Energy News Digest for July 12, 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

HOT SHOTS – TODAY’S TOP FIVE STORIES

Satsop Power Plant Meetings Scheduled (Olympian, WA)

http://www.theolympian.com/2010/07/11/1300920/montesano-satsop-power-plant-meetings.html

Upriver Steelhead Return Posts a Record; Unusually High Number of Unclipped Fish (Columbia Basin Bulletin)

http://www.cbbulletin.com/391924.aspx

California Utilities Struggle to Meet Renewable-Power Requirement (Los Angeles Times, CA)

http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jul/10/business/la-fi-clean-power-20100710

New Mexico Electricity Co-Op Files Lawsuit Against Members (El Defensor Chieftan, Socorro, NM)

http://www.dchieftain.com/dc/index.php/news/1688-co-op-files-lawsuit-against-members.html

FCC Proposes Slower Rural Broadband Speeds (Dodge City Daily Globe, KS)

http://www.dodgeglobe.com/newsnow/x1609358962/FCC-proposes-slower-rural-broadband-speeds

NEWS HIGHLIGHTS (Details Below)

·         Satsop Power Plant Meetings Scheduled

·         Enviros Challenge Permit for Centralia Coal Plant

·         Montana - NorthWestern Energy Wants to Build Own Gas-Fired Plant

·         Dash for Gas Raises Environmental Worries

·         Contracts for John's Prairie Operations Center Top PUD 3 Meeting

·         New Mexico Electricity Co-Op Files Lawsuit Against Members

·         FERC - Loss of Load is not Necessarily a Violation of Reliability Standards, Spitzer Says

·         Crescent Island Leaseholders Take Case to Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

·         Future in the Dark for Lacey Home with No Utilities

·         Upriver Steelhead Return Posts a Record; Unusually High Number of Unclipped Fish

·         Big Salmon, Steelhead Runs Amaze Biologists

·         California - Salmon’s Sad State: Short Season Highlights Fishery’s Woes

·         Army Corps of Engineers Buys Land for Tribal Fishing Site

·         Transgenic Salmon May be on Tables Soon

·         Olympia: Woodard Bay Bat Population Declines

·         Seattle’s Price Tag for Clean Water: $500 Million

·         California Utilities Struggle to Meet Renewable-Power Requirement

·         Devil’s in the Details - Implementing Missouri Renewable Energy Law Proves Tough

·         New Incentive for Turning Oregon Wood Waste into Energy

·         Oregon - Biomass Questions Shed More Heat

·         New Massachusetts Rules May Cloud the Outlook for Biomass

·         Spokane Windmill Manufacturer Builds Small-Town Niche

·         Wind Power on a Smaller Scale Carries Potential

·         Who Pays? Wind Energy Transmission Raises Equity Questions

·         Idaho Power Signs 20-Year Solar Energy Deal

·         City of Wenatchee Gets Stimulus Funds for Energy Improvements

·         Why Is the Department of Energy So Energy Inefficient?

·         California Lobbyists Heat Up over Climate Law

·         Portland’s Mudshark Studios Helps Make Genesis Biopod for Green Burial at Sea

·         FCC Proposes Slower Rural Broadband Speeds

·         Utilities, Telcos Look for Common Ground – Mason PUD 3 mentioned

·         Western Massachusetts Gets Broadband

·         Washington State Agencies Taking Monday Furlough

·         New State Data Center: Office Space for Rent - (Not) Cheap

·         Claims about State Senator Roach in Voters Pamphlet Must be Reworded

·         Families Worry as Big Chelan County Wildfire Threatens Homes

·         Weyerhaeuser to Pay $5.6 Billion to Shareholders

·         Bahamas Police Catch ‘Barefoot Bandit’

·         Over Muslim Cartoon - Seattle Cartoonist Targeted for Execution

·         State Prisons Director to Retire

WORD OF THE DAY

Hysteroid • \HISS-tuh-royd\ • adjective - Resembling or tending toward hysteria

“The sky is falling… the sky is fa…….” Unfortunate last words from the hysteriod air pollution protester who was killed instantly by a single exposure to the largest airborne particulate ever: a 500 pound meteorite.

