Energy News Digest for December 10, 2007

All the links in today’s news digest lead to current stories. Please note that some media organizations update their web sites regularly, which may result in broken links in the future.

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHTS (Details Below)

-Disaster declarations bring federal help to flooded Washington
-Links to local papers in Grays Harbor and Lewis Counties
-Avista to pay fines for accident that left one dead
-Columbian Guest Op/Ed – Kalama plant neither coal nor defeated
-Pacific Gas & Electric vs. Bonneville Power Administration (BPA wins)
-Energy bill hits road bump in Senate
-NorthWestern Energy Announces Settlement Agreement With Montana Consumer Counsel
-Columbia River salmon plan isn't looking good
-Negotiating the Klamath – Settlement may in the air
-Salmon survival could be affected by storm damage
-Alaska salmon haul a season for the books: fourth-largest ever
-Clallam Public Utility District to hold meetings on water, sewer rate hikes
-Focus airborne soot rules on the source
-Alcoa's Wenatchee Smelter receives approval for renewable, hydropower supply agreement
-Efforts to Harvest Ocean’s Energy Open New Debate Front
-Wind power project good fit for Skamania, official says
-City of Olympia Nixes Free Wi-Fi
-Columbian Editorial – In our view: Fix flood problems or accept them
-Did development, logging set the stage for disaster?
-In Depth – We just keep rebuilding on valuable, unsafe land.

These and links to more stories in today’s Energy News Digest

WORD OF THE DAY

Imprecate • \IM-prih-kayt\ • verb – to invoke evil on: curse

“Bubble, bubble, toilet trouble,” intoned the three witches over their steaming cauldron. They weren’t really evil, just annoying. They never did imprecate anyone seriously. The worst they ever did was to place a curse on the Coca Cola executive who thought coming up with a “new Coke” campaign was an outstanding idea.

WEATHER

Forecast for Mason County, Washington
http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/forecast/MapClick.php?site=sew&smap=1&textField1=47.21528&textField2=-123.09944

Disaster declarations bring federal help to flooded Washington – covers six counties so far -- Grays Harbor, Kitsap, Lewis, Mason, Pacific and Thurston. FEMA may help pay for emergency measures and debris removal. (Associated Press)
http://www.examiner.com/a-1096114~Disaster_declarations_bring_federal_help_to_flooded_Washington.html?cid=rss-Washington_Headlines

Link here to the Daily World in Aberdeen for Grays Harbor storm recovery news:
http://www.thedailyworld.com/local_news/

Link here to the Chronicle in Centralia for Lewis County storm recovery news:
http://www.chronline.com/index.php

ENERGY & UTILITY ISSUES

Avista to pay fines for accident that left one dead – Avista Utilities confirmed Thursday morning their plans to pay all fines associated with an accident at an Othello elementary school May 31. (Columbia Basin Herald)
http://www.columbiabasinherald.com/articles/2007/12/07/news/news03.txt

Columbian Guest Op/Ed – Kalama plant neither coal nor defeated. If you read last week's guest column in this space you might think a coal plant at the Port of Kalama had been defeated; you would be wrong on both counts. (By Brad Peck, Energy Northwest)
http://www.columbian.com/opinion/news/2007/12/12092007_Kalama-plant-neither-coal-nor-defeated.cfm

Pacific Gas & Electric vs Bonneville Power Administration – Supreme Court turns down PG&E appeal: case that centers on whether federal energy regulators have authority over municipalities. (CNN Money)
http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/newstex/AFX-0013-21561224.htm

Energy bill hits road bump in Senate – Senate Democrats searched for a compromise on energy legislation as Republican leaders made clear Friday they will oppose oil industry taxes and a mandate for utilities to use more wind and solar-generated electricity. (Associated Press)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071208/ap_on_go_co/congress_energy_21

Senate To Rework Ambitious Energy Bill – Vehicle Fuel Efficiency Expected to Be the Focus (Washington Post)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/07/AR2007120700856.html?nav=rss_business

NY Times Commentary – Stuck on Coal, and Stuck for Words in a High-Tech World
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/04/science/earth/04comm.html?ex=1354424400&en=85825cd960dc6487&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

