Energy News Digest for February 14, 2008

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)

* Power game: Voters could ask Jefferson County PUD to electrify
* Wind batters Energy Northwest's Columbia Generating Station
* Some Still Want Initiative on Idaho Nuke Plant Location
* Texas Nuclear Power Plant Application Delayed
* NorthernStar rebuts criticism of Columbia River LNG proposal
* Short Fuse: Jorge Carrasco's Polarizing Tenure at the Top of City Light
* Pennsylvania –Bill confronts impact of rate-cap expiration.
* News Whiz – New Economic Study Urges Policymakers to Consider Long-Term Consumer, Environmental Benefits of Competitive Electricity Markets
* Spring salmon angling rules to be adopted Friday
* Divers counting Puget Sound octopuses this weekend for survey
* Grant County PUD facility nears removal from hazardous sites list
* Lacey looks to add water rights
* Washington Dept. of Ecology Asks FERC to Rescind Its First Hydrokenetic License
* Renewable Energy Corporation expansion delayed two months
* Geothermal company seeks tax breaks from Idaho Legislature
* United Kingdom – Wind farm rejection growth fears
* The subsidy tease – Congress needs to stop flirting with the renewable energy industry
* Biofuel crops mean less food for hungry
* How would electric cars affect our environment?
* Federal Lab Says It Can Harvest Fuel From Air…With a Catch
* 11 myths about compact fluorescents
* Internet helps Americans save more energy every year
* Eco-shower heads in dorms have Stanford students steamed
* Disneyland revives 'House of the Future' to showcase technology
* Popular Science Magazine Rates Portland 'America's Greenest City'
* Bank of America to treat CO2 as liability
* Venture to Use Sea to Fight Warming Runs Out of Cash
* Source: Yahoo in talks with Murdoch's News Corp. to stave off Microsoft
* Little Room for Yahoo to Maneuver
* Layoffs Across Yahoo
* Net neutrality bill aims for fair online traffic
* Blueprint for big broadband not quite big enough
* Bernanke says economic outlook is worse
* Tuesday primary seems designed to irritate
* Senate lifts ban on public financing of local campaigns
* Grays Harbor – Five honored at banquet; helped Grays Harbor PUD Lineman
* Seattle Times Editorial – Winter snowfall reigns in summer

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

WORD OF THE DAY

Horologist • \huh-RAWL-uh-jist\ • noun – 1: a person skilled in the practice or theory of horology 2: a maker of clocks or watches

“Tic-toc, look at my clocks,” announced the wizened horologist to his assembled guests. Albert jumped a foot when they all started to chime at once. “Golly,” he thought. “This just like the ‘Time’ track on ‘Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon!’”

WEATHER

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

(NOTE: Some readers have noted that the NWS forecast has not been updated regularly. Apparently there is a refresh issue with the weather web site. If you visit and the forecast isn’t updated, press F5 or refresh the web page. That should take care of the issue)

ENERGY & UTILITY ISSUES

Power game: Voters could ask Jefferson County PUD to electrify (Port Townsend Leader)
http://www.ptleader.com/main.asp?SectionID=36&SubSectionID=55&ArticleID=20055&TM=49104.11

Wind batters Energy Northwest's Columbia Generating Station (Tri-City Herald)
http://www.tri-cityherald.com/915/story/90472.html

Some Still Want Initiative on Idaho Nuke Plant Location (NW Public Radio)
http://www.nwpr.org/07/HomepageArticles/Article.aspx?n=3582

Texas Nuclear Power Plant Application Delayed (NY Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/14/business/14nuke.html?_r=1&ex=1360731600&en=4e96bce5e63baad1&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&oref=slogin

NorthernStar rebuts criticism of Columbia River LNG proposal (Daily News, Longview)
http://www.tdn.com/articles/2008/02/14/area_news/10109838.txt

Short Fuse: Jorge Carrasco's Polarizing Tenure at the Top of City Light – Rates are stable, but some maintain Carrasco hasn't helped change the culture of a beleaguered City Light. (Seattle Weekly)
http://www.seattleweekly.com/2008-02-13/news/short-fuse-jorge-carrasco-s-polarizing-tenure-at-the-top-of-city-light.php

