Energy News Digest for December 19, 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)

- Electricity Restored to Collins Lake Substation After Construction Crane Touches Power line
- Power Agreement Bonneville offers utility $9.5 million, with strings attached
- Bonneville payments ‘not relief, this is a trap,’ Grays Harbor County PUD says
- Local briefly: Snohomish County PUD won't yet decide on refund for $19 million
- Ratepayers may see BPA credit restored
- Stripped of Renewable Energy Mandates – House, 314-100, Passes Broad Energy Bill
- Walla Walla – Power plant siting in spotlight
- Idaho – Nuke plant developer will meet with public
- Texas vows to attract other carbon-capture plants
- Oregon Governor cites problems with federal analysis of gas terminal
- Grant County PUD names new treasurer
- One Enron Case Settled
- Ameren Illinois Utilities Issue Warning on Dangers of Copper Theft
- Mason County PUD No. 3 makes Last Reconnections from December 3 Storm
- Pact resolves 6-year battle over Ellensburg-area creek
- Puget Sound cleanup gets more federal funding than expected
- The Olympian Opinion – Environmental lobby looks to exert clout
- West Sound Utility District Hears From Public on Rate Hike
- City of Longview sets steep water and sewer rate hikes
- Resident fights Orting utility tax hike
- Southwest May Pipe In Water from Great Lakes
- New ethanol goal offers challenge, opportunity for biofuel industry
- Chevron sued over funding of biodiesel plant – Partner firm says oil giant stopped
- Sparks flying over Pennsylvania’s energy future
- Lighten the power load during Christmas season
- Montana – Climate change report aired.
- Clean-air agency wants to ban burning in yards
- Pizza Boxes Are Power Hogs
- FCC approves controversial media ownership rule

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

WORD OF THE DAY

Plebiscite • \PLEB-uh-site\ • noun – a vote by which the people of an entire country or district express an opinion for or against a proposal especially on a choice of government or ruler

“The ballots have been sent out. Like Noah sending the dove and the Raven to search for dry land we will soon know if the subjects like what I’ve suggested, or will continue to be restless,” mused the white-bearded king as he gazed from his tower, overlooking his lovely city of rivers. Unfortunately, calling for a plebiscite on naming the ‘cane toad’ as the Australian amphibian was like asking for an indulgence for a beer belch in church.

WEATHER
http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/forecast/MapClick.php?site=sew&smap=1&textField1=47.21528&textField2=-123.09944

ENERGY & UTILITY ISSUES

News Release – Electricity Restored to Collins Lake Substation After Construction Crane Touches Power line (Mason County PUD No. 3)
http://www.masonpud3.org/News/display.asp?NewsID=400

Power Agreement Bonneville offers utility $9.5 million, with strings attached – Clark Public Utilities could get a one-time $9.5 million payout from the Bonneville Power Administration under a proposal announced Monday by the BPA. But there's a lot of uncertainty about the deal. (The Columbian)
http://www.columbian.com/business/businessNews/2007/12/12182007_Power-Agreement-Bonneville-offers-utility-95-million-with-strings-attached.cfm

Bonneville payments ‘not relief, this is a trap,’ Grays Harbor County PUD says. Commissioners called the plan “absurd,” and rejected the interim proposal. (Daily World, Aberdeen)
http://www.thedailyworld.com/articles/2007/12/18/local_news/03news.txt

Local briefly: Snohomish County PUD won't yet decide on refund for $19 million (Everett Herald)
http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20071219/NEWS01/710003258/-1/news01

Ratepayers may see BPA credit restored (Yakima Herald-Republic)
http://www.yakimaherald.com/page/dis/299999521904786

President Bush Signs Energy Bill (Washington Post)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/19/AR2007121900815.html?nav=rss_email/components

Energy bill to save 'billions' – President Bush signed into law Wednesday legislation that will bring more fuel-efficient vehicles into auto showrooms and require wider use of ethanol, calling it "a major step" toward energy independence and easing global warming. (USA Today)
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-12-18-fuel-economy_N.htm?csp=34

Stripped of Renewable Energy Mandates – House, 314-100, Passes Broad Energy Bill; Bush Plans to Sign It (NY Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/19/washington/19energy.html?ei=5088&en=2f23e7ad81fc4185&ex=1355720400&adxnnl=1&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&adxnnlx=1198090893-AMjoU60bMvG1GwWBWLpkew

Walla Walla – Power plant siting in spotlight – Whether a power plant will be allowed in the heavy industrial area remains to be seen. (Union-Bulletin, Walla Walla)
http://www.union-bulletin.com/articles/2007/12/19/local_news/local04.txt

Idaho – Nuke plant developer will meet with public. As Payette ponders the proposed facility, the state debates who should be making decisions on where to put power plants. (Idaho Statesman)
http://www.idahostatesman.com/localnews/story/242279.html

N.J. sues Pa. power plant, claims excessive amounts of air pollution drift across state line (International Herald Tribune)
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/12/19/america/Pollution-Suit.php

Texas vows to attract other carbon-capture plants (Reuters)
http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUKN1851451520071218?rpc=44

Oregon Governor cites problems with federal analysis of gas terminal (Associated Press, via the Examiner.com)
http://www.examiner.com/a-1112665~Governor_cites_problems_with_federal_analysis_of_gas_terminal.html?cid=rss-Oregon_Headlines

