Tuesday, November 3, 2015

Energy News Digest for November 3, 2015

SHELTON FORECAST & WEATHER ALERTS

Weather Forecast for November 3, 2015

HOT SHOTS – TODAY’S TOP FIVE STORIES

Alcoa to Idle Smelters at Ferndale, Wenatchee Plants (Bellingham Herald, WA)

California Ballot Initiative Would Eliminate Investor Owned Utilities, Establish Statewide Public Utility (Utility Dive)

Electricity Restored after Head-On Collision with Utility Pole Leaves 10,377 in the Dark East of Port Angeles (Peninsula Daily News, Port Angeles, WA)

These 13 U-S States Saw Carbon Pollution Go Up over a Decade (National Geographic)

Twitter Makes 'Heart' Icon the New 'Like' Button (USA Today)

NEWS HIGHLIGHTS (Details Below)
  • Alcoa to Idle Smelters at Ferndale, Wenatchee Plants
  • California Ballot Initiative Would Eliminate Investor Owned Utilities, Establish Statewide Public Utility
  • Electricity Restored after Head-On Collision with Utility Pole Leaves 10,377 in the Dark East of Port Angeles
  • Eugene Water & Electric Board Rate Restructuring Would Raise Electricity Bills for Lowest Energy Users, Drop Bills for Biggest Users
  • A Rate Decrease for Puget Sound Energy Natural Gas Customers
  • Where Should Ratepayer Money Go? – Judge Delivers Split Decision on Portland Utility Lawsuit
  • Pacific Northwest National Laboratory to Help Keep Nation’s Infrastructure Secure
  • Moody's Assigns Aa3 to Vera Water & Power's Water & Electric Bonds
  • New York Nuclear Power Plant to Close; Another to Stay Open
  • As U-S Shutters Aging Nuclear Plants, Cutting Emissions Will Become More Costly
  • New Mexico: Split Decision for Co-ops in Wildfire Case
  • Canada; Settlement Approved in TransAlta Case of Power Price Manipulation
  • Electric Cooperatives Prominent on Co-op 100 List
  • West Coast Toxic Algae Bloom Threatens Dungeness Crab Season
  • British Columbia: Vancouver's Still Creek Sees Salmon for Fourth Year Running
  • Thanks for the Rain & Snow – Refill
  • Elwha River: Rockfall Demolition Concludes in Glines Canyon
  • Questions & Answers about Huge U-S Desalination Plant
  • Utilities & Solar Companies Jockey for Position as Community Solar Blooms
  • San Jose-Based SunPower Reports Loss as Solar Farms Remain on Balance Sheet
  • Op/Ed: Montana's Chance to Chart Its Own Clean Energy Future
  • Thinking of Going Solar? Online Calculator Compares Power Costs
  • Irish Sea: World's Largest Offshore Wind Farm to Power Nearly Half a Million Homes
  • Renewable Energy Doesn’t Mean Clean Energy: The European Accounting Error That’s Warming the Planet
  • Arizona Closes Down Energy Division; Remaining Workers Laid Off
  • Southern Oregon Pot Harvest Underway, Some Growers Wary of New Market
  • All or Nothing? Ohio Voters Weigh in on Marijuana Legalization
  • These 13 U-S States Saw Carbon Pollution Go Up over a Decade
  • Youths across U-S Suing to Push Government on Climate Change
  • Surprising Study Finds That Solar Energy Can Also Cause Climate Change (A Little)
  • French Weatherman Sacked over Climate Change Book
  • Comcast Rolls Out Trial of New Plan: Unlimited Data for an Extra $35
  • FCC Fines another Company for Blocking Convention Center Wi-Fi
  • Twitter Makes 'Heart' Icon the New 'Like' Button
  • Oregon Researchers Put a Surprising (And Varied) Value on Social Media
  • Teens Spend Nearly Nine Hours Every Day Consuming Media
  • Amazon Set to Open Its First Brick-And-Mortar Bookstore
  • Oregon: Coal-Free Power by 2030? Environmental Group Submits First Round of Signatures for November Ballot
  • British Columbia: Former Privacy Commissioner David Loukidelis to Review Deleted-Email Report
  • Mason County General Election Ballots Due by 8 PM Tuesday
  • Ike & West Valley High Drop Logos Because of NFL Copyright Clampdown
WORD OF THE DAY

Transpontine • \trans-PAHN-tyne\ • adjective – *1: situated on the farther side of a bridge 2 British: situated on the south side of the Thames

After crossing three bridges in his search for a fancy haggis restaurant, Dagwood had to admit that his last river crossing had placed the business of his desire on the transpontine side of the Willamette River.

