Energy News Digest for January 30, 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)

- Path Cleared For Puget Energy to Be Bought By Consortium
- Southwest Idaho Residents Want to Stop Power Line
- Buzz grows for modernizing energy grid
- Smart Grid, Stupid Policy?
- Cowlitz County PUD pay hike spurs recall attempt
- TransAlta 4Q Earnings Off
- California - Electrician accused of stealing $13,500 in power
- Gas Glut: Natural Gas Drillers Still Trying to Throttle Back
- Australia – Rising electricity prices 'to benefit renewable sector'
- Judge Won't Grant Stay Sparing Sea Lions
- Columbia River Treaty Tribes Tell States to Limit Columbia Spring Chinook Catch
- Idaho Officials Predict Large Return of Salmon
- Coeur d’Alene’s rewarded in Avista settlement over use of tribal lands for storing water to produce hydropower
- Snowpack above Average on Mt Hood, Below-Average in Northeast Oregon
- Low Snowpack May Mean a Third Dry Year for California
- State water allocation proposal in Jefferson County fuels growing fears
- Idaho board approves Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer plan
- Nevada A Natural Disaster Area Due To Drought
- Proposed Washington State Law Would Clarify Definition of Biomass
- FERC Chief: Energy Conservation and High-Performance Vehicles Can Coexist
- Oregon - Campus Turbine Gives Hood River Teens the (Wind) Power
- Plans to Build Tesla Electric Car Plant in San Jose Cancelled
- Frugal Family Tips To Save Money on Energy Bills
- Can Energy Efficiency Brighten A Dark Economy?
- Gregoire Says Emissions Plan Would Also Create Jobs
- Software Glitch Suspected In Click! Cable Outage
- Obama's Broadband Stimulus: Throwing Money at Wrong Target?
- Britain Looks to Expand Broadband and Limit Piracy
- Montana - Frontier Celebrates Fiber Optic Line in Libby
- More People Ditching Land Lines, Going Wireless
- 4.5 Quake Rattles Puget Sound Area
- Latest Quake Same Source as 2001 Nisqually Quake
- Exxon Mobil Shatters U.S. Record for Annual Profit
- Bill Would Require Retailers to Grant Restroom Access

These And Links to More Stories in Today’s Energy News Digest

WORD OF THE DAY

Indubitable • \in-DOO-buh-tuh-bul\ • adjective - Too evident to be doubted: unquestionable

“Watch this, whispered the office worker on the fourth floor to his visiting client.” The company CEO was headed to lunch, loudly announcing to all who would hear that he always ate a vegetarian sub sandwich to retain his “girlish figure”. What he did not realize, is that his indubitable habit of visiting the “Taco Trailer” across the street from his headquarters was observed daily by all his employees. The lard-enhanced refried beans did little to restrain the proliferation of fat cells around his mid-section.

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

Path Cleared For Puget Energy to Be Bought By Consortium - Deal Could Close Next Week (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/398040_puget30.html?source=rss

Southwest Idaho Residents Want to Stop Power Line (Associated Press)
http://www.theolympian.com/northwest/story/742246.html

Buzz grows for modernizing energy grid “…hybrids could become mini-generating plants…plugged into office garage outlets…feeding power to the grid when prices surge says BPA…” (USA Today)
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/energy/2009-01-29-smart-grid-energy_N.htm

Smart Grid, Stupid Policy? When it comes to upgrading the U.S. power system, spending runs far ahead of understanding (Forbes Magazine)
http://www.forbes.com/2009/01/29/electricity-infrastructure-obama-business-energy-0129_smart_grid.html

Cowlitz County PUD pay hike spurs recall attempt (The Daily News, Longview, WA)
http://www.tdn.com/articles/2009/01/30//area_news/doc4982ae41ed16d782009978.txt

TransAlta 4Q Earnings Off (KELA Radio, Centralia, WA)
http://www.kelaam.com/pages/localnews/?TransAlta-4Q-Earnings-Off=1&blockID=37955&feedID=410

California - Electrician accused of stealing $13,500 in power (Associated Press)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/01/29/national/a132810S15.DTL&feed=rss.business

Gas Glut: Natural Gas Drillers Still Trying to Throttle Back (Wall Street Journal)
http://blogs.wsj.com/environmentalcapital/2009/01/29/gas-glut-natural-gas-drillers-still-trying-to-throttle-back/

Australia – Rising electricity prices 'to benefit renewable sector' “…a recommended a 78 per cent increase to the charges for household electricity over the next two years will bring prices into line with supply costs…” (ABC)
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/01/30/2478915.htm

FISH & WILDLIFE

Judge Won't Grant Stay Sparing Sea Lions (Seattle Times)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008687396_websealions29.html

Columbia River Treaty Tribes Tell States to Limit Columbia Spring Chinook Catch (The Columbian, Vancouver, WA)
http://www.columbian.com/article/20090129/SPORTS04/901299983/-1/SPORTS

Idaho Officials Predict Large Return of Salmon (Associated Press)
http://www.theolympian.com/northwest/story/743336.html

