Tuesday, April 7, 2015

Energy News Digest for April 7, 2015

SHELTON FORECAST & WEATHER ALERTS

Weather Forecast for April 7, 2015

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HOT SHOTS – TODAY’S TOP FIVE STORIES

Yakima Valley Water Supply Outlook Takes Big Drop in Latest Estimate (Yakima Herald-Republic, WA)

Advocacy Group Names Columbia River Nation’s Second Most Endangered (Oregonian, Portland)

Video: Seattle City Light’s ‘Self-Healing’ Power Lines Could Shorten Outages (KING-TV, Seattle, WA)

How Western Canada Glaciers Will Melt Away (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation)

Stand-Off in Olympia before Washington State Budget Negotiations Even Begin (Northwest Public Radio)

NEWS HIGHLIGHTS (Details Below)
  1. Video: Seattle City Light’s ‘Self-Healing’ Power Lines Could Shorten Outages
  2. Oregon: Springfield Utility Board Eyes Electricity Rate Increase
  3. Bonneville Power Administration Reaches Settlements with Four Whistleblowers in Hiring Scandal
  4. Bonneville Power Administration Offering Grants in Science & Energy Education
  5. Senate Bill in the Works to Expand FERC’s Authority to Site Power Lines
  6. Eight Family Members Die in Maryland Generator Tragedy
  7. Inside the Utility Industry’s 2015 Playbook
  8. Survey: Customers Want Prepaid Utility Options
  9. April is National Safe-Digging Month – Pacific Gas & Electric Reminds Customers to Call 811 before Digging
  10. Managers Likely to Cancel West Coast Sardine Fishery
  11. Advocacy Group Names Columbia River Nation’s Second Most Endangered
  12. Yakima Valley Water Supply Outlook Takes Big Drop in Latest Estimate
  13. Editorial: Evergreen, Ever Vigilant – Amid western drought, state must plan for how our future might look
  14. Radiation from 2011 Fukushima Nuclear Meltdown in Japan Detected on British Columbia Coast
  15. IRS Paves the Road for a Windy 2016
  16. Net Metering Versus Self-Generation for Solar Energy
  17. Utilities May Lose More Grid-Connected Customers, & Billions of Dollars
  18. Washington State Senate Votes to Eliminate Marijuana Excise Taxes
  19. Chart of the Week: Much of Oregon Set for Messy Grand Re-Opening
  20. Hemp Advocate Rand Paul Announces Candidacy for President
  21. How Western Canada Glaciers Will Melt Away
  22. Here’s How Tom Steyer Will Attack GOP 2016 Hopefuls on ‘Climate Denial’ & Koch Ties
  23. What Americans Think about Climate Change in Seven Maps
  24. Sea-Tac One of Top Ten Techie Airports, Plans to Spend $10 Million to Boost Wi-Fi
  25. Nine Ways to Humanize Your Brand with Social Media
  26. Pinterest Marketing: Your Complete Guide to Pinterest Success
  27. FTC Asked to Investigate “YouTube Kids” for Deceptively using ads Targeted at Toddlers
  28. Crowdsourcing Cows: Tillamook Invites Fans to Guide the Company through a New Online Community
  29. Stand-Off in Olympia before Washington State Budget Negotiations Even Begin
  30. Poll Says Washington State Divided on Olympia Budget Brawl
  31. Oregon’s Former First Lady: Hayes Emails Show She Wanted Policy Agenda Kept Secret
  32. Lightning Hits Vancouver Redwood, Debris Flies for Blocks
  33. Seattle Brewery Forced to Change Beer Name after ‘Cease-&-Desist’
WORD OF THE DAY

Anfractuous • \an-FRACK-chuh-wuss\ • Adjective - Full of windings & intricate turnings: tortuous.

Benny’s head was swimming. The HR staffer was guiding him to his desk in the cubicle farm using a GPS unit. Walking past the same water cooler for the third time convinced the new hire that regardless of the technological assistance, they were both lost in the anfractuous pathways that led to the small hutch that would be his home away from home for the next 30 years. “All I can say,” muttered Ben, is that there had darned well be some cheese at the end of this maze.

