Tuesday, December 20, 2016

Energy News Digest for December 20, 2016

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SHELTON FORECAST & WEATHER ALERTS


HOT SHOTS – TODAY’S TOP FIVE STORIES

Avista Ready to Appeal Rejection of Higher Rates for Electricity & Natural Gas (Spokesman Review, Spokane, WA)

Alcoa Pays Chelan PUD $8 Million for Year-Long Curtailment (Wenatchee World, WA)

FERC Rejects Montana Decision to Suspend PURPA Rates for Small Solar Farms (Utility Dive)

Monitors Say Early Oregon Snowpack Levels Are Strong (Associated Press)

Mason PUD 3 Commissioners Sell Downtown Shelton Building for Mental Health Treatment Center (KMAS Radio, Shelton, WA)

NEWS HIGHLIGHTS (Details Below)
  • Avista Ready to Appeal Rejection of Higher Rates for Electricity & Natural Gas
  • Alcoa Pays Chelan PUD $8 Million for Year-Long Curtailment
  • Orcas Power & Light Rates Increased – Rate Review Set to Start Early
  • Greens Protest Portland General Electric’s Plans to Replace Retired Coal Unit with Natural Gas
  • Avista Crews Prepare for Possible Outages Ahead of Winter Storm
  • British Columbia: Man Gets Electrical Shock from Metal Cover on Burnaby Sidewalk
  • Anchorage Electric Utilities Pursue Smart Meters to Manage Outages, Cut Costs
  • Duke Completes $1.2 Billion Sale of International Power Operations
  • Nuclear Will Be Necessary for Europe to Meet its Climate Goals
  • Utility Innovation Unleashed
  • Shark-Eating Orcas: A Window into How New Species Can Arise?
  • Early Action Key to Reducing Sea Lion Impacts on Salmon
  • Monitors Say Early Oregon Snowpack Levels Are Strong
  • Belfair Residents Express Anger Over Sewer Plans
  • Water Conservation Push Could Put California Utilities in a Tough Spot
  • FERC Rejects Montana Decision to Suspend PURPA Rates for Small Solar Farms
  • Sky’s The Limit? Reducing Wind Energy Costs Through Increased Turbine Size
  • The U-S Energy Department Helped Start a Revolution – And Doesn’t Know Who to Hand It Off To
  • How Microsoft & a Wyoming Utility Designed a Data Center Tariff That Works for Everyone
  • Grant PUD Fiber Workshop Scheduled for January
  • Millennial Workaholics Are ‘Poisonous’ to Companies, Survey Says
  • Taxing The Rich: A Solution to Washington State’s Budget Mess?
  • Mason PUD 3 Commissioners Sell Downtown Shelton Building for Mental Health Treatment Center
  • Mason PUD 3 Approves Sale of Former Admin Building
  • Woman Identified in Fatal Crash at Lake Nahwatzel
  • Shelton Police Want Man Who Stole Purse, Used Credit Card
  • Olympic National Park Increases More Visitor Fees
  • Native Americans in Oregon Say Kennewick Man Was One of Them
  • Slim Chance for a White Christmas in Seattle, Data Shows
WORD OF THE DAY

Symposium • \sim-POSE-ee-um\ • Noun – 1a: a convivial party (as after a banquet in ancient Greece) with music & conversation b: a social gathering at which there is free interchange of ideas 2a: a formal meeting at which several specialists deliver short addresses on a topic or on related topics b: a collection of opinions on a subject; especially: one published by a periodical

Dagwood, the new linguist at the Liberian online college institute was excited about attending the conference in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico on the plural use of symposium. “Which session? Symposium, symposiums, or symposia,” he mused. “Or the blockbuster presentation on Elvis, Elvises, or Elvi?”

