Energy News Digest for December 4, 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.

WORD OF THE DAY

Genius Loci • \JEEN-yus – LOW-sigh\ • noun – 1: the pervading spirit of a place 2: a tutelary deity of a place

Ambrose lazily swirled his plastic spoon in his nightly serving of “Pork and Beans”. Dreamily he reached out and touched the base of his chipped, plastic Porky Pig statue that had represented the Genius Loci of his family for over forty years. “Oh Porky,” he intoned. “Please don’t think any less of me when I say that I LOVE eating this little square of pork fat swimming at the top of my daily dose of high fiber beans.” Porky remained stoic, just as he had for many other house guests over the years.

WEATHER

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

KMAS Radio’s “Extreme Weather” page. Includes road, power and weather updates (Shelton/Mason County)
http://www.masoncountydailynews.com/badweather.htm

Devastating Storm (That pretty much says it all for the coast – Daily World, Aberdeen)
http://www.thedailyworld.com/articles/2007/12/03/local_news/001news.txt

Storm drenches region; rescuers "overwhelmed" – Efforts will resume today to rescue people from flood-stricken homes in Southwest Washington after Monday's regionwide storm killed two, severed major highways, isolated communities and closed scores of roads and businesses. (Seattle Times)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2004051245_stormmainbar04.html

Wind, rain lash Pacific Northwest, then target Midwest (USA Today)
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/storms/2007-12-03-northwest-storm_N.htm?csp=34

Flooding closes Interstate 5, isolates some communities - Showers expected to abate after tonight (The Olympian)
http://www.theolympian.com/news/story/289521.html

Thousands Stranded Due to North Mason Flooding (Kitsap Sun, may require free registration)
http://kitsapsun.com/news/2007/dec/04/thousands-stranded-due-to-north-mason-flooding/

Grays Harbor County cut off (The Olympian)
http://www.theolympian.com/news/story/289516.html

ENERGY & UTILITY ISSUES

News Release – Mason County PUD No. 3 linemen joined by Peninsula Power & Light and Snohomish County PUD in power restoration efforts. Access to Lake Cushman hindered by Skokomish River flooding (Mason County PUD No. 3)
http://www.masonpud3.org/News/display.asp?NewsID=384

Clallam County’s west end power out; isolated by road closures (KONP Radio, Port Angeles)
http://www.konp.com/local/3278

Douglas PUD budget anticipates no rate increase – Douglas County PUD commissioners have approved a 2008 budget that includes no rate increases and a slightly faster build-out of its fiber-optics network. (Wenatchee World)
http://www.wenatcheeworld.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071130/NEWS04/71130008/1025/rss1025

Chelan County PUD approves Alcoa power deal – PUD commissioners today approved a 17-year contract that Alcoa officials say will expand production, add 60 jobs and secure the future of the Wenatchee Works aluminum smelter. (Wenatchee World)
http://www.wenworld.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071203/NEWS04/71203017/1001

Gas, electrical bills could go up – Puget Sound Energy told state regulators Monday it wants to raise electrical rates 9.5 percent and natural gas rates 5.3 percent to pay for new generating capacity, energy supplies and pipes and wires needed to serve its growing customer base. (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/342144_pugetenergy04.html

North Carolina – Duke Energy told to cut electricity rates. State regulators said today that Duke Energy must cut its electricity rates for North Carolina customers by 3.4 percent in January. (The News-Observer)
http://www.newsobserver.com/business/story/803297.html

Baltimore Sun Op/Ed – Reregulating power
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/bal-ed.psc03dec03,0,1861419.story?track=rss

Michigan – Keep clean coal plants for state's power needs. Michigan's energy needs and its business recruitment efforts will be harmed by environmentalists who continue tilting at windmills. They want to ban the construction of new coal plants in the state but haven't come up with legitimate alternatives. (The Detroit News)
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071202/OPINION01/712020301/1008

Failed Nevada Experimental Energy Plant Costs Millions (Canadian Business)
http://www.canadianbusiness.com/markets/market_news/article.jsp?content=D8TA3NHG2

Buffett bets $2.1bn on utility sector (MSNBC)
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22084799/

Arizona – Federal plan for transmission lines draws ire (The Business Journal of Phoenix)
http://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/stories/2007/12/03/story9.html?ana=from_rss

