Energy News Digest for January 13, 2010

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.

To subscribe, email jmyer@masonpud3.org

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHTS (Details Below)

•  Grays Harbor PUD Rates Go Up Feb. 1

•  Port of Bremerton Studies Ways to Spend Grant it First Got for SEED Energy Program

•  Maryland Governor to Skip Energy Re-Regulation This Session

•  Contentious San Francisco Power Plant Closure Gets Final Approval

•  Venezuela Imposes Electricity Blackouts

•  Aluminum Isn’t Such a Strong Market After All

•  Babcock & Wilcox Faces Penalty for Virginia Nuke Incident

•  Feds Propose Expanding Bush’s Bull Trout Habitat

•  California - A Bad Year for Salmon, But There’s Hope

•  Asian Carp - Illinois Tries United Front Against Fish & Lawsuit

•  Activists Oppose Coyote ‘Derby’ in Southeast Oregon

•  Lack of Washington State Snowpack Could Be a Concern

•  Dirty Air: Utah Officials Urge Limit on Kids’ Play

•  Possible Tweaks in Store for Oregon “Green Energy” Policies

•  Florida Company Pursues 100 MW Wind Farm in Montana

•  Wyoming Governor: ‘No Free Ride for Wind’

•  San Diego - Wind Farm: A Damaging Blow, Inspections, Repairs after Last Month’s Storm

•  Texas - Pickens Reduces Order for Wind Turbines, Puts Panhandle Wind Farm on Hold

•  Cape Wind Project May Be Test Case of Obama Administration’s Promises

•  West Virginia Wind Farm Builder Must Study Bird, Bat Deaths

•  General Electric Cutting Wind Deals at Home, China

•  Colorado Democrats Want to Raise Renewable Energy Standard

•  Maryland Governor to Press for Legislation on Renewable Energy

•  New Mexico Indian Tribe Hopes to Profit from Solar Energy

•  Renewable Resource - Central Virginia Electric Cooperative Buys Hydroelectric Plant

•  State of California Adopts Greenest Building Codes in US

•  Minnesota - Social Pressure to Save Energy?

•  Energy-Only Option Tests Senate’s Climate Bill Backers

•  California Panel Considers Money from Climate Rules

•  Insurance Group Says Stolen E-Mails Show Risk in Accepting Climate Science

•  Airnergy Charger Generates Electricity from WiFi Signals

•  Google to End China Censorship After E-Mail Breach

•  Google Threat a Rare Show of Defiance in China

•  Comcast Gives Spokane Web Users a Usage Meter

•  Broadband Boosts Economic Development to a Point

•  Google Adds Storage to Sweeten Online Office Suite

•  Yahoo Finds Web Ad Generation Gap

•  Hoodsport Bank Robber Arrested

•  Tahuya River Bridge Nearing Completion

•  Clallam County Treasurer Missing More Than $500K

•  Poll Says Gregoire’s Job Approval Lowest Ever

•  Report Says Cell Phone Distraction Causes One in Four US Car Crashes

•  Oregon - Vandalism Does More than $50,000 Damage to Historic Cape Meares Lighthouse

•  Groups Seek Regulation of Bumblebee Importation

•  Wedding Subsidy - Alcoa Can Help Spokane Couple’s Wedding Plan

WORD OF THE DAY

Semiotics • \see-mee-AW-tix\ • noun – A general philosophical theory of signs and symbols that deals especially with their function in both artificially constructed and natural languages and comprises syntactics, semantics, and pragmatics

Barty was stumped by the angry, intricate designs that had been spray-painted on the broad, gray face of his new concrete arch dam across the local salmon stream. “I’m no expert at semiotics,” he mused. “But my guess is that the local chapter of ‘Trout Unlimited’ is not pleased with my work.”

