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Joel Myer, Communicator Emeritus, edits the Energy News Digest.
Hotshots – Today’s Top Five Stories
A Bomb Cyclone
Brings Blizzards & Dangerous Wind Chills to the Midwest
https://apnews.com/article/winter-weather-blizzard-storm-cb49c60e237aa67d7a296d04da78193b
The U.S. May Have a
Secret Weapon Against Rising Electricity Prices (Washington Post – Via Yahoo!
News)
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/u-may-secret-weapon-against-185617742.html
Clark County
Residents Say They’ll Get All the Burdens & None of the Benefits of
Proposed PacifiCorp Transmission Line (Oregon Public Broadcasting)
https://www.opb.org/article/2025/12/27/clark-county-proposed-pacificorp-transmission-line/
A Year of Grace
Remaining, Spokane Pivots on Its Energy Generating Trash Incinerator
(Spokesman-Review, Spokane, WA – Paywall Advisory)
https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/dec/25/a-year-of-grace-remaining-spokane-pivots-on-its-en/
Oregon Launches
Rebate Program to Help Businesses Pay for Electric Fleet Vehicles (Oregon
Public Broadcasting)
https://www.opb.org/article/2025/12/25/oregon-truck-owners-electric-vehicles-gas-powered/
News Highlights (See
Stories Below)
1. The
U.S. May Have a Secret Weapon Against Rising Electricity Prices
2. Clark
County Residents Say They’ll Get All the Burdens & None of the Benefits of
Proposed PacifiCorp Transmission Line
3. Pacific
Gas & Electric Chief Praises Service Restorations as San Francisco
Supervisor Blasts Repeated Outages
4. A
Power Outage Can Turn Dangerous Fast. Here’s How to Prepare
5. USDA
Intervenes in California Hydropower Decommissioning as FERC Reviews Potter
Valley Project
6. Oregon:
Portland General Electric, Tribes Replace Valves at Round Butte Hydropower Dam
7. A
Year of Grace Remaining, Spokane Pivots on Its Energy Generating Trash
Incinerator
8. Experts
Make Astonishing Discovery After Installing Solar Panels Above Rooftop Gardens:
'Can Have a Function'
9. Idaho’s
Fort Hall Is One Example of How Broadband Gaps Create Health Gaps, Too
10. WA
State: Data Center Development Plans Underway in West Richland
11. ‘The
Past Gives Comfort’: Finding Refuge on Analog Islands Amid Deepening Digital
Seas
12. Oregon
Launches Rebate Program to Help Businesses Pay for Electric Fleet Vehicles
13. Gmail
To Let Users Change Their Addresses While Keeping Data
14. Head
of WA Department of Commerce Is Leaving
15.
A Bomb Cyclone Brings Blizzards & Dangerous
Wind Chills to the Midwest
Word of the Day – Joel’s Horrible Haiku
Decembruary /dee-SEM-brew-air-ee/ Noun – The days between Christmas and New Year’s when absolutely nothing gets done. Nor is it expected to.
Decembruary
Lazy days at the year’s end
Nothing’s going on
https://joelshorriblehaiku.blogspot.com/
Energy & Utility
Issues
1.
The U.S. May Have a Secret Weapon Against Rising
Electricity Prices (Washington Post – Via Yahoo! News)
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/u-may-secret-weapon-against-185617742.html
2.
Clark County Residents Say They’ll Get All the
Burdens & None of the Benefits of Proposed PacifiCorp Transmission Line (Oregon
Public Broadcasting)
https://www.opb.org/article/2025/12/27/clark-county-proposed-pacificorp-transmission-line/
3.
Pacific Gas & Electric Chief Praises Service
Restorations as San Francisco Supervisor Blasts Repeated Outages (Patch San
Francisco, CA)
4.
A Power Outage Can Turn Dangerous Fast. Here’s How
to Prepare (Associated Press)
https://www.seattlepi.com/news/a-power-outage-can-turn-dangerous-fast-here-s-a21266323
5.
USDA Intervenes in California Hydropower
Decommissioning as FERC Reviews Potter Valley Project (Waterpower Magazine)
6.
Oregon: Portland General Electric, Tribes Replace
Valves at Round Butte Hydropower Dam (Bend Bulletin, OR – Paywall Advisory)
https://bendbulletin.com/2025/12/29/pge-tribes-replace-valves-at-round-butte-hydropower-dam/
Renewable Energy &
Self Storage
7.
A Year of Grace Remaining, Spokane Pivots on Its
Energy Generating Trash Incinerator (Spokesman-Review, Spokane, WA – Paywall
Advisory)
https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/dec/25/a-year-of-grace-remaining-spokane-pivots-on-its-en/
8.
Experts Make Astonishing Discovery After
Installing Solar Panels Above Rooftop Gardens: 'Can Have a Function' (Yahoo!
News)
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/experts-astonishing-discovery-installing-solar-200000901.html
London Calling
–Telecommunications
9.
Idaho’s Fort Hall Is One Example of How
Broadband Gaps Create Health Gaps, Too (States Newsroom)
The Wizarding World of
Technology & Cybersecurity
10.
WA State: Data Center Development Plans Underway
in West Richland (KNDO & KNDU-TV, Yakima/Tri-Cities, WA)
11.
‘The Past Gives Comfort’: Finding Refuge on
Analog Islands Amid Deepening Digital Seas (Associated Press)
https://apnews.com/article/analog-activity-vinyl-cards-digital-a22ec5ff50c91d73fb814e48b43b2511
I Sing the Car Electric
12.
Oregon Launches Rebate Program to Help
Businesses Pay for Electric Fleet Vehicles (Oregon Public Broadcasting)
https://www.opb.org/article/2025/12/25/oregon-truck-owners-electric-vehicles-gas-powered/
Public Relations,
Marketing & Media
13.
Gmail To Let Users Change Their Addresses While
Keeping Data (Spokesman-Review, Spokane, WA – Paywall Advisory)
https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/dec/28/gmail-to-let-users-change-their-addresses-while-ke/
Politics, Governance,
and Management
14.
Head of WA Department of Commerce Is Leaving (Washington
State Standard)
https://washingtonstatestandard.com/briefs/head-of-wa-department-of-commerce-is-leaving/
Other Things to Know
About Today
15.
A Bomb Cyclone Brings Blizzards & Dangerous
Wind Chills to the Midwest (Associated Press)
https://apnews.com/article/winter-weather-blizzard-storm-cb49c60e237aa67d7a296d04da78193b
Diversions - Alligators in the Sewer
Cloudy
Future for Bourbon Has Jim Beam Closing Kentucky Distillery for a Year
Brigitte Bardot Dies
at 91
Skier Glides Down Mount
Etna as Volcano Erupts in the Background
https://dnyuz.com/2025/12/28/skier-glides-down-mount-etna-as-volcano-erupts-in-the-background/
Illinois Teen
Builds 17.32-Foot Eiffel Tower Out of Toothpicks
Song of the Day
Willie Nelson –
Whiskey River
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKN3kV4_0w4
Links & Paywall Advisory
Links in The Energy News Digest are for current stories. Media organizations frequently update their websites, which can cause 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 cookies may help you access certain paywall sites.