Coeur d’Alene’s rewarded in Avista settlement over use of tribal lands for storing water to produce hydropower (Indian Country Today)
http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/national/northwest/37677989.html

WATER & THE ENVIRONMENT

Snowpack above Average on Mt Hood, Below-Average In Northeast Oregon (Oregon Public Broadcasting)
http://news.opb.org/article/4156-snowpack-above-average-mt-hood-below-average-northeast-oregon/

Low Snowpack May Mean a Third Dry Year for California (Los Angeles Times)
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-snowpack30-2009jan30,0,260986.story

State water allocation proposal in Jefferson County fuels growing fears (Peninsula Daily News)
http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/article/20090130/news/301309994

Idaho board approves Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer plan (Associated Press)
http://www.theolympian.com/northwest/story/743262.html

Nevada A Natural Disaster Area Due To Drought (Associated Press)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/01/29/financial/f154459S73.DTL&feed=rss.business

RENEWABLE ENERGY

Proposed Washington State Law Would Clarify Definition of Biomass (The Daily World, Aberdeen, WA)
http://www.thedailyworld.com/articles/2009/01/29/local_news/09news.txt

FERC Chief: Energy Conservation and High-Performance Vehicles Can Coexist (Las Vegas Review Journal)
http://www.lvrj.com/business/38688739.html

Oregon - Campus Turbine Gives Hood River Teens the (Wind) Power (The Oregonian, Portland)
http://www.oregonlive.com/environment/index.ssf/2009/01/hood_river_teens_get_the_wind.html

Plans to Build Tesla Electric Car Plant in San Jose Cancelled (Examiner.com)
http://www.examiner.com/a-1823970~Plans_to_build_Tesla_plant_in_San_Jose_cancelled.html?cid=rss-California_Headlines

CONSERVATION & EFFICIENCY

Frugal Family Tips To Save Money on Energy Bills (USA Today)
http://www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/basics/2009-01-29-frugal-families-energy-saving-tips_N.htm

Can Energy Efficiency Brighten A Dark Economy? (Christian Science Monitor)
http://features.csmonitor.com/economyrebuild/2009/01/29/can-energy-efficiency-brighten-a-dark-economy/

CLIMATE CHANGE SEQUESTRATION VAULT

Gregoire Says Emissions Plan Would Also Create Jobs (The Seattle Times)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politics/2008687632_carbon30m.html

TECHNOLOGY & TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Software Glitch Suspected In Click! Cable Outage (The News Tribune, Tacoma, WA)
http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/611084.html

Obama's Broadband Stimulus: Throwing Money at Wrong Target? Current draft may not result in many more broadband Internet users (Network World)
http://www.networkworld.com/columnists/2009/012709-bradner.html?fsrc=rss-columns

Britain Looks to Expand Broadband and Limit Piracy (NY Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/30/technology/30digital.html

Montana - Frontier Celebrates Fiber Optic Line in Libby (The Western News, Libby, MT)
http://www.thewesternnews.com/articles/2009/01/29/news/doc4982095c26d47005330590.txt

More People Ditching Land Lines, Going Wireless (KING-TV, Seattle)
http://www.king5.com/localnews/stories/NW_012909WAB-people-dumping-landline-SW.166440e5.html

GENERAL NEWS

4.5 Quake Rattles Puget Sound Area (KOMO-TV, Seattle)
http://www.komonews.com/news/local/38694822.html

Latest Quake Same Source as 2001 Nisqually Quake (KIRO-TV, Seattle)
http://www.kirotv.com/news/18603945/detail.html

Exxon Mobil Shatters U.S. Record for Annual Profit (Associated Press)
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_11589748

Bill Would Require Retailers to Grant Restroom Access (Oregon Public Broadcasting)
http://news.opb.org/article/4151-bill-would-require-retailers-grant-restroom-access/

DIVERSIONS

1981 primitive Internet report on KRON (This is GREAT – via Baller/Herbst)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WCTn4FljUQ&feature=PlayList&p=66B42EC02895A8A6&playnext=1&index=39

Passenger Calls In Fake Robbery Report During Chase - presumably to get pursuing officers to go to the robbery call
http://www.kirotv.com/news/18596262/detail.html?treets=sea&tid=2653595907813&tml=sea_12pm&tmi=sea_12pm_1_02000101292009&ts=H

Texas Road Signs Warn Of Zombie Attack - Hackers Change Electronic Signs In Apparent Prank
http://www.kirotv.com/automotive/18595115/detail.html?treets=sea&tid=2653595907813&tml=sea_nots&tmi=sea_nots_1_01000101292009&ts=H

60-Ton House Towed Across Frozen Lake
http://www.kirotv.com/weather/18594778/detail.html?treets=sea&tid=2653595907813&tml=sea_nots&tmi=sea_nots_1_01000101292009&ts=H

SONG OF THE DAY

Cherry Cherry – Neil Diamond (1967, from 2005)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxIcSTGkO4I&feature=related