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Joel Myer, Communicator Emeritus, edits the Energy News Digest.
Hotshots – Today’s Top Five Stories
Oregon Utilities Warn of Higher Costs from
Hydropower Changes (International Water Power & Dam Construction)
Pacific Power, Portland General Electric Raise
Residential Electricity Rates Again for Oregon Customers (Oregon Capital
Chronicle)
Puget Sound Energy Proposes New Rate Increases.
Here’s How Much You Could Be Paying (KIRO Broadcasting, Seattle, WA)
GM Idles Detroit Electric Vehicle Plant, Temporarily Laying Off 1,300 Workers (Reuters)
Amazon to Pay $20.5 Million Settlement Over
Northeast Oregon Nitrate Pollution (Oregon Capital Chronicle)
News Highlights (See
Stories Below)
1. Oregon
Utilities Warn of Higher Costs from Hydropower Changes
2. Federal
Salmon Ruling Spawns Power Rate Hike
3. Pacific
Power, Portland General Electric Raise Residential Electricity Rates Again for
Oregon Customers
4. Puget
Sound Energy Proposes New Rate Increases. Here’s How Much You Could Be Paying
5. WA
State: Tri-Cities Business Leaders Worry There’s Not Enough Power to Go Around
6. NV
Energy’s Peak Demand Charge Postponed Until Jan. 1
7. Every
Fifth Pole: Ameren’s Staggered Strategy for Grid Hardening
8. Exclusive:
Renewables Grew to Almost 50% of Global Electricity Capacity in 2025 After
Solar Boost
9. Amazon
to Pay $20.5 Million Settlement Over Northeast Oregon Nitrate Pollution
10. Corps
of Engineers’ Plan to Address Columbia River Dredge Spoils Could Cost Southwest
Washington Ports Millions
11. A
Very Wet March – This March Has Been Very Wet Over the Western Side of
Washington State
12. NorthWestern
Doesn’t Have to Turn Over More Data Center Information in Merger Case
13. GM
Idles Detroit Electric Vehicle Plant, Temporarily Laying Off 1,300 Workers
14. Silicon
Valley Power Details Support & Lessons Learned from Super Bowl Operations
15. Artemis
Will Take Americans to the Moon for the First Time Since 1972. Why Has It Been
So Hard to Go Back?
16. WA
Gov. Ferguson Signs Artificial Intelligence Protection Bills as Public
Increasingly Embraces the Technology
17. National
Weather Service Issues Winter Weather Advisory, Warnings for Oregon Cascades
18. Seattle
Weather: Wet, Breezy & Mountain Snow Showers Wednesday
19. 5.5K+
Power Strips Sold on Amazon Recalled After Reports of Sparking, Melting
20. Video:
What Does an Oregon Judge’s 2026 Order Mean for the Port of Lewiston’s Future
21. Why
The War in Iran Should Accelerate the Clean Energy Transition
22.
Podcast: How the Pacific Northwest Can Handle
Growing Energy Demands without New Gas-Fired Power Plants
Word of the Day
Privy \PRIV-vee\ Adjective – 1a: private, withdrawn b: secret 2: belonging or relating to a person in one’s individual rather than official capacity 3: admitted as one sharing in a secret.
Privy \PRIV-vee\ Noun – An outhouse.
The small, restless child at the remote Renaissance Festival started a familiar dance as his father frantically started looking for the nearest privy. Sir George (in real life an accountant at a local brewery) silently beckoned the beleaguered father to his side. “I will make thee privy to one of the best-kept secrets on these grounds,” the bewhiskered faux knight rasped. “The chamber you seek is meant only for nobles, but if you are in desperate need, ye will find it behind the leather mug booth near the faire entrance.”
Energy & Utility
Issues
1.
