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Joel Myer, Communicator Emeritus, edits the Energy News Digest.
Hotshots – Today’s Top Five Stories
South Dakota-Based
Black Hills Corp. Plans to Buy NorthWestern Energy (Montana Free Press)
Montana: Puget
Sound Energy’s Beaver Creek Wind Farm in Stillwater County Now Fully
Operational (The Daily Montanan)
U.S. Developers
Report Half of New Electric Generating Capacity Will Come from Solar (U.S.
Energy Information Administration)
https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=65964
Oregon Reboots
Electric Vehicle Fast-Charging Program, with Federal Funds Restored (Oregon
Public Broadcasting)
https://www.opb.org/article/2025/08/19/electric-vehicles-cars-fast-charging-oregon-federal-funding/
Here’s What an
Early La Niña Prediction Could Mean for the Pacific Northwest (Oregon Public
Broadcasting)
News Highlights (See
Stories Below)
1. South
Dakota-Based Black Hills Corp. Plans to Buy NorthWestern Energy
2. Tennessee
Valley Authority to Buy Power from Advanced Nuclear Plant to Fuel Tennessee
& Alabama Google Data Centers
3. Trump
Tariffs & Green Energy Rollbacks Push Household Electricity Bills Up 10%
4. Yes,
Artificial Intelligence Is Power-Hungry. But There’s More to Surging
Electricity Prices.
5. Which
State Has the Most Expensive Utilities? New Study Reveals Surprising State
6. Emerald
PUD, EWEB & Oregon Cooperative Collaborate to Develop Common Wildfire
Terminology
7. Western
States Forge Alliance with Idaho National Laboratory, The Nation’s Nuclear Lab
on Advanced Energy Development
8. Montana:
Puget Sound Energy’s Beaver Creek Wind Farm in Stillwater County Now Fully
Operational
9. U.S.
Developers Report Half of New Electric Generating Capacity Will Come from Solar
10. Oregon,
18 States Sue Federal Energy Agency Over New Funding Caps on Sustainable Energy
Projects
11. USDA
Blocks Taxpayer-Funded Solar Projects on ‘Prime’ Farmland
12. Wired
for Efficiency: How the Pacific Northwest is Rethinking the Way It Builds
13. Tribal
Activists Rally on Snake River to Protect Salmon, Oppose Dams
14. Native
Nations Collaborate with WA, OR On Walla Walla Water Rights
15. Environmental
Groups Sue Trump Administration Over ‘Secret Report’ by ‘Known Climate
Contrarians’
16. Climate
Change is Coming for Your Bananas
17. U.S.
Senator Crapo (ID) Introduces Bill to Expand Broadband Access in Rural Areas
18. How
America’s Seniors Are Confronting the Dizzying World of Artificial Intelligence
19. Cities
Across the U.S. Are Embracing Artificial Intelligence Guidelines for Local
Government Workers
20. Oregon
Reboots Electric Vehicle Fast-Charging Program, with Federal Funds Restored
21. Are
Electric Vehicle Charging Stations Polluting the Air That You Breathe in WA?
22. Five
Budget Musts for Rate Change Storytelling
23. Social
Media Opens a Window to Traditional Trades for Young Workers
24. A
New Moon Discovered Orbiting Uranus Is So Small, You Could Walk It in Two Hours
25. Oregon
Department of Energy Releases Draft Energy Strategy
26. Here’s
What an Early La Niña Prediction Could Mean for the Pacific Northwest
27.
Salmon & Steelhead Extinction Threshold
Science, and the Ocean Fish of Northeast Oregon
Word of the Day
Xylography \zye-LAW-gruh-fee\ Noun - The art of making engravings on wood, especially for printing.
Ten-year-old Webster backed away from his xylographic efforts, the sting of the smoke from his wood-burning iron making his eyes tear up. Not all his tears were the result of the particulates from his new hobby. He was also fearful that he would not be able to hold his breath during the entire craft project, especially since he had heard that he could die from a single exposure to the acrid emissions from his “Washington Crossing the Delaware” artwork.
Energy & Utility
Issues
1.
South Dakota-Based Black Hills Corp. Plans to Buy
NorthWestern Energy (Montana Free Press)
2.
Tennessee Valley Authority to Buy Power from
Advanced Nuclear Plant to Fuel Tennessee & Alabama Google Data Centers (Yahoo!
News)
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/utility-buy-power-advanced-nuclear-201708427.html
3.
Trump Tariffs & Green Energy Rollbacks Push
Household Electricity Bills Up 10% (The Guardian, UK)
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/aug/19/electricity-bills-increase-trump
4.
Yes, Artificial Intelligence Is Power-Hungry. But
There’s More to Surging Electricity Prices. (Christian Science Monitor)
https://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/2025/0820/electricity-prices-ai-data-centers
5.
