Thursday, February 13, 2014

Energy News Digest for February 13, 2014

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THE NEWS DIGEST WORD CLOUD

Energy News Digest Word Cloud for February 13, 2014

HOT SHOTS – TODAY’S TOP FIVE STORIES

U-S Representative Doc Hastings to Retire from Congress at the End of the Year (KNDO/KNDU-TV, Tri Cities, WA)

Memorial Services for Former BPA Administrator Johnson Set Tuesday at Boise State University (Idaho Statesman, Boise)

Spotted Owl Could Leave Endangered Species List (KXRO Radio, Aberdeen, WA)

Comcast to buy Time Warner Cable for $45 billion (Associated Press)

(Recorded Video) Washington State House Local Government Committee - Work Session: NoaNet - Federally-Financed Broadband Expansions & Impacts to Local Governments (Washington State Legislature)

NEWS HIGHLIGHTS (Details Below)
  • Memorial Services for Former BPA Administrator Johnson Set Tuesday at Boise State University
  • Troutdale Power Plant Developers Refute Claims of Environmental Harm
  • Obama Energy Official: Nuclear Plants Essential to Our Carbon Reduction Goals
  • Lewis County PUD Rate Increase
  • Benton County Firefighter Shocked by Power Line, Taken to Hospital
  • Mason PUD 3 Commission Report for the February 11, 2014 Business Meeting
  • California Utility Plans to Beef Up Security after Attack
  • Oops: Natural Gas, Not Renewables, Caused California Grid Alert
  • U-S Senator Murkowski Calls for Greater Attention to Reliability Challenges
  • Spotted Owl Could Leave Endangered Species List
  • Moses Lake: Fish Eating Birds to Be Evicted from Potholes Island
  • Modoc Sucker of Southern Oregon Proposed by Feds to be Taken Off Endangered List
  • Scientists Count Whales from Space
  • Measures Would Limit Ecology’s Authority in Ag Water Quality
  • Clallam County Commissioners to Send Letter to State on Dungeness Water Rule
  • Report: California Solar Industry Jobs a Third of Nation’s Total
  • State Solar Jobs 2013
  • Washington State - 2,000 Solar Jobs
  • California’s Green Energy Drought - The water shortage hammering California is bad news for power prices
  • The World’s Largest Solar Plant Started Creating Electricity Today
  • Monster Wind Farm Planned in South Dakota
  • Mapping the Nation’s Wind Turbines
  • Five Years Later, Missouri Still Grappling with Renewable Law
  • Report: Opower Has Quietly Filed for Its Long-Awaited IPO
  • Liquid-Cooled Supercomputers, to Trim the Power Bill
  • Con Edison to Calculate Benefits of Preparing Utility for Climate Change
  • Comcast to Buy Time Warner Cable for $45 Billion
  • Time Warner Cable Still Insists Users Don’t Want Faster Speeds
  • (Recorded Video) Washington State House Local Government Committee - Work Session: NoaNet
  • Obama’s Farm Bill Provides $50 Million for Rural Gbps Broadband
  • Google Working on 10 Gigabit Internet Speeds
  • PayPal President’s Credit Card Info Swiped by Hackers
  • Washington State Senate Eyes Data Bill Tax Exemptions
  • Is the Facebook Like Dead for Marketers?
  • U-S Representative Doc Hastings to Retire from Congress at the End of the Year
  • After GOP Leaders Step In, Senate Votes to Raise Debt Ceiling
  • Washington State Senate Approves Sheldon Bill to Add Third Mason County Judge
  • Up to 2,000 Gallons of Oil Spilled in Hood Canal
  • Washington Coal Terminal to Get Extensive Review
  • No Changes in Mason County School Levy Election Results
  • Failure to Prepare for Extreme Weather Costs Billions
  • Three Washington State Schools Best Source of Peace Corps Volunteers
  • Washington State Waterfall Designated in House Bill
  • New NBA Commissioner Douses Hopes of Seattle Expansion

WORD OF THE DAY

Serendipity • \sair-un-DIP-uh-tee\ • noun - The faculty or phenomenon of finding valuable or agreeable things not sought for; also: an instance of this.

Serendipity
Dorito with extra “cheese”
A tasty tidbit

SHELTON FORECAST & WEATHER ALERTS


ENERGY & UTILITY ISSUES

Memorial Services for Former BPA Administrator Johnson Set Tuesday at Boise State University (Idaho Statesman, Boise)

Troutdale Power Plant Developers Refute Claims of Environmental Harm (Portland Tribune, OR)

Obama Energy Official: Nuclear Plants Essential to Our Carbon Reduction Goals (Forbes Magazine)

Lewis County PUD Rate Increase (KELA Radio, Centralia, WA)

Benton County Firefighter Shocked by Power Line, Taken to Hospital (Yakima Herald-Republic, WA)