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

Satsop Power Plant Meetings Scheduled (Olympian, WA)

http://www.theolympian.com/2010/07/11/1300920/montesano-satsop-power-plant-meetings.html

Enviros Challenge Permit for Centralia Coal Plant (Associated Press)

http://www.theolympian.com/2010/07/09/1299999/enviros-challenge-permit-for-centralia.html

Montana - NorthWestern Energy Wants to Build Own Gas-Fired Plant (Missoulian, MT)

http://missoulian.com/news/state-and-regional/article_f33b8512-8c99-11df-b983-001cc4c03286.html

Dash for Gas Raises Environmental Worries

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/12/business/energy-environment/12iht-green.html

Contracts for John's Prairie Operations Center Top PUD 3 Meeting (KMAS Radio, Shelton, WA)

http://masoncountydailynews.net/news/2677-contracts-for-johns-prairie-operations-center-top-pud-3-meeting

New Mexico Electricity Co-Op Files Lawsuit Against Members (El Defensor Chieftan, Socorro, NM)

http://www.dchieftain.com/dc/index.php/news/1688-co-op-files-lawsuit-against-members.html

FERC - Loss of Load is not Necessarily a Violation of Reliability Standards, Spitzer Says (American Public Power Association)

http://www.naylornetwork.com/app-ppd/articles/index-v2.asp?aid=121174&issueID=22621

Crescent Island Leaseholders Take Case to Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Seattle Times)

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2012321469_crescent10.html

Future in the Dark for Lacey Home with No Utilities - Couple, city at loggerheads over codes (News Tribune, Tacoma, WA)

http://www.thenewstribune.com/2010/07/11/1259776/future-in-dark-for-lacey-home.html

FISH & WILDLIFE

Upriver Steelhead Return Posts a Record; Unusually High Number of Unclipped Fish (Columbia Basin Bulletin)

http://www.cbbulletin.com/391924.aspx

Big Salmon, Steelhead Runs Amaze Biologists (News Tribune, Tacoma, WA)

http://www.thenewstribune.com/2010/07/11/1259910/big-salmon-steelhead-runs-amaze.html

California - Salmon’s Sad State: Short Season Highlights Fishery’s Woes (Santa Rosa Press Democrat, CA)

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20100710/ARTICLES/100719982/1349?Title=Salmon-s-sad-state-Short-season-highlights-fishery-s-woes&tc=ar

Army Corps of Engineers Buys Land for Tribal Fishing Site (Dalles Chronicle, OR)

http://www.thedalleschronicle.com/news/2010/07/news07-08-10-01.shtml

Transgenic Salmon May be on Tables Soon - Growth hormone used from Pacific Chinook (News Tribune, Tacoma, WA)

http://www.thenewstribune.com/2010/07/12/1260663/transgenic-salmon-may-be-on-tables.html

Olympia: Woodard Bay Bat Population Declines - Capitol Lake drawdown, saltwater flush may have hurt (Olympian, WA)

http://www.theolympian.com/2010/07/11/1300913/woodard-bay-bat-population-declines.html

WATER & THE ENVIRONMENT

Seattle’s Price Tag for Clean Water: $500 Million - Fixes must be made which will require rate hikes (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)

http://www.seattlepi.com/local/423168_storm12.html

RENEWABLE/ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

California Utilities Struggle to Meet Renewable-Power Requirement (Los Angeles Times, CA)

http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jul/10/business/la-fi-clean-power-20100710

Devil’s in the Details - Implementing Missouri Renewable Energy Law Proves Tough (Associated Press)

http://www.kansascity.com/2010/07/11/2076167/implementing-missouri-energy-law.html

New Incentive for Turning Oregon Wood Waste into Energy “…It’ll help our air quality too, because it’ll help take an old boiler system offline at the sawmill & put in the new biomass, which has all the up-to-date scrubbers…” (Public News Service)

http://www.publicnewsservice.org/index.php?/content/article/14894-1

Oregon - Biomass Questions Shed More Heat: Critics of plants like one being built in Eugene are making headway with government regulators (Eugene Register-Guard, OR)

http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/web/news/cityregion/24992777-41/biomass-plant-carbon-seneca-wood.csp

New Massachusetts Rules May Cloud the Outlook for Biomass (NY Times)

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/10/business/energy-environment/10biomass.html

Spokane Windmill Manufacturer Builds Small-Town Niche (Spokesman-Review, Spokane, WA)

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2010/jul/11/running-like-the-wind/

