Thursday, June 30, 2011

Energy News Digest for June 30, 2011

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

THE NEWS DIGEST ON TWITTER

Follow the news digest on Twitter for breaking news & notices:

HOT SHOTS – TODAY’S TOP FIVE STORIES

Chelan PUD’s Rocky Reach Dam Has its 50th Anniversary (KPQ Radio, Wenatchee, WA)

Arizona - Electric Cooperatives Seek Hoover Dam Allocation (Eastern Arizona Courier, Safford, AZ)

Columbia Basin Groundwater Supplies Are Reportedly Dwindling (Columbia Basin Herald, Moses Lake, WA)

Klamath Salmon Migration in Jeopardy (Northwest Public Radio)

Inmate Pair Worked Together to Attempt Escape from Clallam Bay, Prison Officials Say (Peninsula Daily News, Port Angeles, WA)

NEWS HIGHLIGHTS (Details Below)
  • Chelan PUD’s Rocky Reach Dam Has its 50th Anniversary
  • Columbia River PUD Considers Rate Increase
  • Wyoming - Lower Valley Energy Considers Rate Hike Due to Bonneville Power Administration Actions
  • Arizona - Electric Cooperatives Seek Hoover Dam Allocation
  • Arizona - Hoover Dam Power Being Denied to Arizona Electric Cooperatives
  • Mason County PUD 3 Conducting System Survey
  • Colorado - Please Don’t Go Public: Xcel Offers to Build Wind Farm for Boulder
  • Kansas Commission Approves Prairie Wind Transmission Line Route
  • United Kingdom - Electricity Rates to Rise at Three Times Rate of French Bills
  • Déjà vu - Renewables Boom Could Strain Germany’s Grid
  • Klamath Salmon Migration in Jeopardy
  • Plan To Improve Entiat River Fish Habitat Churns Residents
  • Coho Salmon Season Opens Saturday Off Central Oregon Coast
  • ‘Raging’ River Waters Will Make for Rocky Chinook Opener
  • Bonneville Power Administration to Discuss Hatchery Plan
  • Polar Bears’ Threatened Status Upheld In Court
  • Feds Release New Northern Spotted Owl Plan
  • Columbia Basin Groundwater Supplies Are Reportedly Dwindling
  • Lower Elwha Tribe Wants Rayonier Property Returned to Natural State
  • Alcoa to finish cleanup plan for former Reynolds site on Columbia River
  • Utility-Scale Renewable Projects in Oregon Hit Hard By Business Energy Tax Credit Overhaul
  • Oregon - Umatilla Commissioners Vote to Restrict Wind Projects
  • Avista Chooses First Wind’s Palouse Wind Project for Power Purchase Agreement
  • Editorial, Maine - Forest Fires & Wind Turbines: The Danger No One Is Talking About
  • SoloPower Raises $15 Million More
  • Virginia - Dominion Wants to Raise Rates for Biomass Conversion
  • Biomass Is the New Coal
  • Microsoft Kills Energy Tool Hohm, Too
  • California Proposes Delaying Carbon Market a Year
  • Three Years In, British Columbia Still On Its Own With Carbon Tax to Fight Climate Change
  • Hybrid Drivers Lose Special Privileges in California
  • San Francisco Tops List of ‘Green’ Cities in Survey
  • More Northern California Hotels Earning LEED Certification
  • Amazon to Cut Off California-Based Web Affiliates
  • NOAA Continues Cloud Computing Pilots
  • Thurston County Auditor Running for Washington Secretary of State
  • Oregon - Gresham Utility Fee Raises Questions
  • Inmate Pair Worked Together to Attempt Escape from Clallam Bay, Prison Officials Say
  • Clallam Bay Residents Glad No Prison Employee Was Seriously Injured
  • Mason County Burn Ban Starts Friday
  • UW Regents Approve 20 Percent Tuition Hike
  • Dozens Of Cities Line Up to Contest 2010 Census
  • Oregon Man Stung By Scorpion on Commercial Flight

WORD OF THE DAY

Temporize • \TEMP-puh-rise\ • Verb - 1: to act to suit the time or occasion: yield to current or dominant opinion 2: to draw out discussions or negotiations so as to gain time.

“Y’all excuse me while I take a short pause in my speech to collect my thoughts,” drawled the gentleman lawyer to the expectant jury. In reality, the wily old fellow was temporizing during his closing arguments in hopes that the “Pony Express” rider would arrive with the surprise evidence….evidence that could save the defendant from a prison sentence. Unbeknownst to the lawyer, the rider at that moment had taken a side trip “up the lazy river” to linger in the shade of an old oak tree.

