Monday, April 14, 2014

Energy News Digest for April 14, 2014

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THE NEWS DIGEST WORD CLOUD

Energy News Digest Word Cloud for April 14, 2014

HOT SHOTS – TODAY’S TOP FIVE STORIES

Oregon: Apple Acquires Hydroelectric Project near Its Prineville Data Center (Oregonian, Portland)

Shooting May Be Cause of Mason PUD 3’s March 28th Outage (Mason Web-TV, Shelton, WA)

High River Flows Pose Challenges to Western Montana Dams, Bonneville Power Administration Says (Montana Standard, Butte)

Moving Spring Chinook past Columbia River Dam Drawdowns to Cost $7 Million (Seattle Times, WA - Paywall Advisory)

Battle On to Bring Broadband Internet to Seattle’s Beacon Hill (KING-TV, Seattle, WA)

NEWS HIGHLIGHTS (Details Below)
  • Shooting May Be Cause of Mason PUD 3’s March 28th Outage (Mason Web-TV, Shelton, WA)
  • High River Flows Pose Challenges to Western Montana Dams, Bonneville Power Administration Says (Montana Standard, Butte)
  • Construction of Central Ferry-Lower Monumental Transmission Line begins in May - New line will bring more renewable wind energy west (Bonneville Power Administration)
  • Oregon: Millersburg Council Reviews Electric-System Study (Albany De,mocrat-Herald, OR)
  • Credit Rating Agencies Affirm Bonneville Power Administration is Stable (Bonneville Power Administration)
  • American Public Power Association Mourns Passing of Former CEO Alex Radin (American Public Power Association)
  • Arkansas Co-Op CEO: Grid More Than Ready to Handle 21st Century Energy Challenges of a 21st Century Energy Challenges (Insurance News Net)
  • Court Says Massachusetts Utilities Can Be Charged for Storm Fund (Associated Press)
  • Babcock & Wilcox Slashing Investment in Small Reactor Venture (Charlotte Business Journal, NC)
  • Moving Spring Chinook past Columbia River Dam Drawdowns to Cost $7 Million (Seattle Times, WA - Paywall Advisory)
  • Northwest Power & Conservation Council’s Economic Advisers Urge ‘Economic Considerations’ in Making Fish Programs More Cost Effective (Columbia Basin Bulletin)
  • Scientists Tell Northwest Power & Conservation Council Proposed Spring Spill Experiment Not Complete Enough for Implementation (Columbia Basin Bulletin)
  • Southeast Alaska Guides Prep for Strong King Salmon Season (Alaska Journal of Commerce)
  • Fish Biologists to Reassess Proposed Timberline Mountain Biking (Northwest Public Radio)
  • Soundings: Capital Grad Finds Passion in Speaking for Steelhead (Olympian - Paywall Advisory)
  • New Beaches Forming at Elwha River Mouth (KONP Radio, Port Angeles, WA)
  • Yakima Wants to Bank Naches River Water in Aquifer (Yakima Herald-Republic, WA)
  • California Looking at Recycled Water to Ease Drought Concerns (Sacramento Bee,
  • Oregon: Apple Acquires Hydroelectric Project near Its Prineville Data Center (Oregonian, Portland)
  • North Dakota: When Wind Turbines Stop Turning - Regulators Mull ‘Financial Assurance’ to Cover Costs of Decommissioning (Jamestown Sun, ND)
  • Ikea Just Bought a Wind Farm Big Enough to Power All Its U-S Stores (Gizmodo)
  • United Kingdom: Tidal Array to be Built Off Alderney ‘By 2020’ (British Broadcasting Corporation)
  • Los Angeles Ranks Number One in Total Installed Solar, Report Says (Los Angeles Times, CA)
  • Virginia: New Street Lights for Historic Downtown (Culpeper Star-Exponent, VA)
  • Notice of Proposed Rulemaking: Energy Conservation Standards for General Service Fluorescent Lamps & Incandescent Reflector Lamps (U-S Department of Energy)
  • Cost of Fighting Warming ‘Modest,’ Says United Nations Panel (Associated Press)
  • Solar-Powered Plane Aims for Round-the-World Flight (Discover)
  • Southern California Municipal Utilities Innovate with Decoupling (Switchboard, Natural Resources Defense Council)
  • Battle On to Bring Broadband Internet to Seattle’s Beacon Hill (KING-TV, Seattle, WA)
  • Seattle’s Shiny Economic Future Depends on City-Owned Broadband (Crosscut Seattle)
  • Can’t Ask That? Some Job Interviewers Go to Social Media Instead (National Public Radio)
  • Facebook Cracks Down on ‘Link-Baiting’ (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
  • Facing Electoral Challenge, Washington State Senator Chase Touts Sponsorship of Utility Bill (Everett Herald, WA)
  • Editorial: Six Californias Measure Would Create the Nation’s Richest & Poorest States (Sacramento Bee, CA)
  • Blood Moon Eclipse on Monday Is a Special Event (Northwest Cable News Network)
  • El Niño Could Raise Meteorological Hell This Year (Grist Online)
  • Oregon Weather Watch: Climate is What You Expect, Weather is What You Get (Oregonian, Portland)
  • Deadline to File Tax Returns Has Many Scrambling (KIRO Broadcasting, Seattle, WA)
  • Eastern Washington Business Gives Tour of First Farm Licensed for Marijuana Production (KEPR-TV, Tri-Cities, WA)
  • Top 14 Small Cities in Washington State (Cities Journal)

