

WORD OF THE DAY

Imbroglio • \im-BROLE-yo\ • noun -1: a confused mass 2a: an intricate or complicated situation b: an acutely painful or embarrassing misunderstanding c: a violently confused or bitterly complicated altercation, embroilment d: scandal.

The high-powered politician saw the handwriting on the wall. The 1998 imbroglio involving Beanie-Baby influence trading started unraveling the moment his “supplier” failed to receive bailout funds for a new venture: soybean-babies.

The example sentence of the day went downhill from there. The editor had a hard time coming up with a suitable sentence that did not include references to seamy and dark-hearted things only found in cheap dime-novels or Lifetime made-for-TV movies. Sorry.

WEATHER

Shelton Forecast and Weather Alerts
http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/forecast/MapClick.php?textField1=47.213805&textField2=-123.113412&site=all&smap=1&searchresult=Shelton%2C%20WA%2C%20USA

ENERGY & UTILITY ISSUES

Slide Causes Shutdown Of Swift Dam Powerhouse (The Columbian, Vancouver, WA)
http://columbian.com/article/20090110/NEWS02/701109972/-1/NEWS

Montana - $195 Million Rainbow Dam Upgrade Delayed: Increasing construction and financing costs cited as reasons (Great Falls Tribune, MT)
http://www.greatfallstribune.com/article/20090112/NEWS01/901120310/1002/news01

Snohomish County PUD Wishlist: $1 Billion for Green Energy Efforts (Everett Herald, WA)
http://heraldnet.com/article/20090112/NEWS01/701129918

City of Richland Utility Credit: Saving You Money! (KEPR-TV, Tri-Cities, WA)
http://www.keprtv.com/news/local/37368729.html

Grays Harbor County PUD truck stolen, four arrested (The Daily World, Aberdeen, WA)
http://www.thedailyworld.com/articles/2009/01/11/local_news/06news.txt

Optimizing Profitability Regarding Aluminum Prices and Electricity Prices – Ed. Note: check out the discussion on sale of purchased electricity vs. its use in aluminum production (Gerson Lehrmnan Group)
http://www.glgroup.com/News/Optimizing-Profitability-Regarding-Aluminum-Prices-and-Electricity-Prices-31340.html

Keeping Home Life-Support Up When Power Goes Out (Associated Press)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/01/12/national/w002419S61.DTL&feed=rss.business

Texas- Applause Over Pullout From Coal Venture Is misguided - Will they still cheer when the lights go out? (Houston Chronicle, TX)
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/steffy/6203552.html

Exposing the Myth of Clean Coal Power (Time Magazine)
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1870599,00.html

Waste Spills at Another T.V.A. Power Plant (NY Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/10/us/10sludge.html

Nuclear Power's Core Of Support Gains Strength (Houston Chronicle, TX)
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/6203553.html

Slovaks To Restart Nuclear Unit Due To Gas Shortage (Reuters)
http://uk.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUKTRE50923V20090110

Connecticut - Economic Woes Slam Energy Market Success – detractors: “…The system is a pig and you can't put lipstick on it…" (Connecticut Post)
http://www.connpost.com/ci_11430025

Monday Update: FERC Chief to Resign (Now here’s how you localize a story – The Daily News, Longview, WA)
http://www.tdn.com/articles/2009/01/12//area_news/doc496afc0a5ca9d146400486.txt

FISH & WILDLIFE

Judge Won't Hear Plea for Columbia River Salmon Passage (Tri-City Herald)
http://www.tri-cityherald.com/kennewick_pasco_richland/story/440232.html

Washington Offers Small Compromises in Spring Chinook Standoff (The Columbian, Vancouver, WA)
http://www.columbian.com/article/20090109/SPORTS04/701109981/-1/SPORTS

Canadians Agree To Catch Fewer Columbia Salmon (The Oregonian, Portland, WA)
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/01/canadians_agree_to_catch_fewer.html