News Release – NorthWestern Energy Announces Settlement Agreement With Montana Consumer Counsel. Preliminary rate settlements reached in South Dakota and Nebraska (NorthWestern Energy, via Yahoo! Finance)
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/071207/aqf084.html?.v=16

Artists' suit against Snohomish police moved – A civil-rights lawsuit alleging Snohomish city police illegally detained an artist for photographing power lines has been moved to U.S. District Court in Seattle. (Seattle Times)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2004055885_civilrights06m.html?syndication=rss

PJM opposes Duquesne Light pull out request (Pittsburgh Business Times)
http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/stories/2007/12/03/daily29.html?ana=from_rss

News Release – PPM Energy Completes Purchase of 506 MW Klamath Cogeneration Plant (PPM Energy, via Yahoo! Finance)
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/071205/20071205005988.html?.v=1

Fraud trial for ex-El Paso natural gas traders begins (Reuters)
http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUKN0562476420071205?rpc=44

Wisconsin Supreme Court upholds nearly $533,000 award in stray voltage case. The court sustained the award to Marathon County dairy farmers who claimed a power company's stray voltage hurt their cows' milk production. (Associated Press, via the Capitol Times)
http://www.madison.com/tct/news/260679

WATER, FISH & THE ENVIRONMENT

Judge: Columbia River salmon plan isn't looking good (The Columbian)
http://www.columbian.com/news/localNews/2007/12/12082007_Judge-Salmon-plan-isnt-looking-good.cfm/

Negotiating the Klamath – Farmers, fishermen, Native Americans and environmentalists could be near a breakthrough on talks about removing four Klamath River dams to restore salmon runs and water health (The Oregonian)
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/119709150477660.xml&coll=7

Fishing Salmon survival affected – While chances of going river fishing are pretty much washed out for at least a week, many are concerned about the long-term ramifications of young salmon survival due to the massive flooding. (Seattle Times)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/othersports/2004055715_fish06.html

Alaska salmon haul a season for the books: fourth-largest ever – 2007: The catch has an estimated value of $374 million. (Anchorage Daily News)
http://www.adn.com/money/story/9510743p-9421489c.html

Kokanee salmon carcasses in Lake Stevens -- and environmentalists celebrate (Everett Herald)
http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20071206/NEWS01/712060047/-1/RSS01

Dams meet opposition – A water conservation coalition sent a letter Friday to the Washington State Legislature asking them to oppose new dams and support common-sense water solutions for the state’s Columbia River region. (The Othello Outlook)
http://othellooutlook.com/cgi-bin/outlook/get_story.cgi?story=Story_1&dir=12062007

American Indian artifacts found near Beebe Springs – Fish restoration, roadside park project put on hold (Wenatchee World)
http://www.wenworld.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071208/NEWS04/712080021/1001

Alcoa to clean PCB-tainted river shoreline – A PCB-tainted stretch of Columbia River shoreline will be cleaned to the highest level that's technically feasible, state regulators announced Thursday. (The Columbian)
http://www.columbian.com/news/localNews/2007/12/12072007_Alcoa-to-clean-PCB-tainted-river-shoreline.cfm?newsletter=1

Clallam Public Utility District to hold meetings on water, sewer rate hikes – The public will have three chances next week to comment on water and sewer rate increases to be proposed by the Clallam County Public Utility District. (Peninsula Daily News)
http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/article/20071208/NEWS/712080302

Low-flow toilets are next on the green agenda – New models boast a lot more flush (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/342867_toilets10.html

Focus airborne soot rules on the source – The state’s new attack on dangerous airborne soot has drawn far too large a target within Pierce County. (News Tribune, Tacoma)
http://www.thenewstribune.com/opinion/story/224754.html

RENEWABLE/ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

Alcoa's Wenatchee Smelter receives approval for renewable, hydropower supply agreement for 17 years (Trading Markets: underline added)
http://www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/news/Stock%20News/894825/

Efforts to Harvest Ocean’s Energy Open New Debate Front (NY Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/08/us/08waves.html?ex=1354770000&en=be88f93795deeed9&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

Wind power project good fit for Skamania, official says (The Columbian)
http://www.columbian.com/business/businessNews/2007/12/12092007_Wind-power-project-good-fit-for-Skamania-official-says.cfm