Which State Has the Most Expensive Utilities? New
Study Reveals Surprising State (KDAF-TV, Dallas, TX)
6.
Emerald PUD, EWEB & Oregon Cooperative
Collaborate to Develop Common Wildfire Terminology (American Public Power
Association)
7.
Western States Forge Alliance with Idaho
National Laboratory, The Nation’s Nuclear Lab on Advanced Energy Development
(Idaho Business Review)
https://idahobusinessreview.com/2025/08/20/inl-western-states-nuclear-energy-innovation/
Renewable Energy &
Self Storage
8.
Montana: Puget Sound Energy’s Beaver Creek Wind
Farm in Stillwater County Now Fully Operational (The Daily Montanan)
9.
U.S. Developers Report Half of New Electric
Generating Capacity Will Come from Solar (U.S. Energy Information
Administration)
https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=65964
10.
Oregon, 18 States Sue Federal Energy Agency Over
New Funding Caps on Sustainable Energy Projects (Oregon Capital Chronicle)
11.
USDA Blocks Taxpayer-Funded Solar Projects on
‘Prime’ Farmland (Pacific NW Ag Network)
https://pnwag.net/ixp/136/p/usda-blocks-and-limits-solar-farms/
Conservation &
Efficiency
12.
Wired for Efficiency: How the Pacific Northwest
is Rethinking the Way It Builds (Daily Journal of Commerce, Oregon)
Fish & Wildlife
13.
Tribal Activists Rally on Snake River to Protect
Salmon, Oppose Dams (Northwest Public Broadcasting)
https://www.nwpb.org/2025/08/19/tribal-activists-rally-on-snake-river-to-protect-salmon-oppose-dams/
Water, Water Anywhere?
14.
Native Nations Collaborate with WA, OR On Walla
Walla Water Rights (Cascade PBS)
Climate Change
Sequestration Vault
15.
Environmental Groups Sue Trump Administration
Over ‘Secret Report’ by ‘Known Climate Contrarians’ (CBS News)
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-administration-climate-report-lawsuit/
16.
Climate Change is Coming for Your Bananas (Yahoo!
News)
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/climate-change-coming-bananas-194120216.html
London Calling
–Telecommunications
17.
U.S. Senator Crapo (ID) Introduces Bill to
Expand Broadband Access in Rural Areas (KREM-TV, Spokane, WA)
The Wizarding World of
Technology & Cybersecurity
18.
How America’s Seniors Are Confronting the
Dizzying World of Artificial Intelligence (Washington Post – Via MSN)
19.
Cities Across the U.S. Are Embracing Artificial
Intelligence Guidelines for Local Government Workers (Oregon Capital Chronicle)
I Sing the Car Electric
20.
Oregon Reboots Electric Vehicle Fast-Charging
Program, with Federal Funds Restored (Oregon Public Broadcasting)
https://www.opb.org/article/2025/08/19/electric-vehicles-cars-fast-charging-oregon-federal-funding/
21.
Are Electric Vehicle Charging Stations Polluting
the Air That You Breathe in WA? (KONA Radio, Pasco, WA)
https://610kona.com/ixp/1135/p/ev-charging-pollution-concerns-wa/
Public Relations,
Marketing & Media
22.
Five Budget Musts for Rate Change Storytelling
(Pioneer Utility Resources)
https://www.pioneerutilityresources.com/badnews/
23.
Social Media Opens a Window to Traditional
Trades for Young Workers (Washington Post – Via Yahoo! News)
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/social-media-opens-window-traditional-143234589.html
Barrel O’ Green
Potpourri – Seething Stew of Science
24.
A New Moon Discovered Orbiting Uranus Is So
Small, You Could Walk It in Two Hours (NBC News)
Politics, Governance,
and Management
25.
Oregon Department of Energy Releases Draft
Energy Strategy (American Public Power Association)
Other Things to Know
About Today
26.
Here’s What an Early La Niña Prediction Could
Mean for the Pacific Northwest (Oregon Public Broadcasting)
Soapbox Serenade – Vox
Populi
27.
Salmon & Steelhead Extinction Threshold
Science, and the Ocean Fish of Northeast Oregon (Idaho Capital Sun)
Diversions - Alligators in the Sewer
Walmart Recalls
Frozen Shrimp Over Potential Radioactive Contamination
Think Wedding
Proposals Are Corny? Wait Till You See This One
Study Says Only 16%
of Americans Still Read for Fun
https://www.courthousenews.com/study-says-only-16-of-americans-still-read-for-fun/
This Hiker Kicks
Over People's Picturesque Stone Stacks. But He's Got a Good Reason
https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/british-cairn-kicker-1.7613028?cmp=rss
Song of the Day
The Mills Brothers –
Glow Worm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxQmKesa8oU&list=RDdxQmKesa8oU&start_radio=1
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