WATER, FISH & THE ENVIRONMENT

Endangered species questions expand – The Interior Department's inspector general will expand an investigation into the alleged political manipulation of decisions on 18 endangered species, including the northern spotted owl, marbled murrelet and bull trout. (The Oregonian)
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/119648315871510.xml&coll=7

Coho still abundant in rivers; steelhead on their way (Daily News, Longview)
http://www.tdn.com/articles/2007/11/30/this_day/doc47503724cfbaf534038781.txt

Another dismal season forecast for British Columbia salmon – Things are going from bad to worse for Pacific salmon.
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/business/story.html?id=df0c48b0-db3f-4bc4-a05d-efd12c54aead

Oregon – Trout back in Diamond Lake after tui chub poisoning. With Diamond Lake free of the invasive tui chub, fishermen say the trout they are catching are fatter and longer than they have been in decades. (Associated Press, via the Examiner.com)
http://www.examiner.com/a-1084489~Trout_back_in_Diamond_Lake_after_tui_chub_poisoning.html?cid=rss-Oregon_Headlines

RENEWABLE/ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

Ambitious wind farm idea pushes on in gorge – An energy developer from New York is moving forward with a project to build a gargantuan wind farm along the Columbia River in Gilliam and Morrow counties. (The Oregonian)
http://www.oregonlive.com/business/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/business/1196742332287410.xml&coll=7

Unfouling dirty garbage trucks – Portland-area governments are taking the first steps toward cleaning up old and dirty diesel engines, drafting new requirements that would cut the toxic particulates spewed into the air but also would raise garbage rates and contractor costs. (The Oregonian)
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/119665233143050.xml&coll=7

As fuel prices rise, rural Alaska looks at alternative energy (Anchorage Daily News)
http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/ap_alaska/story/9494111p-9405007c.html

Electric cars could act as batteries for the energy grid (New Scientist)
http://environment.newscientist.com/channel/earth/energy-fuels/dn13000-electric-cars-could-act-as-batteries-for-the-energy-grid-.html

CONSERVATION

News Release – FERC Hydrokinetic Energy Project Policy Statement allows conditioned licensing – The policy statement covers projects that use currents, waves and tides to generate renewable electric energy. (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission)
http://www.ferc.gov/news/news-releases/2007/2007-4/11-30-07.asp

Texas mayors promote fluorescents as 'state bulb' (Reuters)
http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSEIC34772620071203?feedType=RSS&feedName=oddlyEnoughNews

CLIMATE CHANGE SEQUESTRATION VAULT

Power firms accused of emissions trade cheating (The Guardian, United Kingdom)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2007/dec/03/climatechange.greenpolitics1

Should Couples Stay Together For Planet? Divorce Adds $6.9B In Energy Costs In U.S. A Year (Associated Press, Via KIRO-TV, Seattle)
http://www.kirotv.com/family/14763071/detail.html

TECHNOLOGY & TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Google may bid to lose – Auction for wireless airwaves is next month (Bloomberg News, via the Seattle Post Intelligencer)
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/342160_googleauction04.html?source=rss

DIVERSIONS

Thief hopes ironworkers don't find him
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071204/ap_on_fe_st/odd_funeral_thief;_ylt=Ap6yMi8KNSrgq9633DVd3GLtiBIF

Driver passes test, then hits building
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071204/ap_on_fe_st/odd_hit_the_wall;_ylt=Ai7ejZBn1Gg9NKJaNYjyyivtiBIF

China says moon pictures not faked from NASA – China has dismissed Internet gossip that its first photo of the moon taken from a lunar orbiter might have been plagiarized from NASA, local media said on Monday.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071203/od_nm/moon_dc;_ylt=Au6EZ9UqpO3Dggy79xCtBNvtiBIF

Man accused of stealing plane to impress – A man accused of stealing a twin-engine plane and driving it down the taxiway staged the stunt while he was drunk to impress his girlfriend, police said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071204/ap_on_fe_st/stolen_plane;_ylt=ApLJ_0.l.vbgJi0db0Zx7jLtiBIF

"Naughty" nations in a coal lot of trouble in Bali
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071203/od_uk_nm/oukoe_uk_bali_award;_ylt=AkNILM3C1vGA_4I.FCVYoErtiBIF