ENERGY & UTILITY ISSUES

Video: Seattle City Light’s ‘Self-Healing’ Power Lines Could Shorten Outages (KING-TV, Seattle, WA)

Oregon: Springfield Utility Board Eyes Electricity Rate Increase (Eugene Register-Guard, OR)

Bonneville Power Administration Reaches Settlements with Four Whistleblowers in Hiring Scandal (Oregonian, Portland)

Bonneville Power Administration Offering Grants in Science & Energy Education (Bonneville Power Administration)

Senate Bill in the Works to Expand FERC’s Authority to Site Power Lines (Governor’s Wind Energy Coalition)

Eight Family Members Die in Maryland Generator Tragedy (Christian Science Monitor)

Inside the Utility Industry’s 2015 Playbook (Utility Dive)

Survey: Customers Want Prepaid Utility Options (Utility Dive)

April is National Safe-Digging Month – Pacific Gas & Electric Reminds Customers to Call 811 before Digging (PG&E Currents)

FISH & WILDLIFE

Managers Likely to Cancel West Coast Sardine Fishery (Oregon Public Broadcasting)

WATER & THE ENVIRONMENT

Advocacy Group Names Columbia River Nation’s Second Most Endangered (Oregonian, Portland)

Yakima Valley Water Supply Outlook Takes Big Drop in Latest Estimate (Yakima Herald-Republic, WA)

Editorial: Evergreen, Ever Vigilant – Amid western drought, state must plan for how our future might look (Vancouver Columbian, WA)

Radiation from 2011 Fukushima Nuclear Meltdown in Japan Detected on British Columbia Coast (Globe & Mail, Canada)

RENEWABLE/ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

IRS Paves the Road for a Windy 2016 (Renewable Energy World)

Net Metering Versus Self-Generation for Solar Energy (The Energy Collective)

Utilities May Lose More Grid-Connected Customers, & Billions of Dollars “…solar panels…with battery storage is…a decade away…” (Forbes Magazine)

KILOWATTS FOR CANNABIS

Washington State Senate Votes to Eliminate Marijuana Excise Taxes (Marijuana Business Daily)

Chart of the Week: Much of Oregon Set for Messy Grand Re-Opening (Marijuana Business Daily)

Hemp Advocate Rand Paul Announces Candidacy for President (Marijuana Business Daily)

CLIMATE CHANGE SEQUESTRATION VAULT

How Western Canada Glaciers Will Melt Away (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation)

Here’s How Tom Steyer Will Attack GOP 2016 Hopefuls on ‘Climate Denial’ & Koch Ties (National Journal)

What Americans Think about Climate Change in Seven Maps (Renewable Energy World)

TECHNOLOGY & TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Sea-Tac One of Top Ten Techie Airports, Plans to Spend $10 Million to Boost Wi-Fi (Puget Sound Business Journal, WA)

The CIA, Co-ops & Cybersecurity (Electric Co-op Today)

MARKETING & SOCIAL MEDIA

Nine Ways to Humanize Your Brand with Social Media (Social Media Examiner)

Pinterest Marketing: Your Complete Guide to Pinterest Success (Social Media Examiner)

FTC Asked to Investigate “YouTube Kids” for Deceptively using ads Targeted at Toddlers (San Jose Mercury News, CA)

Crowdsourcing Cows: Tillamook Invites Fans to Guide the Company through a New Online Community (Portland Business Journal, OR)

POLITICS & GOVERNANCE

Stand-Off in Olympia before Washington State Budget Negotiations Even Begin (Northwest Public Radio)

Poll Says Washington State Divided on Olympia Budget Brawl (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)

Oregon’s Former First Lady: Hayes Emails Show She Wanted Policy Agenda Kept Secret (KATU-TV, Portland, OR)

GENERAL NEWS

Lightning Hits Vancouver Redwood, Debris Flies for Blocks (KGW-TV, Portland, OR)

Seattle Brewery Forced to Change Beer Name after ‘Cease-&-Desist’ (KOMO-TV, Seattle, WA)

DIVERSIONS

Burger King to Cover Wedding Costs, Buy Gifts for Newly Engaged Couple for Whopper of a Reason

Baby Hummingbird a ‘Very Lucky Little Bird’ after Being Trapped Inside Easter Bouquet

‘I Was Shocked’: Mom Finds Bags of Pot in Toddler’s Easter Present

Meet the Award-Winning Seeing-Eye Cat

SONG OF THE DAY

Seals & Crofts – Hummingbird

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.