WORD OF THE DAY

Tabula rasa • \TAB-yuh-luh RAW-zuh\ • Noun - 1: the mind in its hypothetical primary blank or empty state before receiving outside impressions 2: something existing in its original pristine state.

Remember girlfriends, spouses, significant others: tabula rasa is the default state for us men who are watching TV. Sports, movies, etc. When you ask us, out of the blue, “What are you thinking?” We’ll normally kick into a stimulus response reaction and automatically say something like “nothing.” The funny thing, as comedian Larry Miller notes, is that we’re not kidding!

From Merriam- Webster - Did you know?
Philosophers have been arguing that babies are born with minds that are essentially blank slates since the days of Aristotle. (Later, some psychologists took up the case as well.) English speakers have called that initial state of mental blankness “tabula rasa” (a term taken from a Latin phrase that translates as “smooth or erased tablet”) since the 16th century, but it wasn’t until British philosopher John Locke championed the concept in his Essay Concerning Human Understanding in 1690 that the term gained widespread popularity in our language. In later years, a figurative sense of the term emerged, referring to something that exists in its original state and that has yet to be altered by outside forces.

SHELTON FORECAST & WEATHER ALERTS


ENERGY & UTILITY ISSUES

Shooting May Be Cause of Mason PUD 3’s March 28th Outage (Mason Web-TV, Shelton, WA)

High River Flows Pose Challenges to Western Montana Dams, Bonneville Power Administration Says (Montana Standard, Butte)

Construction of Central Ferry-Lower Monumental Transmission Line begins in May - New line will bring more renewable wind energy west (Bonneville Power Administration)

Oregon: Millersburg Council Reviews Electric-System Study (Albany De,mocrat-Herald, OR)

Credit Rating Agencies Affirm Bonneville Power Administration is Stable (Bonneville Power Administration)

American Public Power Association Mourns Passing of Former CEO Alex Radin (American Public Power Association)

Arkansas Co-Op CEO: Grid More Than Ready to Handle 21st Century Energy Challenges of a 21st Century Energy Challenges (Insurance News Net)

Court Says Massachusetts Utilities Can Be Charged for Storm Fund (Associated Press)

Babcock & Wilcox Slashing Investment in Small Reactor Venture (Charlotte Business Journal, NC)

FISH & WILDLIFE

Moving Spring Chinook past Columbia River Dam Drawdowns to Cost $7 Million (Seattle Times, WA - Paywall Advisory)

