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The Energy News Digest is edited by Joel Myer, Communicator Emeritus.
NWPPA’s Annual Conference & Membership Meeting
Join us as we raise a glass to 85 years of public power excellence at our Annual Conference and Membership Meeting in Santa Rosa, California. Mark your calendars for May 19-22, 2025, as utility executives and policymakers convene in Sonoma County to celebrate this historic milestone and shape our industry’s future.
Hotshots – Today’s Top Five Stories
Trump Signs Orders to Expand Coal Power, Invoking Artificial
Intelligence Boom (Bloomberg News – Via Yahoo! News)
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/trump-order-seeks-tap-coal-160020451.html
NOAA Staffing Cuts Threaten Years of Salmon Harvests (NY
Times – Paywall Advisory)
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/09/climate/noaa-doge-cuts-salmon.html
WA State: Harvest Hills Wind Project Will Seek Approval from
the State Rather Than Wait for Whitman County Ordinance (Spokesman-Review,
Spokane, WA – Paywall Advisory)
https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/apr/09/harvest-hills-wind-project-will-seek-approval-from/
Microsoft Says It’s ‘Slowing or Pausing’ Some Artificial
Intelligence Data Center Projects, Including $1 Billion Plan for Ohio
(Associated Press)
Drought Declared for Kittitas, Yakima & Benton Counties
for Third Straight Year (KING-TV, Seattle, WA)
News
Highlights (See Stories Below)
1.
Trump Signs Orders to Expand Coal Power,
Invoking Artificial Intelligence Boom
2.
U.S. Production of All Types of Coal Has
Declined Over the Past Two Decades
3.
Peace River Dam - Massive Canadian Hydroelectric
Project Brings Fourth Unit Online
4.
WA State: Commerce Invests Over $23 Million To
Improve Grid Infrastructure, Increasing Grid Reliability For 18 Communities
5.
Thieves Use Forklift to Steal $55K In Cables
from Pierce County Site
6.
U.S. Electricity Demand Will Grow 50% by 2050,
Electrical Manufacturer Study Finds
7.
WA State: Harvest Hills Wind Project Will Seek
Approval from the State Rather Than Wait for Whitman County Ordinance
8.
Clean Energy Powered 40% of Global Electricity
in 2024, Report Finds – Solar Has Been Fastest-Growing Energy Source…But
Remains Dwarfed by Hydropower
9.
NOAA Staffing Cuts Threaten Years of Salmon
Harvests
10.
Despite An Uptick in Salmon Returns Expected,
Researcher Doubtful It’s a Sign of Overall Recovery
11.
Another Baby Orca Spotted with Northwest’s
Endangered J Pod
12.
Drought Declared for Kittitas, Yakima &
Benton Counties for Third Straight Year
13.
Advancing Bill Would Require WA Dept. of Ecology
to Produce Annual Emissions Data
14.
Barbed Wire Fences Were an Early DIY Telephone
Network
15.
Microsoft Says It’s ‘Slowing or Pausing’ Some
Artificial Intelligence Data Center Projects, Including $1 Billion Plan for
Ohio
16.
Washington Giving Out $4 Million in Instant
Rebates to Buy E-Bikes
17.
New Project Maps Washington’s Local Media
Landscape
18.
President Trump Declares War on State Climate
Laws
19.
NOAA Contracts Are Being Reviewed One by One.
It’s Throwing the Agency into Chaos
20.
Guest Essay: WA State Must Act to Protect Salmon
from Sea Lion Predation
Word of the Day
Cassandra \kuh-SAND-druh\ Noun – 1: daughter of Priam endowed with the gift of prophecy but fated never to be believed 2: one that predicts misfortune or disaster.
Castor, the safety testing laboratory’s futurist, was also considered a Cassandra by most of his colleagues. In fact, his “cry wolf” syndrome was put to rest one sunny, muggy day in July when Castor told his boss that within 30 seconds, he would be hit by an out-of-control collision test car. “Ha, Ha, that’s a good one Cast---------”
Energy
& Utility Issues
1.
Trump Signs Orders to Expand Coal Power,
Invoking Artificial Intelligence Boom (Bloomberg News – Via Yahoo! News)
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/trump-order-seeks-tap-coal-160020451.html
2.
U.S. Production of All Types of Coal Has
Declined Over the Past Two Decades (U.S. Energy Information Administration)
https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=64924
3.