Branching Out – SDS Lumber Co. and Broughton Lumber Co. looking at wind power diversification (The Columbian)
http://www.columbian.com/news/localNews/2007/12/12092007_Branching-Out.cfm

Texas – Wind farm plan dropped; Gillespie residents cheer decision. NRG Energy has decided to abandon plans to build wind turbines in Gillespie County, a move hailed this week by county residents and local officials. (Knight Ridder Tribune Business News, via Power Marketing Association Online)
http://powermarketers.netcontentinc.net/newsreader.asp?ppa=8knpp%5E%5ChgmokqqSSkiw11rbfem%5Ev

Giant offshore wind farms to supply half of UK power (London Times)
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article3022277.ece

Renewable Energy Portfolios Standards and Transmission Reliability: Can Demand Response Be a Solution? (PowerMarketers Industry Publications)
http://powermarketers.netcontentinc.net/newsreader.asp?ppa=8kowu%5D%5Chgmtwpq%5BSkiw11rbfem%5Ev

CONSERVATION

Maine: Students win state energy savings contest (Portland Press-Herald)
http://news.mainetoday.com/updates/019492.html

Hydro Quebec shelves smart meters – Hydro Quebec is backing away from a major government initiative that would have reduced electricity consumption in the province, CBC News has learned.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/montreal/story/2007/12/10/qc-hydrosmart1210.html

CLIMATE CHANGE SEQUESTRATION VAULT

Congressional Research Reports – State Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Comparison and Analysis (Once again, the Pacific Northwest comes out smelling great!)
http://opencrs.cdt.org/document/RL34272

Canada said to be Fort Knox of carbon – Boreal forests crucial as carbon storehouses, environmentalists say (Vancouver Sun)
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=b55d3d7d-3cc5-4a58-b0f8-c7dd42e8b7ac

TECHNOLOGY & TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Olympia nixes free Wi-Fi idea (The Olympian)
http://www.theolympian.com/southsound/story/294573.html

Cable to link Florence, Oregon and Alaska – Greater computer bandwith is headed to Florence but it may be awhile before locals have access to it. An Alaska telecommunications company has announced that it will run a fiber optic cable from the coastal town of Homer south to Oregon next year. (The Register-Guard)
http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/dt.cms.support.viewStory.cls?cid=31519&sid=2&fid=1

GENERAL NEWS

Columbian Editorial – In our view: Fix It or Accept It. This time, the parties must decide what, if anything, to do about flood problem
http://www.columbian.com/opinion/news/2007/12/12072007_In-our-view-Fix-It-or-Accept-It.cfm?newsletter=5

Did development, logging set the stage for disaster? (Seattle Times)
http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=flood09m&date=20071209

In Depth – We just keep rebuilding on valuable, unsafe land. After the second catastrophic flood to hit the Northwest in 11 years, the communities of Tillamook and Chehalis, Wash., once again face the hazards of living and growing in the heart of a natural flood zone. (The Oregonian)
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1197102325288610.xml&coll=7

View from Weyerhaeuser's chief economist (News Tribune, Tacoma)
http://www.thenewstribune.com/business/story/225515.html

Strow quitting Legislature – Rising Republican wants more time with family, less with politics (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/342819_legislator08.html?source=rss

Lobbyist corps, state reach agreement on rent – Washington's lobbyist corps has agreed to pay $7,000 in back rent at the Capitol out of $24,494 owed and will pay the remainder later. (The Olympian)
http://www.theolympian.com/southsound/story/293738.html

DIVERSIONS

From the “more than one way to skin a cat” department – Flag Burning Nixed Because Of Air Pollution Concerns. The state is unlikely to grant a permit to a man who wants to burn a Mexican flag on the steps of the state Capitol, because of air pollution concerns.
http://www.kirotv.com/news/14801929/detail.html?rss=sea&psp=news

How Dictionaries Define Publicity: The Word of the Year (ed note: Locavore? Yeah. Right….)
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/10/business/media/10oxford.html?ex=1354942800&en=4f48337195000101&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

Business: The Lump of Coal Awards – A big helping of holiday jeers (My favorite is the “Happy Meal” month…open a $250 account and get a happy meal! Wheee!)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/12/09/BUSUTQA2M.DTL&feed=rss.business

Led Zeppelin to Return to Stage
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/12/10/entertainment/e043422S51.DTL&feed=rss.news