Mason PUD 3 Commission Report for the February 11, 2014 Business Meeting (Mason County PUD 3, Shelton, WA)

California Utility Plans to Beef Up Security after Attack (Associated Press)

Oops: Natural Gas, Not Renewables, Caused California Grid Alert (Earth Techling)

U-S Senator Murkowski Calls for Greater Attention to Reliability Challenges (American Public Power Association)

FISH & WILDLIFE

Spotted Owl Could Leave Endangered Species List (KXRO Radio, Aberdeen, WA)

Moses Lake: Fish Eating Birds to Be Evicted from Potholes Island (Columbia Basin Herald, Moses Lake, WA)

Modoc Sucker of Southern Oregon Proposed by Feds to be Taken Off Endangered List (Oregonian, Portland)

Scientists Count Whales from Space (British Broadcasting Corporation)

WATER & THE ENVIRONMENT

Measures Would Limit Ecology’s Authority in Ag Water Quality (Yakima Herald-Republic, WA)

Clallam County Commissioners to Send Letter to State on Dungeness Water Rule (KONP Radio, Port Angeles, WA)

RENEWABLE/ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

Report: California Solar Industry Jobs a Third of Nation’s Total (San Jose Mercury News, CA)

State Solar Jobs 2013 (Links to report above – Click on your state & see how it ranks…it’s fun, & quite possibly depressing)

Washington State - 2,000 Solar Jobs (The Solar Foundation)

California’s Green Energy Drought - The water shortage hammering California is bad news for power prices - and for the state’s emissions goals (Foreign Policy)

The World’s Largest Solar Plant Started Creating Electricity Today (Gizmodo)

Monster Wind Farm Planned in South Dakota (Grist Online)

Mapping the Nation’s Wind Turbines (U-S Geological Survey)

Five Years Later, Missouri Still Grappling with Renewable Law (Midwest Energy News)

CONSERVATION & EFFICIENCY

Report: Opower Has Quietly Filed for Its Long-Awaited IPO (GigaOM)

Liquid-Cooled Supercomputers, to Trim the Power Bill (NY Times)

CLIMATE CHANGE SEQUESTRATION VAULT

Con Edison to Calculate Benefits of Preparing Utility for Climate Change (Bloomberg News)

TECHNOLOGY & TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Comcast to Buy Time Warner Cable for $45 Billion (Associated Press)

Time Warner Cable Still Insists Users Don’t Want Faster Speeds (Broadband Reports)

(Recorded Video) Washington State House Local Government Committee - Work Session: NoaNet - Federally-Financed Broadband Expansions & Impacts to Local Governments (Washington State Legislature)

Obama’s Farm Bill Provides $50 Million for Rural Gbps Broadband (Fierce Telecom)

Google Working on 10 Gigabit Internet Speeds (USA Today)

PayPal President’s Credit Card Info Swiped by Hackers (Silicon Valley Business Journal, CA)

Washington State Senate Eyes Data Bill Tax Exemptions (Columbia Basin Herald, Moses Lake, WA)

MARKETING & SOCIAL MEDIA

Is the Facebook Like Dead for Marketers? “…Marketing on Facebook is now about curating a following as opposed to just building numbers…” (Mashable)

POLITICS & GOVERNANCE

U-S Representative Doc Hastings to Retire from Congress at the End of the Year (KNDO/KNDU-TV, Tri Cities, WA)

After GOP Leaders Step In, Senate Votes to Raise Debt Ceiling (NY Times)

Washington State Senate Approves Sheldon Bill to Add Third Mason County Judge (Mason Web TV, Shelton, WA)

GENERAL NEWS

Up To 2,000 Gallons of Oil Spilled in Hood Canal (Northwest Public Radio)

Washington Coal Terminal to Get Extensive Review (Associated Press)

No Changes in Mason County School Levy Election Results (Mason Web TV, Shelton, WA)

Failure to Prepare for Extreme Weather Costs Billions (USA Today)

Three Washington State Schools Best Source of Peace Corps Volunteers (Spokesman Review, Spokane, WA)

Washington State Waterfall Designated in House Bill (Associated Press)

New NBA Commissioner Douses Hopes of Seattle Expansion (KIRO Broadcasting, Seattle, WA)

DIVERSIONS

Don’t Order Last-Minute Flowers: Make Chocolate-Dipped Bacon Roses

Humongous Sinkhole Opens beneath Kentucky’s National Corvette Museum – Swallows Eight Corvettes

The Girl from the 1981 Lego Ad is Now a Doctor & Still Loves It

Seventeen Historic Patents That Made Winter Olympic Sports Possible

SONG OF THE DAY

Linda Ronstadt - You Can Close Your Eyes

LINKS & PAYWALL ADVISORY

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.


Note that as some newspapers migrate to a “paywall” system of access, some articles may not be available without forking over some cold hard credit card cash. However, some sites will allow a certain number of story accesses per month before holding out their hand. Sorry if this is an inconvenience.