Monday, April 22, 2024

The Energy News Digest for April 22, 2024

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Hotshots – Today’s Top Five Stories

WA State: Tri-Cities Wind Turbine Farm Proposal Halved for Endangered Hawks (Crosscut Seattle)

https://crosscut.com/briefs/2024/04/tri-cities-wind-turbine-farm-proposal-halved-endangered-hawks

California Power Companies, Agencies Apply for $2 Billion Federal Grant for Grid Upgrades (Reuters)

https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/california-power-companies-agencies-apply-2-bln-federal-grant-grid-upgrades-2024-04-18/

Climate Change Supercharged a Heat Dome, Intensifying 2021 Fire Season, Study Finds (Los Angeles Times, CA – Paywall Advisory)

https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2024-04-22/climate-change-heat-dome-study

Hatchery Dispute: Lawsuit Filed to Protect Wild Salmon in Columbia River (KATU-TV, Portland, OR)

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/lawsuit-filed-to-protect-wild-salmon-in-columbia-river/ar-AA1ngCl9

Tesla Plans to Lay Off 10% of Workforce after Dismal Quarterly Sales, Multiple News Outlets Report (Associated Press)

https://apnews.com/article/tesla-layoff-workforce-sales-decline-ee35abc216b5aeb222068500b916ef14

News Highlights (See Stories Below)

1.      California Power Companies, Agencies Apply for $2 Billion Federal Grant for Grid Upgrades

2.      Despite Petitions, Federal Regulators Approve Construction on Expanded Northwest Gas Pipeline

3.      WA State’s New Law Involving Puget Sound Energy Aspires to Set a Course for the Future

4.      Increases in U.S. Residential Electricity Bills in 2023 Were Outpaced by Inflation

5.      EIA Sees Hydropower Generation Increasing by 6% in 2024

6.      California Legislators Prepare to Vote on a Crackdown on Utility Spending

7.      Public Power Utilities, Others Voice Support for Continued SW Power Pool Market Development

8.      New Maui Fire Report Shows Utility Waited Hours to Respond to Broken Power Line

9.      San Diego Municipal Power Ballot Initiative Needs Signatures Following City Council Rejection

10.   Life without Electricity Is an Ordinary Navajo Nation Struggle. Some Homes Are Finally Getting Power

11.   U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp-Perez (WA) Introduces Resolution to Declare ‘National Lineman Appreciation Day’

12.   WA State: Tri-Cities Wind Turbine Farm Proposal Halved for Endangered Hawks

13.   Yakama Nation Objects to Washington Agency’s Recommendation to Approve Wind Farm

14.   News Release: Bureau of Land Management Approves Dry Lake East Energy Center Solar Project in Nevada

15.   President Biden Marks Earth Day with $7 Billion ‘Solar for All’ Investment Amid Week of Climate Action

16.   WA Solar Energy Projects Getting $156 Million in Federal Funds

17.   Rooftop Solar Panels Are Flooding California’s Grid – That’s a Problem

18.   Solar Panels & Canals: Here’s One Solution to Save Water & Generate Clean Power in Utah

19.   Hatchery Dispute: Lawsuit Filed to Protect Wild Salmon in Columbia River

20.   Research Shows Curtailing Chinook Salmon Ocean Fishing Promotes Southern Resident Orcas & Wild Chinook Recovery

21.   A Federal Program Could Fix Washington’s Salmon-Killing Culverts

22.   Climate Change Supercharged a Heat Dome, Intensifying 2021 Fire Season, Study Finds

23.   A Washington State Coal Plant Has to Close Next Year. Can Pennsylvania Communities Learn from Centralia’s Transition?

