Friday, October 24, 2014

Energy News Digest for October 24, 2014

Programming Note: The Energy News Digest will be communing with communications connoisseurs next week. The Hot Shots mode may be in effect. Be aware!



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HOT SHOTS – TODAY’S TOP FIVE STORIES

Climatologist Says Yakima Basin Needs More Water Storage (Yakima Herald Republic, WA)

British Columbia Energy Minister Says U-S Has a Good Deal in Columbia River Treaty (Northwest Public Radio)

Electricity Restored - Kamilche Area Outage Affects About 600 Customers (Mason PUD 3, Shelton, WA)

REC Silicon Wants Grant County to Rescind Tax Bill (Columbia Basin Herald, Moses Lake, WA)

WA Ranked Eighth for Energy Efficiency (Seattle Post-Intelligencer, WA)

NEWS HIGHLIGHTS (Details Below)
  1. British Columbia Energy Minister Says U-S Has a Good Deal in Columbia River Treaty
  2. Electricity Restored - Kamilche Area Outage Affects About 600 Customers
  3. Businesses Targeted by Scammers Claiming to be Franklin PUD
  4. Montana: Flathead Electric Co-op Hit by Off-Shore Scammers
  5. Fitch Rates Grant PUD’s Electric System Bonds ‘AA’
  6. Editorial: Clean, Compact Energy? We Can Dream, Can’t We?
  7. So You Think We’re Reducing the Use of Coal? -- Think Again
  8. Massachusetts: Electrical Fires Are Common Cause of Deadly Residential Blazes
  9. Online Game Helps Ontario Residents Spot Electrical Hazards Lurking in Their Homes
  10. Final Lower Columbia Commercial Salmon Fishing Periods Set
  11. Grant PUD: Recently Renovated Hatchery Helping Salmon Runs Break Records
  12. Climatologist Says Yakima Basin Needs More Water Storage
  13. REC Silicon Wants Grant County to Rescind Tax Bill
  14. Jonesing for the Sun: Why Do People Put Solar on Their Roofs? Because Other People Put Solar on Their Roofs
  15. Op/Ed: Feds Should Pitch In on PUD Tidal Project
  16. How Sacramento Municipal Utility District Turned a Landfill Site into a $4 Million Solar-Power Plant
  17. Vermont’s Largest Municipal Utility Goes 100 Percent Renewable – With a Little Help from Hydro
  18. How Renewable Energy Could Leave You Mired in Blackouts
  19. WA Ranked Eighth for Energy Efficiency
  20. Detergent Companies Are Unhappy With Our Efficient Washing Machines
  21. Are You Using Your Thermostat Incorrectly? Five Home Heating Errors Pushing Up Energy Bills
  22. Study: Less Than 30% of Energy Consumers Highly Engaged With Smart Grid
  23. European Leaders Agree on Targets to Fight Climate Change
  24. Comcast Shedding Cable Subscribers - Broadband Growth More Than Compensates
  25. More Cities Call for Control of Their Broadband Destiny, as FCC Looks at States’ Power to Overrule Them
  26. Here’s The Latest Bit of Astroturfing from the Cable Industry about Broadband Speeds – Hey Look, Washington State is the 14th Fastest Internet Country!
  27. Netflix to Close Hillsboro Office in June 2015
  28. Cloud Business Lifts Microsoft’s Quarterly Results
  29. Please Do Not Leave a Message: Why Millennials Hate Voice Mail
  30. Six CEOs Who Have More Twitter Followers than Their Companies
  31. The Queen Just Sent Her First Tweet
  32. Consumerist Friday Flickr Finds
  33. Tornado Damages Parts Of Longview, Kelso
  34. Mason Transit Offers First Glimpse of Cutting-Edge Transit Community Center
  35. Feds: Cowlitz Tribe Could Get Casino Land as Soon as January
  36. Legal Pot Store Owner to Defy Goldendale Ban
  37. Will a Big Solar Storm Mess with Our GPS?
WORD OF THE DAY

Pandemonium • \pan-duh-MONE-ee-um\ • noun –1: the capital of Hell in Milton’s Paradise Lost 2: the infernal regions: hell 3: not capitalized: a wild uproar: tumult
(From the Greek: pan + the Latin: daemonium or demon)

Early release from school resulted in a joyous pandemonium on the front lawn of the local high school. Streamers of two-ply toilet paper soared through the air. The only thought going through the mind of the school’s budget analyst was that two rolls of one-ply would be more cost-effective.