WEATHER

Shelton Forecast & 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

Grays Harbor PUD Rates Go Up Feb. 1 (The Daily World, Aberdeen, WA)

http://www.thedailyworld.com/articles/2010/01/12/local_news/doc4b4cc64119422712922070.txt

Port of Bremerton Studies Ways to Spend Grant it First Got for SEED Energy Program (Kitsap Sun, Bremerton, WA)

http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2010/jan/12/bremerton-port-studies-ways-to-spend-grant-if/

Maryland Governor to Skip Energy Re-Regulation This Session (Associated Press)

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2010775018_apusmarylandgovernorlegislature.html

Contentious San Francisco Power Plant Closure Gets Final Approval (SF Chronicle)

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=%2Fc%2Fa%2F2010%2F01%2F12%2FMN1L1BH8VK.DTL

Venezuela Imposes Electricity Blackouts – The country has imposed an electricity rationing program which will lead to four-hour blackouts every week across the country (The Daily Telegraph, UK)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/venezuela/6980473/Venezuela-imposes-electricity-blackouts.html

Aluminum Isn’t Such a Strong Market After All - Alcoa’s weak results show aluminum demand is off (Purchasing.com)

http://www.purchasing.com/article/444071-Aluminum_isn_t_such_a_strong_market_after_all.php

Babcock & Wilcox Faces Penalty for Virginia Nuke Incident (Associated Press)

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/01/13/financial/f084534S37.DTL

FISH & WILDLIFE

Feds Propose Expanding Bush’s Bull Trout Habitat (Associated Press)

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2010781395_aporbulltrouthabitat.html

California - A Bad Year for Salmon, But There’s Hope: Russian River count low again, but biologists predict its start of upswing (Santa Rosa Press Democrat, CA)

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20100112/NEWS/1121002/1350?Title=A-bad-year-for-salmon-but-there-s-hope&tc=ar

Asian Carp - Illinois Tries United Front Against Fish & Lawsuit (NY Times)

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/13/science/earth/13asiancarp.html

Activists Oppose Coyote ‘Derby’ in Southeast Oregon (The Oregonian, Portland)

http://www.oregonlive.com/environment/index.ssf/2010/01/activists_oppose_coyote_derby.html

WATER & THE ENVIRONMENT

Lack of Washington State Snowpack Could Be a Concern (Yakima Herald Republic, WA)

http://www.yakima-herald.com/stories/2010/01/12/lack-of-snowpack-could-be-a-concern

Dirty Air: Utah Officials Urge Limit on Kids’ Play (Seattle Times)

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2010773225_apusairqualityutah.html

RENEWABLE/ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

Possible Tweaks in Store for Oregon “Green Energy” Policies (NW Public Radio)

http://www.nwpr.org/07/HomepageArticles/Article.aspx?n=6667

Florida Company Pursues 100 MW Wind Farm in Montana (Associated Press)

http://www.examiner.com/a-2417436~Fla__company_pursues_100_MW_wind_farm_in_Mont_.html

Wyoming Governor: ‘No Free Ride for Wind’ (Wyoming Business Report)

http://www.wyomingbusinessreport.com/article.asp?id=103722

San Diego - Wind Farm: A Damaging Blow, Inspections, Repairs after Last Month’s Storm (San Diego Union-Tribune, CA)

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/jan/13/damaging-blow/

Texas - Pickens Reduces Order for Wind Turbines, Puts Panhandle Wind Farm on Hold (Dallas Morning News, TX)

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/stories/DN-wind_13bus.ART.State.Edition1.3d00505.html

Cape Wind Project May Be Test Case of Obama Administration’s Promises (Indian Country Today)

http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/national/81138432.html

West Virginia Wind Farm Builder Must Study Bird, Bat Deaths (Associated Press)

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2010772617_apuswindfarmwestvirginia.html

General Electric Cutting Wind Deals at Home, China (Associated Press)

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/01/12/financial/f123710S49.DTL

Colorado Democrats Want to Raise Renewable Energy Standard (Associated Press)

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2010781188_apusrenewableenergycolorado.html

Maryland Governor to Press for Legislation on Renewable Energy (Baltimore Sun, MD)

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/legislature/bal-md.assembly13jan13,0,4179730.story

New Mexico Indian Tribe Hopes to Profit from Solar Energy (Associated Press)

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2010775213_apustribalsolarenergy.html

Renewable Resource - Central Virginia Electric Cooperative Buys Hydroelectric Plant (Nelson Valley Times, VA)

http://www2.nelsoncountytimes.com/nco/news/local/article/central_virginia_electric_cooperative_buys_hydroelectric_plant/23118/