SHELTON FORECAST & WEATHER ALERTS


ENERGY & UTILITY ISSUES

Chelan PUD’s Rocky Reach Dam Has its 50th Anniversary (KPQ Radio, Wenatchee, WA)

Columbia River PUD Considers Rate Increase (South County Spotlight, OR)

Wyoming - Lower Valley Energy Considers Rate Hike Due to Bonneville Power Administration Actions (Jackson Hole Guide & News, Jackson, WY)

Arizona - Electric Cooperatives Seek Hoover Dam Allocation (Eastern Arizona Courier, Safford, AZ)

Arizona - Hoover Dam Power Being Denied to Arizona Electric Cooperatives (Wilcox Range News, AZ)

Mason County PUD 3 Conducting System Survey (KMAS Radio, Shelton, WA)

Colorado - Please Don’t Go Public: Xcel Offers to Build Wind Farm for Boulder (Denver Post, CO)

Kansas Commission Approves Prairie Wind Transmission Line Route (Transmission & Distribution World)

United Kingdom - Electricity Rates to Rise at Three Times Rate of French Bills (The Daily Telegraph, UK)

Déjà vu - Renewables Boom Could Strain Germany’s Grid (Reuters)

FISH & WILDLIFE

Klamath Salmon Migration in Jeopardy (Northwest Public Radio)

Plan To Improve Entiat River Fish Habitat Churns Residents (Lake Chelan Mirror, WA)

Coho Salmon Season Opens Saturday Off Central Oregon Coast (Oregonian, Portland)

‘Raging’ River Waters Will Make for Rocky Chinook Opener (Wenatchee World, WA)

Bonneville Power Administration to Discuss Hatchery Plan (Wenatchee World, WA)

Polar Bears’ Threatened Status Upheld In Court (Reuters)

Feds Release New Northern Spotted Owl Plan (Oregon Public Broadcasting)

WATER & THE ENVIRONMENT

Columbia Basin Groundwater Supplies Are Reportedly Dwindling (Columbia Basin Herald, Moses Lake, WA)

Lower Elwha Tribe Wants Rayonier Property Returned to Natural State (KONP Radio, Port Angeles, WA)

Alcoa to finish cleanup plan for former Reynolds site on Columbia River (Longview Daily News, WA)

RENEWABLE/ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

Utility-Scale Renewable Projects in Oregon Hit Hard By Business Energy Tax Credit Overhaul (North American Wind Power)

Oregon - Umatilla Commissioners Vote to Restrict Wind Projects (Oregon Public Broadcasting)

Avista Chooses First Wind’s Palouse Wind Project for Power Purchase Agreement (Electric Light & Power)

Editorial, Maine - Forest Fires & Wind Turbines: The Danger No One Is Talking About (Bangor Daily News, ME)

SoloPower Raises $15 Million More (Sustainable Business Oregon)

Virginia - Dominion Wants to Raise Rates for Biomass Conversion (The Virginian Pilot, Hampton Roads, VA)

Biomass Is the New Coal (Grist Online)

CONSERVATION & EFFICIENCY

Microsoft Kills Energy Tool Hohm, Too (GigaOM)

CLIMATE CHANGE SEQUESTRATION VAULT

California Proposes Delaying Carbon Market a Year (Reuters)

Three Years In, British Columbia Still On Its Own With Carbon Tax to Fight Climate Change (Winnipeg Free Press, Manitoba)

BARREL O’ GREEN POTPOURRI

Hybrid Drivers Lose Special Privileges in California (Seattle Times)

San Francisco Tops List of ‘Green’ Cities in Survey (USA Today)

More Northern California Hotels Earning LEED Certification (Sacramento Bee, CA)

TECHNOLOGY & TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Amazon to Cut Off California-Based Web Affiliates (Associated Press)

NOAA Continues Cloud Computing Pilots (Federal News Radio)

POLITICS & GOVERNANCE

Thurston County Auditor Running for Washington Secretary of State (KOMO-TV, Seattle)

Oregon - Gresham Utility Fee Raises Questions: PGE, NW Natural & Rockwood Water look for clarification of new ‘privilege’ tax (Gresham Outlook, OR)

GENERAL NEWS

Inmate Pair Worked Together to Attempt Escape from Clallam Bay, Prison Officials Say (Peninsula Daily News, Port Angeles, WA)

Clallam Bay Residents Glad No Prison Employee Was Seriously Injured (Peninsula Daily News, Port Angeles, WA)

Mason County Burn Ban Starts Friday (KMAS Radio, Shelton, WA)