ENERGY & UTILITY ISSUES

British Columbia Energy Minister Says U-S Has a Good Deal in Columbia River Treaty (Northwest Public Radio)

Electricity Restored - Kamilche Area Outage Affects About 600 Customers (Mason PUD 3, Shelton, WA)

Businesses Targeted by Scammers Claiming to be Franklin PUD (KNDO/KNDU-TV, Tri Cities, WA)

Montana: Flathead Electric Co-op Hit by Off-Shore Scammers (Electric Co-op Today)

Fitch Rates Grant PUD’s Electric System Bonds ‘AA’ (BusinessWire)

Editorial: Clean, Compact Energy? We Can Dream, Can’t We? (News Tribune, Tacoma, WA - Paywall Advisory)

So You Think We’re Reducing the Use of Coal? -- Think Again (Forbes)

Massachusetts: Electrical Fires Are Common Cause of Deadly Residential Blazes (Boston Globe, MA)

Online Game Helps Ontario Residents Spot Electrical Hazards Lurking in Their Homes (Electric Energy Online)

FISH & WILDLIFE

Final Lower Columbia Commercial Salmon Fishing Periods Set (Vancouver Columbian, WA)

Grant PUD: Recently Renovated Hatchery Helping Salmon Runs Break Records (KULR TV, Billings, MT)

WATER & THE ENVIRONMENT

Climatologist Says Yakima Basin Needs More Water Storage (Yakima Herald Republic, WA)

RENEWABLE/ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

REC Silicon Wants Grant County to Rescind Tax Bill (Columbia Basin Herald, Moses Lake, WA)

Jonesing for the Sun: Why Do People Put Solar on Their Roofs? Because Other People Put Solar on Their Roofs (Washington Post)

Op/Ed: Feds Should Pitch In on PUD Tidal Project (Everett Herald, WA)

How Sacramento Municipal Utility District Turned a Landfill Site into a $4 Million Solar-Power Plant (Sacramento Business Journal)

Vermont’s Largest Municipal Utility Goes 100 Percent Renewable – With a Little Help from Hydro (GreenBiz)

How Renewable Energy Could Leave You Mired in Blackouts (Motley Fool)

CONSERVATION & EFFICIENCY

WA Ranked Eighth for Energy Efficiency (Seattle Post-Intelligencer, WA)

Detergent Companies Are Unhappy With Our Efficient Washing Machines (Consumerist)

Are You Using Your Thermostat Incorrectly? Five Home Heating Errors Pushing Up Energy Bills (The Telegraph, UK)

Study: Less Than 30% of Energy Consumers Highly Engaged With Smart Grid (Utility Dive)

CLIMATE CHANGE SEQUESTRATION VAULT

European Leaders Agree on Targets to Fight Climate Change (NY Times)

TECHNOLOGY & TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Comcast Shedding Cable Subscribers - Broadband Growth More Than Compensates (Oregonian, Portland)

More Cities Call for Control of Their Broadband Destiny, as FCC Looks at States’ Power to Overrule Them (GigaOM)

Here’s The Latest Bit of Astroturfing from the Cable Industry about Broadband Speeds – Hey Look, Washington State is the 14th Fastest Internet Country! (Consumerist)

Netflix to Close Hillsboro Office in June 2015 (Oregon Public Broadcasting)

Cloud Business Lifts Microsoft’s Quarterly Results (Associated Press)

MARKETING & SOCIAL MEDIA

Please Do Not Leave a Message: Why Millennials Hate Voice Mail (National Public Radio)

Six CEOs Who Have More Twitter Followers than Their Companies (AdWeek)

The Queen Just Sent Her First Tweet (Gizmodo)

Consumerist Friday Flickr Finds (Consumerist)

GENERAL NEWS

Tornado Damages Parts Of Longview, Kelso (Longview Daily News, WA)

Mason Transit Offers First Glimpse of Cutting-Edge Transit Community Center (Thurston Talks, Olympia, WA)

Feds: Cowlitz Tribe Could Get Casino Land as Soon as January (Vancouver Columbian, WA)

Legal Pot Store Owner to Defy Goldendale Ban (KOIN-TV, Portland, OR)

Will a Big Solar Storm Mess with Our GPS? (Christian Science Monitor)

DIVERSIONS

Do You Have The Guts To Celebrate World Tripe Day? (Ha Ha Ha Ha!)

Top 10 Most Ridiculous Excuses for Skipping Work

Seahawks Uniforms Ranked among National Football League’s Ugliest

Man’s Ashes to be Scattered in Fireworks Display

SONG OF THE DAY

ZZ Top - Sharp Dressed Man

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.