Northwest Power & Conservation Council’s Economic Advisers Urge ‘Economic Considerations’ in Making Fish Programs More Cost Effective (Columbia Basin Bulletin)

Scientists Tell Northwest Power & Conservation Council Proposed Spring Spill Experiment Not Complete Enough for Implementation (Columbia Basin Bulletin)

Southeast Alaska Guides Prep for Strong King Salmon Season (Alaska Journal of Commerce)

Fish Biologists to Reassess Proposed Timberline Mountain Biking (Northwest Public Radio)

Soundings: Capital Grad Finds Passion in Speaking for Steelhead (Olympian - Paywall Advisory)

WATER & THE ENVIRONMENT

New Beaches Forming at Elwha River Mouth (KONP Radio, Port Angeles, WA)

Yakima Wants to Bank Naches River Water in Aquifer (Yakima Herald-Republic, WA)

California Looking at Recycled Water to Ease Drought Concerns (Sacramento Bee,

RENEWABLE/ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

Oregon: Apple Acquires Hydroelectric Project near Its Prineville Data Center (Oregonian, Portland)

North Dakota: When Wind Turbines Stop Turning - Regulators Mull ‘Financial Assurance’ to Cover Costs of Decommissioning (Jamestown Sun, ND)

Ikea Just Bought a Wind Farm Big Enough to Power All Its U-S Stores (Gizmodo)

United Kingdom: Tidal Array to be Built Off Alderney ‘By 2020’ (British Broadcasting Corporation)

Los Angeles Ranks Number One in Total Installed Solar, Report Says (Los Angeles Times, CA)

CONSERVATION & EFFICIENCY

Virginia: New Street Lights for Historic Downtown (Culpeper Star-Exponent, VA)

Notice of Proposed Rulemaking: Energy Conservation Standards for General Service Fluorescent Lamps & Incandescent Reflector Lamps (U-S Department of Energy)

CLIMATE CHANGE SEQUESTRATION VAULT

Cost of Fighting Warming ‘Modest,’ Says United Nations Panel (Associated Press)

BARREL O’ GREEN POTPOURRI

Solar-Powered Plane Aims for Round-the-World Flight (Discover)

Southern California Municipal Utilities Innovate with Decoupling (Switchboard, Natural Resources Defense Council)

TECHNOLOGY & TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Battle On to Bring Broadband Internet to Seattle’s Beacon Hill (KING-TV, Seattle, WA)

Seattle’s Shiny Economic Future Depends on City-Owned Broadband (Crosscut Seattle)

MARKETING & SOCIAL MEDIA

Can’t Ask That? Some Job Interviewers Go to Social Media Instead (National Public Radio)

Facebook Cracks Down on ‘Link-Baiting’ (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)

POLITICS & GOVERNANCE

Facing Electoral Challenge, Washington State Senator Chase Touts Sponsorship of Utility Bill (Everett Herald, WA)

Editorial: Six Californias Measure Would Create the Nation’s Richest & Poorest States (Sacramento Bee, CA)

GENERAL NEWS

Blood Moon Eclipse on Monday Is a Special Event (Northwest Cable News Network)

El Niño Could Raise Meteorological Hell This Year (Grist Online)

Oregon Weather Watch: Climate is What You Expect, Weather is What You Get (Oregonian, Portland)

Deadline to File Tax Returns Has Many Scrambling (KIRO Broadcasting, Seattle, WA)

Eastern Washington Business Gives Tour of First Farm Licensed for Marijuana Production (KEPR-TV, Tri-Cities, WA)

Top 14 Small Cities in Washington State (Cities Journal)

DIVERSIONS

KFC’s Drumstick Corsage a Chicken Chic Prom Fashion Accessory

Confirmed: Tweeting Al Qaeda Jokes at Airlines Will Get You Arrested

The Forgotten Man Who Almost Became President after Lincoln

Electrical Squirrel Suicide Causes $300,000 worth of Building Damage

SONG OF THE DAY

Green Day - Boulevard of Broken Dreams

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.