24.   Feds Cannot Delay Youth-Led Climate Change Case Longer, Oregon Judge Rules

25.   FBI Says Chinese Hackers Preparing to Attack U.S. Infrastructure

26.   Meta’s Newest Artificial Intelligence Model Beats Some Peers. But Its Amped-Up AI Agents Are Confusing Facebook Users

27.   Tesla Plans to Lay Off 10% of Workforce after Dismal Quarterly Sales, Multiple News Outlets Report

28.   Tesla Recalls Cybertruck Due to Accelerator Pedal That Can Stick

29.   Washington Sees Record Electric Vehicle Registrations

30.   TikTok Braces for US Divest-or-Ban Law — And a Legal Fight

31.   Campaign to Defend Washington State’s Climate Law Raises $11 Million, Far Outpacing Opposition

32.   Amazon, Microsoft Back Campaign against Initiative That Would Defund Climate Efforts in Washington

33.   Inslee Administration: Using Taxpayer Funds to Promote Washington’s Climate Commitment Act Spending Is Appropriate

34.   Podcast: Eras of the Electric Sector – Taylor’s Version

35.   In the News: Can Hydropower Survive Climate Change?

36.   Pathways Initiative Addresses the Key Challenge to a West-Wide Electricity Market

Word of the Day – The Horrible Haiku Edition

Sedentary /SED-un-tair-ee/ Adjective – 1: Not migratory: settled 2a: doing or requiring much sitting b: not physically active 3: permanently attached.

     Sedentary day

     There is not much going on

     Time to take a nap

Energy & Utility Issues

1.      California Power Companies, Agencies Apply for $2 Billion Federal Grant for Grid Upgrades (Reuters)

https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/california-power-companies-agencies-apply-2-bln-federal-grant-grid-upgrades-2024-04-18/

2.      Despite Petitions, Federal Regulators Approve Construction on Expanded Northwest Gas Pipeline (Washington State Standard)

https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2024/04/18/despite-petitions-federal-regulators-approve-construction-on-expanded-northwest-gas-pipeline/

3.      WA State’s New Law Involving Puget Sound Energy Aspires to Set a Course for the Future (Seattle Times, WA – Paywall Advisory)

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/climate-lab/states-new-law-involving-pse-aspires-to-set-a-course-for-the-future/

4.      Increases in U.S. Residential Electricity Bills in 2023 Were Outpaced by Inflation (U.S. Energy Information Administration)

https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=61903

5.      EIA Sees Hydropower Generation Increasing by 6% in 2024 (American Public Power Association)

https://www.publicpower.org/periodical/article/eia-sees-hydropower-generation-increasing-6-2024

6.      California Legislators Prepare to Vote on a Crackdown on Utility Spending (Associated Press)

https://www.seattlepi.com/news/politics/article/california-legislators-prepare-to-vote-on-a-19416074.php

7.      Public Power Utilities, Others Voice Support for Continued SW Power Pool Market Development (American Public Power Association)

https://www.publicpower.org/periodical/article/public-power-utilities-others-voice-support-continued-spp-market-development

8.      New Maui Fire Report Shows Utility Waited Hours to Respond to Broken Power Line (Spokesman-Review, Spokane, WA – Paywall Advisory)

https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2024/apr/18/new-maui-fire-report-shows-utility-waited-hours-to/

9.      San Diego Municipal Power Ballot Initiative Needs Signatures Following City Council Rejection (Daily Energy Insider)

https://dailyenergyinsider.com/policy/43457-san-diego-municipal-power-ballot-initiative-needs-signatures-following-city-council-rejection/

10.   Life without Electricity Is an Ordinary Navajo Nation Struggle. Some Homes Are Finally Getting Power (Fronteras)

https://fronterasdesk.org/content/1877607/life-without-electricity-ordinary-navajo-nation-struggle-some-homes-are-finally

11.   U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp-Perez (WA) Introduces Resolution to Declare ‘National Lineman Appreciation Day’ (The Chronicle, Centralia, WA)

https://www.chronline.com/stories/rep-marie-gluesenkamp-perez-introduces-resolution-to-declare-national-lineman-appreciation,338760