UW Regents Approve 20 Percent Tuition Hike (KOMO-TV, Seattle)

Dozens Of Cities Line Up to Contest 2010 Census (Associated Press)

Oregon Man Stung By Scorpion on Commercial Flight (Associated Press)

DIVERSIONS

10,000 Rainbow Family Followers to Gather in Pinochot [sic] Forest

Russian Scientists Expect to Meet Aliens by 2031

Dead Massachusetts Man Sought for Jury Duty for Five Years

Swiss Police Serve As Impromptu Wedding Witnesses

SONG OF THE DAY

The Byrds- “Mr. Spaceman”

From the ridiculous to the sublime:

The Byrds - Eight Miles High
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WH6UnvSlahc

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Energy News Digest for June 29, 2011

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.

The news digest is also available at the following web site:

HOT SHOTS – TOP FIVE STORIES

Bonneville Power Administration Says Wind Power Cutbacks at Seven Percent (Associated Press)

Nebraska - A Long Road Ahead for a Flooded Reactor (NY Times)

Scientists: Remove Dams - Free-Flowing’ River Crucial to Fish, Society Says (Idaho Mountain Express, Sun Valley, ID)

Washington State Official Says Water a Serious Concern (Associated Press)

Future of Federal Solar Programs in Doubt (USA Today)

  • Bonneville Power Administration Says Wind Power Cutbacks at Seven Percent
  • Most Pacific Northwest Wind Energy Continues Uninterrupted
  • Tillamook PUD Rates to Rise by Five Percent
  • Mason County PUD 3 Personnel Conducting System Survey Through September
  • Montana - Southern Montana Electric Generation & Transmission Approves $300 Million Limit for Power Plant on Split Vote
  • Nebraska - A Long Road Ahead for a Flooded Reactor
  • New York - Cuomo Takes Tough Stance on Nuclear Reactors
  • US Senator Calls for Probe of Nuke Evacuation Plans
  • Lawmakers Seek Inquiry of Natural Gas Industry
  • Xcel Found Not Guilty in Power Plant Deaths
  • Vermont Utility to Discuss Competing Acquisition Offer
  • Feds Running a High-Voltage Gravy Train for Power Transmission
  • Scientists: Remove Dams - Free-Flowing’ River Crucial to Fish, Society Says
  • New Interior Assistant Secretary Nomination Has History of Supporting Dam Removal
  • Lower Columbia Picking Up Steam for Summer Chinook and Sockeye
  • Northern Pikeminnow Reward Catch Levels Improved This Past Week
  • Feds: Fungus May be Threatening Two Bats' Survival
  • Washington State Official Says Water a Serious Concern
  • Oregon - Urine-Tainted Mount Tabor Reservoir Emptied; Cleaning to Follow
  • Talk Focuses on South Sound Septic-To-Sewer Change
  • Georgia: Ruling on Water Favors Atlanta
  • Future of Federal Solar Programs in Doubt
  • Vestas Study: Intel, Whole Foods Among Clean Energy Leaders
  • Texas - Aspen Power Official Says Company Looking to Flip the Biomass Power Plant Switch by Late July
  • Simplot Receives Energy Star Award
  • Global Warming Continues as Greenhouse Gas Grows
  • Court Rules California’s Cap-And-Trade Program Can Advance
  • What Is Carbon Capture?
  • United Nations Names Endangered Sites
  • Olympic Peninsula is a United Nations Heritage Site
  • Phone Book Company Loses Court Fight Against Seattle
  • Greening of the Prairie -- Not Your Father's Kansas Anymore
  • Sabey to Build New Data Center in Virginia
  • Microsoft Office 365 debuts, gets slammed by Google
  • Google Unveils Latest Social Networking Feat
  • FCC Report Dodges Answers on Wireless Industry Competition
  • Satellite Broadband Still Promising to Someday Suck Less –
  • News Corp. to Sell Struggling Social Network Site MySpace
  • Inslee Pulls in $110,000 in First Days of Washington State Gubernatorial Campaign
  • Washington State Governor Gregoire's Chief of Staff Leaving
  • Washington Secretary of State Reed to Retire at the End of ’12, Urges Civility in Politics
  • Mercer Island to Pay $90,000 for Withholding Records
  • Metal thefts back on the rise again in Washington
  • Fed Sits On a Billion Unwanted Dollar Coins
  • Special Report: A Little House of Secrets on the Great Plains

WORD OF THE DAY

Amanuensis • \uh-man-yuh-WENTS-sis\ • Noun - One employed to write from dictation or to copy manuscript

“I’ve been suffering from an irritating amanuensis every day,” moaned the new judge to his grizzled, yet distracted mentor. “Maybe you should put some ointment on it and it will eventually go away.” A week later, the court reporter issued her resignation to HR.

