Wednesday, July 20, 2016

Energy News Digest for July 20, 2016

SHELTON FORECAST & WEATHER ALERTS


HOT SHOTS – TODAY’S TOP FIVE STORIES

Columbia River Sockeye Salmon Return Is Fifth Largest Since 1938 (Oregonian, Portland)

Seattle City Light Cuts Back Solar Power Incentive (PubliCola)

FBI: Pacific Gas & Electric Exceeded Legal Pressure Limits in Numerous Pipelines (San Jose Mercury News, CA)

Google Fiber Will Delay Portland Launch for Months – Or Longer (Oregonian, Portland)

Utilities Ignore Millennials at Their Peril (GreenTech Media)

NEWS HIGHLIGHTS (Details Below)
  • FBI: Pacific Gas & Electric Exceeded Legal Pressure Limits in Numerous Pipelines
  • Concerns over Proposed New England Natural Gas Pipeline Projects Grow as FERC Nears Decision
  • Chelan County Utility Hikes Rates to Check Cryptocurrency Server Farms
  • Video: Chelan PUD Warns Of Scam Calls about Your Utility Bill
  • Hawaiian Electric Says It Is Not for Sale, Withdraws LNG Import Proposal
  • U-S Electric System Is Made Up of Interconnections & Balancing Authorities
  • Democrats Ignore Inconvenient Math on Nuclear Power
  • Environmentalists Slam Feds for Spying on Them
  • Columbia River Sockeye Salmon Return Is Fifth Largest Since 1938
  • Washington State Tribe Joins Legal Challenge over Modified Salmon
  • Prairie Chicken No Longer Threatened
  • Seattle City Light Cuts Back Solar Power Incentive
  • Montana: Big Timber Wind Farm in Jeopardy
  • Obama Makes New Push on Solar Power
  • Utility Participation Key to Driving Residential Energy Storage Growth
  • Installation of New Port Angeles’ Civic Field LED Lights to Begin This Week
  • Google Cuts Its Giant Electricity Bill with DeepMind-Powered Artificial Intelligence
  • Fighting Obama’s Climate Plan, but Quietly Preparing to Comply
  • El Nino Is Gone, But Earth’s Record Heat Is Sticking Around
  • Group Clones California Giant Trees to Combat Climate Change
  • Trees Can Limit Climate Change—Unless It Kills Them First
  • Where Do Deep Space Probes Get Their Power?
  • The Air Conditioner That Makes Electricity
  • Ice Cream Waste to Power UK Homes
  • Google Fiber Will Delay Portland Launch for Months – Or Longer
  • Google Fiber No Longer a Moonshot – It’s a ‘Real Business’
  • As PCs Decline, Microsoft Betting Its Future on the Cloud
  • Why Amazon Is Taking Aim at Cable Companies
  • More Than 75 Percent of Tennesseans Don’t Have Broadband, Despite Many Having Access
  • Comcast Providing Free Wi-Fi on Wheels to Democratic Convention
  • Utilities Ignore Millennials at Their Peril
  • Twitter Announces Crackdown after Online Abuse of ‘Ghostbusters’ Actress
  • Facebook Celebrates Forcing 1 Billion of its Existing Users to Download Messenger
  • Anyone Can Now Get Twitter’s Prestigious Blue Tick
  • Facebook Signs Internet Stars to ‘Encourage Experimentation’ on Facebook Live
  • How Emoji Have Completely Revolutionized Communication from Tears of Joy to Bacon
  • Republican Convention: Christmas Trees, Boeing & Volcanoes: How Delegates Promoted Washington State
  • How Much Are America’s National Parks Worth?
  • Shelton City Commissioners Delay Water-Well Decision
  • Mason County Commissioners Set Parks District Vote
  • Washington State Schools Chief Sues Seven Districts over Levy Funds
  • Documents: People Held to Shield Image of Montana Tribe
WORD OF THE DAY

Winkle \WINK-kull\ Verb – 1: (chiefly British) to displace, remove, or evict from a position 2: (chiefly British) to obtain or draw out by effort.

“I’ll admit it. I’m stumped,” groused the grizzled BBC correspondent to his rosy-cheeked intern after the fifth U-S presidential debate. “Trying to winkle any sense out of this verbal mayonnaise is hopeless. Let’s pack it in and head down to Hagar’s Haggis Hut for a nightcap.”