Renewable Energy & Self Storage

12.   WA State: Tri-Cities Wind Turbine Farm Proposal Halved for Endangered Hawks (Crosscut Seattle)

https://crosscut.com/briefs/2024/04/tri-cities-wind-turbine-farm-proposal-halved-endangered-hawks

13.   Yakama Nation Objects to Washington Agency’s Recommendation to Approve Wind Farm (KIMA-TV, Yakima, WA)

https://www.kimatv.com/news/local/yakama-nation-objects-to-washington-agencys-recommendation-to-approve-wind-farm

14.   News Release: Bureau of Land Management Approves Dry Lake East Energy Center Solar Project in Nevada (U.S Bureau of Land Management)

https://www.blm.gov/press-release/blm-approves-dry-lake-east-energy-center-solar-project-nevada

15.   President Biden Marks Earth Day with $7 Billion ‘Solar for All’ Investment Amid Week of Climate Action (The Guardian, UK)

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/22/biden-earth-day-solar-investment-climate-actions

16.   WA Solar Energy Projects Getting $156 Million in Federal Funds (Seattle Times, WA – Paywall Advisory)

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/climate-lab/wa-solar-energy-projects-getting-156-million-in-federal-funds/

17.   Rooftop Solar Panels Are Flooding California’s Grid – That’s a Problem (Washington Post, Paywall Advisory)

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/rooftop-solar-panels-are-flooding-california-s-grid-that-s-a-problem/ar-AA1nr34N

18.   Solar Panels & Canals: Here’s One Solution to Save Water & Generate Clean Power in Utah (Salt Lake Tribune, UT)

https://www.sltrib.com/news/environment/2024/04/16/heres-one-solution-save-water/

Fish & Wildlife

19.   Hatchery Dispute: Lawsuit Filed to Protect Wild Salmon in Columbia River (KATU-TV, Portland, OR)

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/lawsuit-filed-to-protect-wild-salmon-in-columbia-river/ar-AA1ngCl9

20.   Research Shows Curtailing Chinook Salmon Ocean Fishing Promotes Southern Resident Orcas & Wild Chinook Recovery (The Islands’ Weekly, Eastsound, WA)

https://www.islandsweekly.com/news/research-shows-curtailing-chinook-salmon-ocean-fishing-promotes-southern-resident-orcas-and-wild-chinook-recovery/

21.   A Federal Program Could Fix Washington’s Salmon-Killing Culverts (Crosscut Seattle)

https://crosscut.com/environment/2024/04/federal-program-could-fix-washingtons-salmon-killing-culverts

Climate Change Sequestration Vault

22.   Climate Change Supercharged a Heat Dome, Intensifying 2021 Fire Season, Study Finds (Los Angeles Times, CA – Paywall Advisory)

https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2024-04-22/climate-change-heat-dome-study

23.   A Washington State Coal Plant Has to Close Next Year. Can Pennsylvania Communities Learn from Centralia’s Transition? (Inside Climate News)

https://insideclimatenews.org/news/17042024/washington-state-coal-plant-closing-can-pennsylvania-learn/

24.   Feds Cannot Delay Youth-Led Climate Change Case Longer, Oregon Judge Rules (Courthouse News Service)

https://www.courthousenews.com/feds-cannot-delay-youth-led-climate-change-case-longer-oregon-judge-rules/

Beam Me Up, Scotty - The Wizarding World of Technology & Cybersecurity

25.   FBI Says Chinese Hackers Preparing to Attack U.S. Infrastructure (Reuters)

https://www.reuters.com/technology/cybersecurity/fbi-says-chinese-hackers-preparing-attack-us-infrastructure-2024-04-18/

26.   Meta’s Newest Artificial Intelligence Model Beats Some Peers. But Its Amped-Up AI Agents Are Confusing Facebook Users (Associated Press)

https://apnews.com/article/meta-ai-assistant-llama3-large-language-models-llm-229b386ebfbdc23f0e9245a68f7eb2d0