ENERGY & UTILITY ISSUES

Avista Ready to Appeal Rejection of Higher Rates for Electricity & Natural Gas (Spokesman Review, Spokane, WA)

Alcoa Pays Chelan PUD $8 Million for Year-Long Curtailment (Wenatchee World, WA)

Orcas Power & Light Rates Increased – Rate Review Set to Start Early (Journal of the San Juan Islands, Friday Harbor, WA)

Greens Protest Portland General Electric’s Plans to Replace Retired Coal Unit with Natural Gas (Utility Dive)

Avista Crews Prepare for Possible Outages Ahead of Winter Storm (KHQ-TV, Spokane, WA)

British Columbia: Man Gets Electrical Shock from Metal Cover on Burnaby Sidewalk (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation)

Anchorage Electric Utilities Pursue Smart Meters to Manage Outages, Cut Costs (Alaska Dispatch News, Anchorage, AK)

Duke Completes $1.2 Billion Sale of International Power Operations (Charlotte Business Journal, NC)

Nuclear Will Be Necessary for Europe to Meet its Climate Goals (The Energy Collective)

Utility Innovation Unleashed (Transmission & Distribution World)

FISH & WILDLIFE

Shark-Eating Orcas: A Window into How New Species Can Arise? (Christian Science Monitor)

Early Action Key to Reducing Sea Lion Impacts on Salmon (The Fish Site)

WATER, THE SOURCE OF ALL LIFE

Monitors Say Early Oregon Snowpack Levels Are Strong (Associated Press)

Belfair Residents Express Anger Over Sewer Plans (Kitsap Sun, Bremerton, WA – Paywall Advisory)

Water Conservation Push Could Put California Utilities in a Tough Spot (Reuters)

RENEWABLE ENERGY

FERC Rejects Montana Decision to Suspend PURPA Rates for Small Solar Farms (Utility Dive)

Sky’s The Limit? Reducing Wind Energy Costs Through Increased Turbine Size (Utility Dive)

SCIENCE SWIMS IN A BARREL O’ GREEN POTPOURRI

The U-S Energy Department Helped Start a Revolution – And Doesn’t Know Who to Hand It Off To (Washington Post)

TECHNOLOGY & TELECOMMUNICATIONS

How Microsoft & a Wyoming Utility Designed a Data Center Tariff That Works for Everyone (Utility Dive)

Grant PUD Fiber Workshop Scheduled for January (Columbia Basin Herald, Moses Lake, WA)

MARKETING & MEDIA

Millennial Workaholics Are ‘Poisonous’ to Companies, Survey Says (Olympian, WA – Paywall Advisory)

POLITICS & GOVERNANCE

Taxing The Rich: A Solution to Washington State’s Budget Mess? (Crosscut Seattle)

GENERAL NEWS

Mason PUD 3 Commissioners Sell Downtown Shelton Building for Mental Health Treatment Center (KMAS Radio, Shelton, WA)

Mason PUD 3 Approves Sale of Former Admin Building (Mason Web TV, Shelton, WA)

Woman Identified in Fatal Crash at Lake Nahwatzel (KMAS Radio, Shelton, WA)

Shelton Police Want Man Who Stole Purse, Used Credit Card (KMAS Radio, Shelton, WA)

Olympic National Park Increases More Visitor Fees (Kitsap Sun, Bremerton, WA – Paywall Advisory)

Native Americans in Oregon Say Kennewick Man Was One of Them (Northwest Public Radio)

Slim Chance for a White Christmas in Seattle, Data Shows (KIRO Broadcasting, Seattle, WA)

ALLIGATORS IN THE SEWER – DIVERSIONS

Man Wins OK to Wear Goat Horns in Driver’s License Photo

Why ‘Surreal’ Is Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Year

The Deadly Explosion Behind America’s Whipped-Cream Shortage

No Clean Getaway for Twins Who Stole 180 Bars of Soap

SONG OF THE DAY

Jefferson Airplane – Somebody to Love (from the album “Surrealistic Pillow”)

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LINKS & PAYWALL ADVISORY

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