WEATHER

Shelton Forecast and Weather Alerts



Most Pacific Northwest Wind Energy Continues Uninterrupted (Bonneville Power Administration)

Tillamook PUD Rates to Rise by Five Percent (Tillamook Headlight Herald, OR)

Mason County PUD 3 Personnel Conducting System Survey Through September (Mason County PUD No. 3)

Montana - Southern Montana Electric Generation & Transmission Approves $300 Million Limit for Power Plant on Split Vote (Billings Gazette, MT)


New York - Cuomo Takes Tough Stance on Nuclear Reactors (NY Times)

US Senator Calls for Probe of Nuke Evacuation Plans (Associated Press)

Lawmakers Seek Inquiry of Natural Gas Industry (NY Times)

Xcel Found Not Guilty in Power Plant Deaths (Denver Business Journal, CO)

Vermont Utility to Discuss Competing Acquisition Offer (Associated Press)

Feds Running a High-Voltage Gravy Train for Power Transmission (Grist Online)

FISH & WILDLIFE


New Interior Assistant Secretary Nomination Has History of Supporting Dam Removal (KNDU-TV, Tri-Cities, WA)

Lower Columbia Picking Up Steam for Summer Chinook and Sockeye (Seattle Times)

Northern Pikeminnow Reward Catch Levels Improved This Past Week (Seattle Times)

Feds: Fungus May be Threatening Two Bats' Survival (Associated Press)

WATER & THE ENVIRONMENT


Oregon - Urine-Tainted Mount Tabor Reservoir Emptied; Cleaning to Follow (Oregonian, Portland)

Talk Focuses on South Sound Septic-To-Sewer Change (Olympian, WA)

Georgia: Ruling on Water Favors Atlanta (Associated Press)

RENEWABLE/ALTERNATIVE ENERGY


Vestas study: Intel, Whole Foods among clean energy leaders (Sustainable Business Oregon)

Texas - Aspen Power Official Says Company Looking to Flip the Biomass Power Plant Switch by Late July (Lufkin Daily News, TX)

CONSERVATION & EFFICIENCY

Simplot Receives Energy Star Award (Columbia Basin Herald, Moses Lake, WA)

CLIMATE CHANGE SEQUESTRATION VAULT

Global Warming Continues as Greenhouse Gas Grows (Associated Press)

Court Rules California’s Cap-And-Trade Program Can Advance (Grist Online)

What Is Carbon Capture? (Mother Nature Network)

BARREL O’ GREEN POTPOURRI

United Nations Names Endangered Sites (Associated Press)

Olympic Peninsula is a United Nations Heritage Site (UNESCO)

Phone Book Company Loses Court Fight Against Seattle (KOMO-TV, Seattle)

Greening of the Prairie -- Not Your Father's Kansas Anymore (Huffington Post)

TELECOMMUNICATIONS & TECHNOLOGY

Sabey to Build New Data Center in Virginia (Columbia Basin Bulletin, Moses Lake, WA)

Microsoft Office 365 debuts, gets slammed by Google (Washington Post)

Google Unveils Latest Social Networking Feat (Associated Press)

FCC Report Dodges Answers on Wireless Industry Competition (Washington Post)

Satellite Broadband Still Promising to Someday Suck Less - Companies Hope New Satellite Can Let Them Compete with DSL (Broadband Reports)

News Corp. to Sell Struggling Social Network Site MySpace (Associated Press)

POLITICS & GOVERNANCE

Inslee Pulls in $110,000 in First Days of Washington State Gubernatorial Campaign (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)

Washington State Governor Gregoire's Chief of Staff Leaving (Seattle Times)

Washington Secretary of State Reed to Retire at the End of ’12, Urges Civility in Politics (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)

GENERAL NEWS

Mercer Island to Pay $90,000 for Withholding Records (Associated Press)

Metal thefts back on the rise again in Washington (KING-TV, Seattle)

Fed Sits On a Billion Unwanted Dollar Coins (National Public Radio)

Special Report: A Little House of Secrets on the Great Plains (Reuters)

ALLIGATORS IN THE SEWER - DIVERSIONS

Study: Women Dig Dudes Driving Hot Cars

Boeing Rights a Wrong: The Flight Attendant Button

Chef Catches Flak for Treated Tap Water

Iran Plans To Send Monkey Into Space

SONG OF THE DAY

ZZ Top - Sharp Dressed Man