Monday, July 12, 2010

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)

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

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

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

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

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


ENERGY & UTILITY ISSUES

Satsop Power Plant Meetings Scheduled (Olympian, WA)

Enviros Challenge Permit for Centralia Coal Plant (Associated Press)

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

Dash for Gas Raises Environmental Worries

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

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

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

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

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

FISH & WILDLIFE

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

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

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

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

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

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

WATER & THE ENVIRONMENT

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

RENEWABLE/ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

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

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

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)

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)

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

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

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

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

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

CONSERVATION & EFFICIENCY

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

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

CLIMATE CHANGE SEQUESTRATION VAULT

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

BARREL O’ GREEN POTPOURRI

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

TECHNOLOGY & TELECOMMUNICATIONS

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

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

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

POLITICS & GOVERNANCE

Washington State Agencies Taking Monday Furlough (Associated Press)

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

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

GENERAL NEWS

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

Weyerhaeuser to Pay $5.6 Billion to Shareholders

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

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

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)

DIVERSIONS


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

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

Ukuleles Ease Stay in Children’s Hospital

SONG OF THE DAY

Smokey Robinson - Cruisin’