Friday, April 15, 2011

Energy News Digest for April 15, 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.

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HOT SHOTS – TODAY’S TOP FIVE STORIES

Lewis County PUD Turns Down Bonneville Power Administration Settlement (KELA Radio, Centralia, WA)

Bonneville Power Administration, Wind Developers Argue Over Looming Problem of Too Much Power from Renewables - BPA this week backed away from a plan to start pulling the plug on wind turbines (Oregonian, Portland)

Seattle Public Utilities Employees Fired After Lowering Their Own Bills (Seattle Times)

Strong Sacramento River Fall Chinook Run Will Boost Fisheries Off Northern California & Oregon (Seattle Times)

Port Townsend City Wireless Network Could Create Public Hot Spots (Peninsula Daily News, Port Angeles, WA)

NEWS HIGHLIGHTS (Details Below)

·         Lewis County PUD Turns Down Bonneville Power Administration Settlement
·         Seattle Public Utilities Employees Fired After Lowering Their Own Bills
·         Montana High Court Hears Eminent Domain Fight over Energy Transmission
·         Population Soars near Nuclear Reactors
·         California - Pacific Gas & Electric Granted Rate Hike to Pay for Gas Pipeline Repairs & Maintenance
·         TransAlta's Operations Director Edmonton-Bound
·         TVA Agrees to Phase Out 18 Coal Powered Units, Shift to Cleaner Fuels: Natural Gas & Biomass
·         Winter's Outages In Texas Show Electric Grid System Worked, NRG Chief Says
·         Pennsylvania Power Plant Pollutes in Jersey
·         Oil Settles Above $108, Natural Gas Up 2 Percent
·         Strong Sacramento River Fall Chinook Run Will Boost Fisheries Off Northern California & Oregon
·         Snake River Steelhead Pass Dams at 2nd-Highest Rate
·         Portions of the Snake River Opening Soon for Spring Chinook
·         Dam Passage & Spill Boost Salmon Survival
·         Lake Cle Elum Fish-Passage Proposal Called Major Milestone
·         Salmon Reclaim Nisqually Delta
·         Pacific Salmon May be Dying from Leukemia-Type Virus
·         Bonneville Power Administration, Wind Developers Argue Over Looming Problem of Too Much Power from Renewables
·         Grid Problems Trigger Rolling Wind-Farm Outages in Pacific Northwest
·         US Geothermal Receives Key Reservoir Certificate for Neal Hot Springs Oregon Project
·         California Supreme Court Tosses Solar Project Lawsuits
·         Duke Energy Plans $44 Million Battery at Texas Wind Farm
·         American Forests Can Store More Carbon Emissions than Previously Thought
·         Portland's Northwest Shingle Recyclers Grind Oil from Shingles for Reuse as Asphalt for Roads
·         Indoor Pollution Is Nothing to Sneeze At
·         Algae Could Replace 17 Percent of US Oil Imports: Study
·         Port Townsend City Wireless Network Could Create Public Hot Spots
·         Microsoft Data Center GM Timmons Heads to Apple
·         Google Hits Snags On Government Email Contracts
·         Washington State Worries about What It Will Lose in Federal Budget Deal
·         Series of Big Quakes Mean More on the Way?
·         Despite Rain, Washington's Wildfire Season Begins
·         Controllers Need To Nap on the Job, Say Scientists
·         Seattle & Denver Lead For Small Businesses in the West

WORD OF THE DAY

Terpsichorean • \ \ • Adjective - Of or relating to dancing

“Terpsichorean Terrapins Travel to University of Maryland for Cheer Team Tryouts”

SHELTON FORECAST & WEATHER ALERTS


ENERGY & UTILITY ISSUES

Lewis County PUD Turns Down Bonneville Power Administration Settlement (KELA Radio, Centralia, WA)

Seattle Public Utilities Employees Fired After Lowering Their Own Bills (Seattle Times)

Montana High Court Hears Eminent Domain Fight over Energy Transmission (Helena Independent Record, MT)