West Coast Trollers Take Biggest Hit In Salmon treaty - Goal of new Canada-U.S. deal is to conserve endangered stocks (Victoria Times-Colonist, BC)
http://www.timescolonist.com/news/Jack+Knox+column+West+coast+trollers+take+biggest+salmon+treaty/1163299/story.html

California - 'Crisis Situation' For Marin's Coho Salmon (San Francisco Chronicle)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/01/09/BA4C155A50.DTL&feed=rss.bayarea

Massive Flooding Has Negative Impact On Young Salmon Survival (Seattle Times)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/othersports/2008614081_outn11.html

Researchers look into cormorants' bulging bellies - Biologists must find whether birds are feasting on rare salmon (The Olympian, Olympia, WA)
http://www.theolympian.com/704/story/723614.html

Goldmark Inherits Taylor Shellfish Ruling - Sutherland defers decision on profit from illegal planting (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/395539_taylor10.html?source=rss

WATER & THE ENVIRONMENT

Northwest researchers say 'dirty snow effect' magnifies early snowmelt (The Oregonian, Portland, OR)
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/01/northwest_researchers_say_dirt.html

RENEWABLE ENERGY

United Kingdom - Wind Energy Supply Dips During Cold snap - Just when it’s needed most: Britain's wind farms have stopped working during the cold snap due to lack of wind (The Daily Telegraph, UK)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/energy/windpower/4208940/Wind-energy-supply-dips-during-cold-snap.html

Experts Seek To Strike Wind, Coal Balance (Great Falls Tribune, MT)
http://www.greatfallstribune.com/article/20090110/NEWS01/901100329/1002/NEWS01

Evaluating ‘Green Power’ Programs “…Participation rates are generally low - 2 percent on average, largely because wind power is more expensive…” (NY Times)
http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/12/evaluating-green-power-programs/

Renewing Green Development - New Incentives May Be Needed as Projects Lack Financing (Washington Post)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/08/AR2009010803752.html?wprss=rss_business

Salem Statesman Journal Editorial - Oregon Legislature Should Cut Back On Some Tax Credits (Calls out some energy tax cuts)
http://www.statesmanjournal.com/article/20090112/COLUMN0703/901120335/1049/OPINION

Boise Startup Lights Way To 'Smart Grid' - Inovus' SmartPole sets the company up to be a local leader in a national energy revolution (Idaho Statesman, Boise)
http://www.idahostatesman.com/235/story/629155.html

Obama's Green Energy Plans Build Hopes, Skepticism (Reuters)
http://www.reuters.com/article/deborahCohen/idUSTRE5086BL20090109

Baltimore Sun Editorial - Let's Think Big On Energy: President-elect Barack Obama has stated that his economic stimulus package will include a major initiative to build an alternative energy infrastructure
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bal-op.pickensplan11jan11,0,1381234.story

Mid-Columbians Fired Up To Save With Pellet Stoves (Tri-City Herald, WA)
http://www.tri-cityherald.com/915/story/441109.html

Clatskanie Ethanol Plant Halts Operations (The Daily News)
http://www.tdn.com/articles/2009/01/11//area_news/doc4967cb7771ca6555942397.txt

Promoters Push Solar Panel Recycling as Path to ‘Double Green’ (NY Times)
http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/12/solar-promoters-push-recycling-as-path-to-double-green/

Maryland - State Freezes Solar Energy Grant Program, Warns of Cuts - More than 400 home, business owners still waiting for subsidy (Baltimore Business Journal)
http://www.bizjournals.com/baltimore/stories/2009/01/12/story10.html?ana=from_rss

British Columbia - BC Hydro must be 'encouraged' to plan for the right kind of growth (The Vancouver Sun, BC)
http://www.vancouversun.com/opinion/Hydro+must+encouraged+plan+right+kind+growth/1153783/story.html

As It Downsizes, Solo Cup Seeks To Sell Excess Electricity (Baltimore Business Journal)
http://www.bizjournals.com/baltimore/stories/2009/01/12/story8.html?ana=from_rss