Wind Power on a Smaller Scale Carries Potential (Kansas City Star, MO)

http://www.kansascity.com/2010/07/12/2077491/wind-power-on-a-smaller-scale.html

Who Pays? Wind Energy Transmission Raises Equity Questions (Chicago Tribune, IL)

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-in-windenergy-transm,0,7526562.story

Idaho Power Signs 20-Year Solar Energy Deal (Associated Press)

http://www.khq.com/Global/story.asp?S=12785728

CONSERVATION & EFFICIENCY

City of Wenatchee Gets Stimulus Funds for Energy Improvements (Wenatchee World, WA)

http://www.wenatcheeworld.com/news/2010/jul/10/city-gets-stimulus-funds-for-energy-improvements/

Why Is the Department of Energy So Energy Inefficient? (Christian Science Monitor)

http://www.csmonitor.com/Money/Green-Economics/2010/0709/Why-is-the-Department-of-Energy-so-energy-inefficient

CLIMATE CHANGE SEQUESTRATION VAULT

California Lobbyists Heat Up over Climate Law (Sacramento Bee, CA)

http://www.sacbee.com/2010/07/12/2883633/lobbyists-heat-up-over-climate.html

BARREL O’ GREEN POTPOURRI

Portland’s Mudshark Studios Helps Make Genesis Biopod for Green Burial at Sea (Oregonian, Portland)

http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2010/07/portlands_mudshark_studios_hel.html

TECHNOLOGY & TELECOMMUNICATIONS

FCC Proposes Slower Rural Broadband Speeds (Dodge City Daily Globe, KS)

http://www.dodgeglobe.com/newsnow/x1609358962/FCC-proposes-slower-rural-broadband-speeds

Utilities, Telcos Look for Common Ground – Mason PUD 3 mentioned (Fierce Telecom)

http://www.fiercetelecom.com/story/utilities-telcos-look-common-ground/2010-07-09

Western Massachusetts Gets Broadband (WGGB-TV, Springfield, MA)

http://www.wggb.com/Global/story.asp?S=12776747

POLITICS & GOVERNANCE

Washington State Agencies Taking Monday Furlough (Associated Press)

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2012336725_apwastateemployeefurloughs.html

New State Data Center: Office Space for Rent - (Not) Cheap - Rental rate will drive up cost for other agencies (Olympian, WA)

http://www.theolympian.com/2010/07/12/1301744/office-space-for-rent-not-cheap.html

Claims about State Senator Roach in Voters Pamphlet Must be Reworded (News Tribune, Tacoma, WA)

http://www.thenewstribune.com/2010/07/10/1258897/claims-about-roach-must-be-reworded.html

GENERAL NEWS

Families Worry as Big Chelan County Wildfire Threatens Homes (KOMO-TV, Seattle)

http://www.komonews.com/news/98204569.html

Weyerhaeuser to Pay $5.6 Billion to Shareholders

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2012335860_apusweyerhaeuserdividend.html

Bahamas Police Catch ‘Barefoot Bandit’ (KIRO-TV, Seattle)

http://www.kirotv.com/news/24214563/detail.html

Over Muslim Cartoon - Seattle Cartoonist Targeted for Execution (KIRO-TV, Seattle)

http://www.mynorthwest.com/?nid=11&sid=341622

State Prisons Director to Retire - Dick Morgan, a Walla Walla native, is responsible for all of the state’s prisons (Walla Walla Union Bulletin, WA)

http://union-bulletin.com/stories/2010/07/09/state-prisons-director-to-retire

DIVERSIONS

Last PT Cruiser Rolls off the Assembly Line (NY Times)

http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/09/last-pt-cruiser-rolls-off-the-assembly-line/

‘Ecological’ Plan Sees Dead Put in Dunny (Toilet) - Undertakers could dissolve corpses in chemicals then flush the remains into the sewage system

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/lifestyle/the-other-side/dead-put-in-dunny/story-e6frfhk6-1225889434108

Vermont Scrap-Wood Dinosaur Posing Modern-Day Problem (No, it’s not an aging biomass power plant!)

http://www.fresnobee.com/2010/07/11/2002636/vt-scrap-wood-dinosaur-posing.html

Ukuleles Ease Stay in Children’s Hospital

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20100708/NEWS01/7090331/Ukeleles-ease-stay-in-children-s-hospital

SONG OF THE DAY

Smokey Robinson - Cruisin’

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlzY6cWpoMQ