CONSERVATION & EFFICIENCY

State of California Adopts Greenest Building Codes in US (SF Chronicle)

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/01/13/MNDR1BH9SA.DTL

Minnesota - Social Pressure to Save Energy? (Minneapolis Star-Tribune, MN)

http://www.startribune.com/business/81287582.html?elr=KArks7PYDiaK7DUoaK7D_V_eDc87DUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUU

CLIMATE CHANGE SEQUESTRATION VAULT

Energy-Only Option Tests Senate’s Climate Bill Backers - Would abandon cap & trade for a stand-alone energy bill (NY Times)

http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2010/01/12/12greenwire-energy-only-option-tests-senates-climate-bill-b-4157.html

California Panel Considers Money from Climate Rules (NY Times)

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/13/science/earth/13emissions.html

Insurance Group Says Stolen E-Mails Show Risk in Accepting Climate Science (NY Times)

http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2010/01/13/13climatewire-insurance-group-says-stolen-e-mails-show-ris-91554.html

BARREL O’ GREEN POTPOURRI

Airnergy Charger Generates Electricity from WiFi Signals (Consumerist)

http://consumerist.com/2010/01/airnergy-charger-generates-electricity-from-wifi-signals.html

TECHNOLOGY & TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Google to End China Censorship After E-Mail Breach (Associated Press)

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2010777735_apustecgooglechina.html

Google Threat a Rare Show of Defiance in China (Associated Press)

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2010777612_apaschinagoogle.html

Comcast Gives Spokane Web Users a Usage Meter (Spokesman-Review, Spokane, WA)

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2010/jan/12/comcast-gives-web-users-usage-meter/

Broadband Boosts Economic Development to a Point (GigaOM)

http://gigaom.com/2010/01/12/broadband-boosts-economic-development-to-a-point/

Google Adds Storage to Sweeten Online Office Suite (Associated Press)

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/01/12/financial/f090705S29.DTL

Yahoo Finds Web Ad Generation Gap (Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal)

http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/stories/2010/01/11/daily41.html

GENERAL NEWS

Hoodsport Bank Robber Arrested (KMAS Radio, Shelton, WA)

http://masoncountydailynews.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1068:hoodsport-bank-robber-arrested&catid=1:latest-news&Itemid=50

Tahuya River Bridge Nearing Completion (Kitsap Sun, Bremerton, WA)

http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2010/jan/12/tahuya-bridge-nearing-completion/

Clallam County Treasurer Missing More Than $500K (Associated Press)

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2010776294_apwaclallammissingmoney.html

Poll Says Gregoire’s Job Approval Lowest Ever (Seattle Times)

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politicsnorthwest/2010768515_poll_gregoire_job_approval_low.html

Report Says Cell Phone Distraction Causes One in Four US Car Crashes (Christian Science Monitor)

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2010/0112/Report-Cell-phone-distraction-causes-one-in-four-US-car-crashes

Oregon - Vandalism Does More than $50,000 Damage to Historic Cape Meares Lighthouse (Oregonian, Portland)

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2010/01/vandalism_does_more_than_50000.html

Groups Seek Regulation of Bumblebee Importation (Associated Press)

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2010772614_apusplightofbumblebee.html

Wedding Subsidy - Alcoa Can Help Spokane Couple’s Wedding Plan (Spokesman-Review, Spokane, WA)

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2010/jan/13/alcoa-helps-wedding-can-couple/

DIVERSIONS

Mystery Object to Whizz by Earth Wednesday

http://www.kirotv.com/technology/22217885/detail.html

Festering Fish a Side Benefit - Lawsuit accuses bank of seizing wrong house

http://www.galvnews.com/story.lasso?ewcd=4e1cfb1bebbf31e1

Driver Growing Locks for Charity Told to Cut Hair

http://www.kirotv.com/sports/22219057/detail.html

Woman Keeps Pet Snowball for 33 Years

http://www.kirotv.com/news/22218733/detail.html

SONG OF THE DAY

The Doors - Break on Through

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dLAv0NklTg