Grant County PUD names new treasurer – Grant County PUD commissioners named Jim Bunch last week to the permanent position of treasurer/controller. (Columbia Basin Herald)
http://www.columbiabasinherald.com/articles/2007/12/18/news/news05.txt

One Enron Case Settled (NY Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/19/business/19enron.html?ex=1355720400&en=26ba475fbf6ef41d&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

News Release – Ameren Illinois Utilities Issue Warning on Dangers of Copper Theft. Public can Help Curb this Deadly Crime (Ameren Illinois, via Yahoo! Finance)
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/071219/aqw071.html?.v=33

News Release – Last Reconnections from December 3 Storm - Governmental Cooperation Applauded for Effort (Mason County PUD No. 3)
http://www.masonpud3.org/News/display.asp?NewsID=398

WATER, FISH & THE ENVIRONMENT

Pact resolves 6-year battle over Ellensburg-area creek – Farmers, environmentalists to restore fish runs without impeding irrigation (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/344121_creek19.html

Puget Sound cleanup gets more federal funding than expected (The Olympian)
http://www.theolympian.com/news/story/303998.html

The Olympian Opinion – Environmental lobby looks to exert clout
http://www.theolympian.com/opinion/story/303883.html

West Sound Utility District Hears From Public on Rate Hike – Dennis Briggs doesn't mind paying more for sewer service, he just doesn't want to pay the same amount as a family of eight. (Kitsap Sun, may require free registration)
http://kitsapsun.com/news/2007/dec/18/west-sound-utility-district-hears-from-public-on/

City of Longview sets steep water and sewer rate hikes – Longview residents' utility bills will jump early next year as the city prepares to fund expensive upgrades to its aging water and sewer treatment systems. (The Daily News, Longview)
http://www.tdn.com/articles/2007/12/19//area_news/doc4768c7e199144001446087.txt

Resident fights Orting utility tax hike – After the Orting City Council raises utility taxes, a resident who wanted to force a public vote on the issue was told he was too late. But he’s not through fighting. (News Tribune, Tacoma)
http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/233284.html

Southwest May Pipe In Water from Great Lakes – Drought-choked southwestern states are considering piping in water from the Great Lakes. Getting the go-ahead on such a plan wouldn't be easy, however. (National Public Radio)
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=17354828&ft=1&f=17

RENEWABLE/ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

Does the passage of the stripped-down Energy Bill mean that momentum is lost for renewables? (Renewable Energy Access)
http://www.renewableenergyaccess.com/rea/news/story?id=50920&src=rss

New ethanol goal offers challenge, opportunity for biofuel industry (Seattle Times)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2004081388_ethanol19.html?syndication=rss

Chevron sued over funding of biodiesel plant – Partner firm says oil giant stopped paying (San Francisco Chronicle)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/12/19/BUJDU0VQ0.DTL&feed=rss.business

Sparks flying over Pennsylvania’s energy future – With Gov. Rendell and Senate Republicans $200 million apart, the biofuels-and-conservation effort is lagging. (Philly.com)
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/20071219_Sparks_flying_over_Pa_s_energy_future.html

CONSERVATION

Lighten the power load during Christmas season (The Star Phoenix, Regina)
http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix/news/business/story.html?id=c4342fd7-e661-4076-a30a-8e37ad35357f

CLIMATE CHANGE SEQUESTRATION VAULT

Montana – Climate change report aired. Montana accounts for just 0.6 percent of America's greenhouse gas emissions, but the average Montanan contributes almost double the amount of greenhouse gas as the average American. (Billings Gazette)
http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2007/12/19/news/local/28-climatereport.txt

Clean-air agency wants to ban burning in yards – Burning garden leftovers, grass clippings, downed trees and other woody debris would be banned in rural Snohomish County under a proposal by clean-air officials. (Everett Herald – Check out the chart!)
http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20071219/NEWS01/611452862&news01ad=1

TECHNOLOGY & TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Pizza Boxes Are Power Hogs – As everyone knows, you get what you pay for. That maxim certainly holds true for Internet infrastructure, especially when it comes to servers. (GigaOM)
http://gigaom.com/2007/12/18/pizza-boxes-are-power-hogs/

FCC approves controversial media ownership rule – The Federal Communications Commission, overturning a 32-year-old ban, voted Tuesday to allow broadcasters in the nation's 20 largest media markets to also own a newspaper. (Seattle Times)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2004080133_webfcc18.html?syndication=rss

GENERAL NEWS

Oregon Gets Short Shrift In Congress' Final Days – President George Bush said Wednesday he will sign a hard-fought energy bill compromise. The bill sets higher mileage standards for cars, but for many Oregonians it's a disappointment. (Oregon Public Broadcasting)
http://news.opb.org/article/oregon-gets-short-shrift-congress-final-days/

DIVERSIONS

"Don't Tase Me, Bro" tops Reuters '07 memorable quote list
http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSN1959512020071219

Bride In Toilet Paper Dress To Tie Knot In Restroom
http://www.kirotv.com/irresistible/14890478/detail.html?treets=sea&tid=2653595907813&tml=sea_nots&tmi=sea_nots_1_01000312192007&ts=H

Judge Sides With Man Fired For Posting 'Dilbert' Comic In Office
http://www.kirotv.com/irresistible/14890514/detail.html?treets=sea&tid=2653595907813&tml=sea_nots&tmi=sea_nots_1_01000312192007&ts=H

Choir drops 'Christmas' from carol – Teachers' Decision; Children to sing: 'Soon it will be festive day'
http://www.nationalpost.com/newsletter/story.html?id=181191