I Sing the Car Electric

27.   Tesla Plans to Lay Off 10% of Workforce after Dismal Quarterly Sales, Multiple News Outlets Report (Associated Press)

https://apnews.com/article/tesla-layoff-workforce-sales-decline-ee35abc216b5aeb222068500b916ef14

28.   Tesla Recalls Cybertruck Due to Accelerator Pedal That Can Stick (Cable News Network)

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/news/tesla-recalls-cybertruck-due-to-accelerator-pedal-that-can-stick/ar-AA1nivfV

29.   Washington Sees Record Electric Vehicle Registrations (Axios)

https://www.axios.com/local/seattle/2024/04/18/washington-record-year-electric-vehicles

Public Relations, Marketing & Media

30.   TikTok Braces for US Divest-or-Ban Law — And a Legal Fight (Yahoo! News)

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/tiktok-braces-us-divest-ban-001256618.html

Management & Governance

31.   Campaign to Defend Washington State’s Climate Law Raises $11 Million, Far Outpacing Opposition (KUOW Radio, Seattle, WA)

https://www.kuow.org/stories/campaign-to-defend-washington-state-s-climate-law-raises-11-million-far-outpacing-opposition

32.   Amazon, Microsoft Back Campaign against Initiative That Would Defund Climate Efforts in Washington (Geekwire)

https://www.geekwire.com/2024/amazon-and-microsoft-back-effort-to-defeat-initiative-that-would-defund-washington-state-climate-efforts/

33.   Inslee Administration: Using Taxpayer Funds to Promote Washington’s Climate Commitment Act Spending Is Appropriate (The Center Square)

https://www.thecentersquare.com/washington/article_6cdc13ba-fcf6-11ee-8d81-1fe8e160d9a5.html

Soapbox Serenade – Vox Populi

34.   Podcast: Eras of the Electric Sector – Taylor’s Version (Public Power Underground)

https://publicpowerunderground.substack.com/p/bonus-eras-of-the-electric-sector

35.   In the News: Can Hydropower Survive Climate Change? (Bonneville Power Administration)

https://www.bpa.gov/about/newsroom/news-articles/20240418-in-the-news-can-hydro-survive-climate-change

36.   Pathways Initiative Addresses the Key Challenge to a West-Wide Electricity Market (NW Energy Coalition)

https://nwenergy.org/featured/pathways-initiative-addresses-the-key-challenge-to-a-west-wide-electricity-market/

Alligators in the Sewer – Diversions

Boeing’s WWII Camouflage Stunt That Fooled the World

https://crosscut.com/podcast/mossback/5/2/podcast-boeings-wwii-camouflage-stunt-fooled-world

Egypt Reclaims 3,400-Year-Old Stolen Statue of King Ramses II

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/egypt-reclaims-3400-year-old-stolen-statue-of-king-ramses-ii/ar-AA1npebQ

Would You Like a Cicada Salad? The Monstrous Little Noisemakers Descend on a New Orleans Menu

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/offbeat/would-you-like-a-cicada-salad-the-monstrous-little-noisemakers-descend-on-a-new-orleans-menu/ar-AA1nhcrQ

Long-Lost First Model of the USS Enterprise from ‘Star Trek’ Boldly Goes Home after Twisting Voyage

https://apnews.com/article/star-trek-uss-enterprise-roddenberry-e3cea04b05ae5c24130d144a0b38d051

Song of the Day

Star Trek Mega Suite

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lY-Wmc-OeSw

Links & Paywall Advisory

Links in The Energy News Digest are for current stories. Media organizations update their websites regularly, which may result in broken links.

Although I choose stories that are accessible without paying a subscription, individual experiences may vary. Media attribution includes information about possible paywall restrictions. Regularly clearing your browser’s history and cookie files may help you access some paywall sites.