Peace River Dam - Massive Canadian Hydroelectric
Project Brings Fourth Unit Online (Energy Central)
https://energycentral.com/c/gn/massive-canadian-hydroelectric-project-brings-fourth-unit-online
4.
WA State: Commerce Invests Over $23 Million To
Improve Grid Infrastructure, Increasing Grid Reliability For 18 Communities (WA
Dept. Of Commerce)
5.
Thieves Use Forklift to Steal $55K In Cables from
Pierce County Site (KING-TV, Seattle, WA)
6.
U.S. Electricity Demand Will Grow 50% by 2050,
Electrical Manufacturer Study Finds (Utility Dive)
Renewable
Energy & Self Storage
7.
WA State: Harvest Hills Wind Project Will Seek
Approval from the State Rather Than Wait for Whitman County Ordinance (Spokesman-Review,
Spokane, WA – Paywall Advisory)
https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/apr/09/harvest-hills-wind-project-will-seek-approval-from/
8.
Clean Energy Powered 40% of Global Electricity in
2024, Report Finds – Solar Has Been Fastest-Growing Energy Source…But Remains
Dwarfed by Hydropower (The Guardian, UK)
Fish
& Wildlife
9.
NOAA Staffing Cuts Threaten Years of Salmon
Harvests (NY Times – Paywall Advisory)
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/09/climate/noaa-doge-cuts-salmon.html
10.
Despite An Uptick in Salmon Returns Expected,
Researcher Doubtful It’s a Sign of Overall Recovery (KGW-TV, Portland, OR)
11.
Another Baby Orca Spotted with Northwest’s Endangered
J Pod (KUOW Radio, Seattle, WA)
https://www.kuow.org/stories/endangered-baby-orca-spotted-pacific-northwest-j-pod
Water,
Water, Anywhere?
12.
Drought Declared for Kittitas, Yakima & Benton
Counties for Third Straight Year (KING-TV, Seattle, WA)
Climate
Change Sequestration Vault
13.
Advancing Bill Would Require WA Dept. of Ecology
to Produce Annual Emissions Data (The Center Square)
https://www.thecentersquare.com/washington/article_c6504d69-7146-4402-961a-f0ac89f82ba3.html
London
Calling –Telecommunications
14.
Barbed Wire Fences Were an Early DIY Telephone
Network (Gizmodo)
https://gizmodo.com/barbed-wire-fences-were-an-early-diy-telephone-network-1493157700
The
Wizarding World of Technology & Cybersecurity
15.
Microsoft Says It’s ‘Slowing or Pausing’ Some Artificial
Intelligence Data Center Projects, Including $1 Billion Plan for Ohio (Associated
Press)
I
Sing the Car Electric
16.
Washington Giving Out $4 Million in Instant
Rebates to Buy E-Bikes (KOMO News, Seattle, WA)
Public
Relations, Marketing & Media
17.
New Project Maps Washington’s Local Media
Landscape (Northwest Public Broadcasting)
https://www.nwpb.org/2025/04/08/new-project-maps-washingtons-local-media-landscape/
Politics,
Governance, and Management
18.
President Trump Declares War on State Climate
Laws (Politico)
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/04/09/trump-declares-war-on-state-climate-laws-politico-00280178
19.
NOAA Contracts Are Being Reviewed One by One. It’s
Throwing the Agency into Chaos (Oregon Public Broadcasting)
https://www.opb.org/article/2025/04/09/noaa-faces-disruptions-as-federal-contracts-lapse/
Soapbox
Serenade – Vox Populi
20.
Guest Essay: WA State Must Act to Protect Salmon
from Sea Lion Predation (The Chronicle, Centralia, WA)
Diversions - Alligators in the Sewer
U.S. Company Resurrects the Extinct Dire Wolf, Or Some
Version of It
Critically Endangered Tortoise Is a First-Time Mom at Nearly
100 Years Old
Identical Twin Brothers Marry Twin Sisters in Double Wedding
… And Share Honeymoon
NASA Offers $3 Million in Competition to Recycle Human Poop in
Space
https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2025/04/09/NASA-LunaRecycle-Challenge-human-poop/8541744218992/
Song of the Day
Duran Duran – Hungry Like the Wolf
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRomIONTNaY
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
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