Population Soars near Nuclear Reactors (KNDU-TV, Tri-Cities, WA)

California - Pacific Gas & Electric Granted Rate Hike to Pay for Gas Pipeline Repairs & Maintenance, But Must Report What It Does With the Money (San Jose Mercury News, CA)

TransAlta's Operations Director Edmonton-Bound (Olympian, WA)

TVA Agrees to Phase Out 18 Coal Powered Units, Shift to Cleaner Fuels: Natural Gas & Biomass (Christian Science Monitor)

Winter's Outages In Texas Show Electric Grid System Worked, NRG Chief Says (Poten & Partners – Time to get a little “FecalShine-TM” and go to work…)

Pennsylvania Power Plant Pollutes in Jersey (Courthouse News Service)

Oil Settles Above $108, Natural Gas Up 2 Percent (Associated Press)

FISH & WILDLIFE

Strong Sacramento River Fall Chinook Run Will Boost Fisheries Off Northern California & Oregon (Seattle Times)

Snake River Steelhead Pass Dams at 2nd-Highest Rate (Bellingham Herald, WA)

Portions of the Snake River Opening Soon for Spring Chinook (Seattle Times)

Dam Passage & Spill Boost Salmon Survival (Bonneville Power Administration)

Lake Cle Elum Fish-Passage Proposal Called Major Milestone (Yakima Herald-Republic, WA)

Salmon Reclaim Nisqually Delta (KING-TV, Seattle)

Pacific Salmon May be Dying from Leukemia-Type Virus (Mcclatchy Newspapers)

RENEWABLE/ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

Bonneville Power Administration, Wind Developers Argue Over Looming Problem of Too Much Power from Renewables - BPA this week backed away from a plan to start pulling the plug on wind turbines (Oregonian, Portland)

Grid Problems Trigger Rolling Wind-Farm Outages in Pacific Northwest (Forbes Magazine)

US Geothermal Receives Key Reservoir Certificate for Neal Hot Springs Oregon Project (PR-USA Net)

California Supreme Court Tosses Solar Project Lawsuits (Renewable Energy World)

Duke Energy Plans $44 Million Battery at Texas Wind Farm (Charlotte Business Journal, NC)

CONSERVATION & EFFICIENCY

American Forests Can Store More Carbon Emissions than Previously Thought (Oregonian, Portland)

BARREL O’ GREEN POTPOURRI

Portland's Northwest Shingle Recyclers Grind Oil from Shingles for Reuse as Asphalt for Roads (Oregonian, Portland)

Indoor Pollution Is Nothing to Sneeze At (Chicago Tribune, IL)

Algae Could Replace 17 Percent of US Oil Imports: Study (NASDAQ)

TECHNOLOGY & TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Port Townsend City Wireless Network Could Create Public Hot Spots (Peninsula Daily News, Port Angeles, WA)

Microsoft Data Center GM Timmons Heads to Apple - Some of Microsoft’s innovations during Timmons’ tenure are on display in its latest data center in Quincy, Washington, (Data Center Knowledge)

Google Hits Snags On Government Email Contracts (Seattle Times)

POLITICS & GOVERNANCE

Washington State Worries about What It Will Lose in Federal Budget Deal (Seattle Times)

GENERAL NEWS

Series of Big Quakes Mean More on the Way? (Seattle Times)

Despite Rain, Washington's Wildfire Season Begins (Associated Press)

Controllers Need To Nap on the Job, Say Scientists (Associated Press)

Seattle & Denver Lead For Small Businesses in the West (Puget Sound Business Journal, WA)

DIVERSIONS

On This Day: “Unsinkable” Titanic Lost After Hitting Iceberg

World's Oldest Man Dies in Montana at 114

Verizon Phases Out 'Can You Hear Me Now?' Guy

Sacramento Judge to Decide Custody of Fluffy Dog (Ed. Note: Beware…VERY cute picture)

SONG OF THE DAY

Neil Young – Old Man