ENERGY & UTILITY ISSUES

FBI: Pacific Gas & Electric Exceeded Legal Pressure Limits in Numerous Pipelines (San Jose Mercury News, CA)

Concerns over Proposed New England Natural Gas Pipeline Projects Grow as FERC Nears Decision (Utility Dive)

Chelan County Utility Hikes Rates to Check Cryptocurrency Server Farms (Northwest Public Radio)

Video: Chelan PUD Warns Of Scam Calls about Your Utility Bill (NCW Life, East Wenatchee, WA)

Hawaiian Electric Says It Is Not for Sale, Withdraws LNG Import Proposal (Utility Dive)

U-S Electric System Is Made Up of Interconnections & Balancing Authorities (U-S Energy Information Administration)

Democrats Ignore Inconvenient Math on Nuclear Power (National Review)

Environmentalists Slam Feds for Spying on Them (Washington Examiner)

FISH & WILDLIFE

Columbia River Sockeye Salmon Return Is Fifth Largest Since 1938 (Oregonian, Portland)

Washington State Tribe Joins Legal Challenge over Modified Salmon (Associated Press)

Prairie Chicken No Longer Threatened (Washington Examiner)

RENEWABLE ENERGY

Seattle City Light Cuts Back Solar Power Incentive (PubliCola)

Montana: Big Timber Wind Farm in Jeopardy (Billings Gazette, MT)

Obama Makes New Push on Solar Power (The Hill, Washington, DC)

Utility Participation Key to Driving Residential Energy Storage Growth (Utility Dive)

CONSERVATION & EFFICIENCY

Installation of New Port Angeles’ Civic Field LED Lights to Begin This Week (KONP Radio, Port Angeles, WA)

Google Cuts Its Giant Electricity Bill with DeepMind-Powered Artificial Intelligence (Bloomberg News)

CLIMATE CHANGE SEQUESTRATION VAULT

Fighting Obama’s Climate Plan, but Quietly Preparing to Comply (NY Times)

El Nino Is Gone, But Earth’s Record Heat Is Sticking Around (Associated Press)

Group Clones California Giant Trees to Combat Climate Change (Associated Press)

Trees Can Limit Climate Change—Unless It Kills Them First (Bloomberg News)

SCIENCE SWIMS IN A BARREL O’ GREEN POTPOURRI

Where Do Deep Space Probes Get Their Power? (Cosmos Magazine)

The Air Conditioner That Makes Electricity (Scientific American)

Ice Cream Waste to Power UK Homes (Renewable Energy Focus)

TECHNOLOGY & TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Google Fiber Will Delay Portland Launch for Months – Or Longer (Oregonian, Portland)

Google Fiber No Longer a Moonshot – It’s a ‘Real Business’ (USA Today)

As PCs Decline, Microsoft Betting Its Future on the Cloud (Associated Press)

Why Amazon Is Taking Aim at Cable Companies (Washington Post)

More Than 75 Percent of Tennesseans Don’t Have Broadband, Despite Many Having Access (Chattanooga Times Free Press, TN)

Comcast Providing Free Wi-Fi on Wheels to Democratic Convention (Broadband Reports)

MARKETING & MEDIA

Utilities Ignore Millennials at Their Peril (GreenTech Media)

Twitter Announces Crackdown after Online Abuse of ‘Ghostbusters’ Actress (Reuters)

Facebook Celebrates Forcing 1 Billion of its Existing Users to Download Messenger (Gizmodo)

Anyone Can Now Get Twitter’s Prestigious Blue Tick (British Broadcasting Corporation)

Facebook Signs Internet Stars to ‘Encourage Experimentation’ on Facebook Live (New York Business Journal, NY)

How Emoji Have Completely Revolutionized Communication from Tears of Joy to Bacon (TIME Magazine)

POLITICS & GOVERNANCE

Republican Convention: Christmas Trees, Boeing & Volcanoes: How Delegates Promoted Washington State (News Tribune, Tacoma, WA - Paywall Advisory)

How Much Are America’s National Parks Worth? (The Atlantic Magazine)

GENERAL NEWS

Shelton City Commissioners Delay Water-Well Decision (KMAS Radio, Shelton, WA)

Mason County Commissioners Set Parks District Vote (KMAS Radio, Shelton, WA)

Washington State Schools Chief Sues Seven Districts over Levy Funds (Northwest Cable News Network)

Documents: People Held to Shield Image of Montana Tribe (Associated Press)

ALLIGATORS IN THE SEWER – DIVERSIONS

‘Happy Days’ Creator Garry Marshall Dies at 81

‘It’s Just Weird:’ Seattle Man Finds Stranger Living in His Attic

91-Year-Old Woman Fills in $89,000 Artwork She Thought Was Crossword Puzzle

The Most Famous Musician from Each State

SONG OF THE DAY

Happy Days Theme Song

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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 websites 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.