CONSERVATION & EFFICIENCY

Connecticut - Energy Conservation Funds Targeted For Cuts (Associated Press)
http://www.courant.com/news/local/statewire/hc-ap-ct-connecticutbudgetjan12,0,3516444.story

Indiana - Waste District Makes It Easy To Recycle Bulbs: Use county drop-off sites instead of sneaking them into garbage (Fort Wayne Sentinel, IN)
http://www.news-sentinel.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090112/BUSINESS/901120343

CLIMATE CHANGE SEQUESTRATION VAULT

Measuring Your Google Search's Carbon Footprint (C/NET News)
http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-10140142-54.html?tag=nl.e703

Green My Blog “…I've seen some blogs with tickers to calculate their carbon footprint. Should I be concerned about mine?...” (Slate Magazine)
http://green.msn.com/Home/Green-My-Blog/?gt1=45002

TECHNOLOGY & TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Montana Communication Users Still Having Trouble after BPA Line Cut near Libby (KECI-TV, Missoula, MT)
http://www.keci.com/montana_news.php?id=545ad1d37afc778393bb20d524b95e7f

Another $100 Million for Rural WiMAX Operator (GigaOM)
http://gigaom.com/2009/01/12/another-100-million-for-rural-wimax-operator/

Watch Out For Bogus National Broadband Plans - Op/Ed: ISPs that spent millions stifling deployment, now want more subsidies (Broadband Reports)
http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Hey-Obama-Watch-Out-For-Bogus-National-Broadband-Plans-100146

A Future in Directing Online Traffic (NY Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/11/jobs/11starts.html?_r=1

Quietly, AOL Becomes an Overseer of Niche Sites (NY Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/12/business/media/12aol.html

FCC Chief: Don't Delay DTV Switch - Would further confuse an already confused public (Broadband Reports)
http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/FCC-Chief-Dont-Delay-DTV-Switch-100159

Microsoft lifts download limit for Windows 7 beta (C/NET News)
http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-10140093-75.html?tag=nl.e703

GENERAL NEWS

Lessons from Another Year Of Puget Sound Flooding Must Be Embraced (Seattle Times)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/editorialsopinion/2008613486_weboped10siemann.html?syndication=rss

Washington Lawmakers Start New Legislative Session (Examiner.com)
http://www.examiner.com/a-1789190~Washington_lawmakers_start_new_legislative_session.html?cid=rss-Washington_Headlines

Park Closures Attract Criticism - Some say $1 million audit gave few ways to save money (The Olympian, Olympia, WA)
http://www.theolympian.com/localnewsfeed/story/723593.html

$20 Million In Diesel Fuel Stolen From Harbor Island Terminal - Theft took place over 9-10 months at BP distribution center (Seattle Times)
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/395641_gastheft12.html?source=rss

Mason County Has State's First All-Female Bench (The Kitsap Sun, Bremerton, WA)
http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2009/jan/10/mason-county-has-states-first-all-female-bench/?partner=RSS

DIVERSIONS

Eternal Flame Only Lasts Until Gas Bill Arrives
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090110/ap_on_fe_st/odd_extinguished_eternal_flame;_ylt=AsJqSEI13LXub20D0F2VYLLtiBIF

Britain Goes Nuts over Squirrel Flavored Crisps
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090109/wl_uk_afp/britainfoodoffbeat_newsmlmmd;_ylt=Aglza2Zbkn6xcRBV6b7foHGgOrgF

Would-Be Chinese Bride, 107, Seeks First Husband
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090112/od_uk_nm/oukoe_uk_china_bride_centenarian;_ylt=Ao9QlhjpqlC2wYaUFxc8eq_tiBIF

Drunk Worker Reportedly Starts Fire In Moscow Museum
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090111/od_uk_nm/oukoe_uk_russia_museum_fire;_ylt=ArzLCITj8BdXKojTs_ryFTTtiBIF