ENERGY & UTILITY ISSUES

Alcoa to Idle Smelters at Ferndale, Wenatchee Plants (Bellingham Herald, WA)

California Ballot Initiative Would Eliminate Investor Owned Utilities, Establish Statewide Public Utility (Utility Dive)

Electricity Restored after Head-On Collision with Utility Pole Leaves 10,377 in the Dark East of Port Angeles (Peninsula Daily News, Port Angeles, WA)

Eugene Water & Electric Board Rate Restructuring Would Raise Electricity Bills for Lowest Energy Users, Drop Bills for Biggest Users (Eugene Register-Guard, OR)

A Rate Decrease for Puget Sound Energy Natural Gas Customers (KELA Radio, Centralia, WA)

Where Should Ratepayer Money Go? – Judge Delivers Split Decision on Portland Utility Lawsuit (Oregonian, Portland)

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory to Help Keep Nation’s Infrastructure Secure (Tri-City Herald, WA)

Moody's Assigns Aa3 to Vera Water & Power's Water & Electric Bonds (Moody’s Investor Services)

New York Nuclear Power Plant to Close; Another to Stay Open (USA Today)

As U-S Shutters Aging Nuclear Plants, Cutting Emissions Will Become More Costly (The Conversation)

New Mexico: Split Decision for Co-ops in Wildfire Case (Electric Co-op Today)

Canada; Settlement Approved in TransAlta Case of Power Price Manipulation (Globe & Mail, Canada)

Electric Cooperatives Prominent on Co-op 100 List (Electric Co-op Today)

FISH & WILDLIFE

West Coast Toxic Algae Bloom Threatens Dungeness Crab Season (SF Chronicle)

British Columbia: Vancouver's Still Creek Sees Salmon for Fourth Year Running (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation)

WATER & THE ENVIRONMENT

Thanks for the Rain & Snow – Refill (Cliff Mass Weather Blog)

Elwha River: Rockfall Demolition Concludes in Glines Canyon – Scientists to Monitor High Water Flows This Winter (KBKW Radio, Aberdeen, WA)

Questions & Answers about Huge U-S Desalination Plant (Sacramento Bee, CA)

RENEWABLE ENERGY

Utilities & Solar Companies Jockey for Position as Community Solar Blooms (Forbes Magazine)

San Jose-Based SunPower Reports Loss as Solar Farms Remain on Balance Sheet (San Jose Mercury News, CA)

Op/Ed: Montana's Chance to Chart Its Own Clean Energy Future (Billings Gazette, MT)

Thinking of Going Solar? Online Calculator Compares Power Costs (WCCO-TV, Minneapolis, MN)

Irish Sea: World's Largest Offshore Wind Farm to Power Nearly Half a Million Homes (Christian Science Monitor)

Renewable Energy Doesn’t Mean Clean Energy: The European Accounting Error That’s Warming the Planet (Salon)

CONSERVATION & EFFICIENCY

Arizona Closes Down Energy Division; Remaining Workers Laid Off (Phoenix Business Journal, AZ)

KILOWATTS FOR CANNABIS

Southern Oregon Pot Harvest Underway, Some Growers Wary of New Market (Oregonian, Portland)

All or Nothing? Ohio Voters Weigh in on Marijuana Legalization (Christian Science Monitor)

CLIMATE CHANGE SEQUESTRATION VAULT

These 13 U-S States Saw Carbon Pollution Go Up over a Decade (National Geographic)

Youths across U-S Suing to Push Government on Climate Change (Associated Press)

Surprising Study Finds That Solar Energy Can Also Cause Climate Change (A Little) (Washington Post)

French Weatherman Sacked over Climate Change Book (Irish Times)

TECHNOLOGY & TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Comcast Rolls Out Trial of New Plan: Unlimited Data for an Extra $35 (Washington Post)

FCC Fines another Company for Blocking Convention Center Wi-Fi (Broadband Reports)

MARKETING & SOCIAL MEDIA

Twitter Makes 'Heart' Icon the New 'Like' Button (USA Today)

Oregon Researchers Put a Surprising (And Varied) Value on Social Media (Portland Business Journal, OR)

Teens Spend Nearly Nine Hours Every Day Consuming Media (Washington Post)

Amazon Set to Open Its First Brick-And-Mortar Bookstore (Associated Press)

POLITICS & GOVERNANCE

Oregon: Coal-Free Power by 2030? Environmental Group Submits First Round of Signatures for November Ballot (Oregonian, Portland)

British Columbia: Former Privacy Commissioner David Loukidelis to Review Deleted-Email Report – Report exposed a culture of deception that includes tactics of mass deletion of email (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation)

GENERAL NEWS

Mason County General Election Ballots Due by 8 PM Tuesday (Mason Web TV, Shelton, WA)

Ike & West Valley High Drop Logos Because of NFL Copyright Clampdown (Yakima Herald-Republic, WA)

DIVERSIONS

Avid Runner Breaks Leg on Nike-Sponsored 'Dream Run' in Iceland, Sues for $1.3 Million

Deer Photobombs Newborn's Photo Shoot

Homeowner Goes Away for Eight Months, Returns to Find Town Has Demolished His House

Woman's Engagement Ring Made Out of Her Fiancé's Wisdom Tooth

SONG OF THE DAY

Phil Collins - Take Me Home

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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.