Oregon Utilities Warn of Higher Costs from
Hydropower Changes (International Water Power & Dam Construction)
2. Federal
Salmon Ruling Spawns Power Rate Hike (Port Townsend Leader, WA)
https://ptleader.com/articles/featured-stories/federal-salmon-ruling-spawns-power-rate-hike/
5. WA
State: Tri-Cities Business Leaders Worry There’s Not Enough Power to Go Around (Northwest
Public Broadcasting)
6. NV
Energy’s Peak Demand Charge Postponed Until Jan. 1 (Nevada Current)
https://nevadacurrent.com/2026/03/31/nv-energys-peak-demand-charge-postponed-until-jan-1/
7. Every
Fifth Pole: Ameren’s Staggered Strategy for Grid Hardening (Power Magazine)
https://www.powermag.com/every-fifth-pole-amerens-staggered-strategy-for-grid-hardening/
Renewable
Energy & Self Storage
8. Exclusive:
Renewables Grew to Almost 50% of Global Electricity Capacity in 2025 After
Solar Boost (Reuters)
Environmental
Afflatus – Clean Up on Aisle Three
10. Corps
of Engineers’ Plan to Address Columbia River Dredge Spoils Could Cost Southwest
Washington Ports Millions (Vancouver Columbian, WA – Paywall Advisory)
Water,
Water, Anywhere?
11. A
Very Wet March – This March Has Been Very Wet Over the Western Side of Washington
State (Cliff Mass Weather Blog)
https://cliffmass.blogspot.com/2026/03/a-very-wet-march.html
HAL’s
Internet Café
12. NorthWestern
Doesn’t Have to Turn Over More Data Center Information in Merger Case (The
Daily Montanan)
I
Sing the Car Electric
13.
GM Idles Detroit Electric Vehicle Plant,
Temporarily Laying Off 1,300 Workers (Reuters)
Public
Relations, Marketing & Media
14. Silicon
Valley Power Details Support & Lessons Learned from Super Bowl Operations (American
Public Power Association)
Barrel
O’ Green Potpourri – Seething Stew of Science
15. Artemis
Will Take Americans to the Moon for the First Time Since 1972. Why Has It Been
So Hard to Go Back? (Yahoo! News)
Politics,
Governance, and Management
16. WA
Gov. Ferguson Signs Artificial Intelligence Protection Bills as Public
Increasingly Embraces the Technology (Spokesman-Review, Spokane, WA – Via
Yahoo! News)
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/ferguson-signs-ai-protection-bills-035900856.html
Other
Things to Know About Today
17. National
Weather Service Issues Winter Weather Advisory, Warnings for Oregon Cascades (KOIN-TV,
Portland, OR)
https://www.koin.com/weather/nws-issues-winter-weather-advisory-warnings-for-oregon-cascades/
18. Seattle
Weather: Wet, Breezy & Mountain Snow Showers Wednesday (KCPQ-TV, Seattle, WA)
https://www.fox13seattle.com/weather/seattle-weather-wet-breezy-mountain-snow-showers-wednesday
19. 5.5K+
Power Strips Sold on Amazon Recalled After Reports of Sparking, Melting (KIRO
Broadcasting, Seattle, WA)
https://mynorthwest.com/local/amazon-power-strip-recall/4223307
Soapbox
Serenade – Vox Populi
20. Video:
What Does an Oregon Judge’s 2026 Order Mean for the Port of Lewiston’s Future
(YouTube)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFDbaxKE9Qc
21. Why
The War in Iran Should Accelerate the Clean Energy Transition (Forbes Magazine)
22. Podcast:
How the Pacific Northwest Can Handle Growing Energy Demands without New
Gas-Fired Power Plants (Oregon Public Broadcasting)
https://www.opb.org/article/2026/03/31/northwest-energy-gap-natural-gas/
Diversions - Alligators in the Sewer
A
Pencil Is Running for Oregon Governor, Hoping to Make a Mark on Education
A College
Instructor Turns to Typewriters to Curb AI-Written Work & Teach Life
Lessons
https://apnews.com/article/typewriter-ai-cheating-chatgpt-cornell-ce10e1ca0f10c96f79b7d988bb56448b
Hershey Says It
Will Shift Back to Classic Recipe for All Reese’s Products After Criticism
Thieves Steal
Paintings by Renoir, Cézanne & Matisse from a Private Museum in Italy
Song of the Day
Art Garfunkel -
(What A) Wonderful World
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-s9uXvwrws
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
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