Pennsylvania –Bill confronts impact of rate-cap expiration. Legislators heard testimony on Tuesday in Harrisburg on a bill that promises to delay and soften the heavy financial impact on consumers expected from expiring electricity rate caps. (Knight Ridder Tribune Business News, via Power Marketing Association Online)
http://powermarketers.netcontentinc.net/newsreader.asp?ppa=8knpp%5E%5CikqmhnpUThey30qbfen%5Fv

New York – PSC scolds National Grid for failing to communicate with customers during power outage last year (The Business Review)
http://www.bizjournals.com/albany/stories/2008/02/11/daily27.html?ana=from_rss

News Whiz – New Economic Study Urges Policymakers to Consider Long-Term Consumer, Environmental Benefits of Competitive Electricity Markets (COMPETE Coalition, via Electric Energy Online)
http://www.electricenergyonline.com/IndustryNews.asp?m=1&id=83355

WATER, FISH & THE ENVIRONMENT

Spring salmon angling rules to be adopted here on Friday – After months of politicking and maneuvering by sport and commercial interests, spring Chinook salmon fishing regulations for the Columbia River will be adopted by Washington and Oregon officials on Friday. (The Co0lumbian)
http://www.columbian.com/sports/localNews/2008/02/02132008_Spring-salmon-angling-rules-to-be-adopted-here-on-Friday.cfm

Divers counting Puget Sound octopuses this weekend for survey (Examiner.com)
http://www.examiner.com/a-1220644~Divers_counting_Puget_Sound_octopuses_this_weekend_for_survey.html?cid=rss-Washington_Headlines

Grant County PUD facility nears removal from hazardous sites list – A non-operating Grant County PUD diesel generating facility is nearing removal from a state hazardous sites list after a fuel spill in 2004. (Columbia Basin Herald)
http://www.columbiabasinherald.com/articles/2008/02/13/news/news02.txt

Lacey looks to add water rights (The Olympian)
http://www.theolympian.com/business/story/358867.html

RENEWABLE/ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

News Release – Washington Dept. of Ecology Asks FERC to Rescind Its First Hydrokenetic License (Stoel Rives)
http://www.renewableenergyaccess.com/rea/partner/story?id=51516&src=rss

Renewable Energy Corporation expansion delayed two months – A $660 million project currently ongoing in Moses Lake is experiencing some delays. (Columbia Basin Herald)
http://www.columbiabasinherald.com/articles/2008/02/13/news/news04.txt

Geothermal company seeks tax breaks from Idaho Legislature (Idaho Statesman)
http://www.idahostatesman.com/531/story/294398.html

United Kingdom – Wind farm rejection growth fears. Economic growth will be jeopardized if plans for a massive wind farm on the Western Isles are rejected, the Scottish Chamber of Commerce has said. (British Broadcasting Corporation)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/highlands_and_islands/7241492.stm

The subsidy tease, part I – Congress needs to stop flirting with the renewable energy industry (Grist)
http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2008/2/13/111652/960

Biofuel crops mean less food for hungry (Everett Herald)
http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20080214/NEWS02/859518422/-1/RSS01

How would electric cars affect our environment? (Michigan Live)
http://www.mlive.com/environment/index.ssf/2008/02/how_would_electric_cars_affect.html

Federal Lab Says It Can Harvest Fuel From Air…With a Catch (NY Times)
http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/02/13/federal-lab-says-it-can-harvest-fuel-from-air/index.html?ex=1360731600&en=e28139ba00478512&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

CONSERVATION

11 myths about compact fluorescents – These energy-efficient bulbs have come a long way since they were introduced, but misconceptions about them linger. We asked the experts to shed some light on the issue. (MSN Real Estate)
http://realestate.msn.com/Improve/Green/Article2.aspx?cp-documentid=6022543

Internet helps Americans save more energy every year – For every kilowatt-hour of power that Internet-linked computers use, they save at least 10 times that amount, a recent study finds. (Christian Science Monitor)
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0213/p04s01-usgn.html

Eco-shower heads in dorms have Stanford students steamed (San Jose Mercury News)
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_8255482?source=rss

Disneyland revives 'House of the Future' to showcase technology (San Jose Mercury News)
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_8252286?source=rss

CLIMATE CHANGE SEQUESTRATION VAULT

Popular Science Magazine Rates Portland 'America's Greenest City' (Oregon Public Broadcasting – Please pay no attention to our coal and natural gas plants…)
http://news.opb.org/article/popular-science-mag-rates-portland-americas-greenest-city/

Bank of America to treat CO2 as liability – The bank will start considering carbon dioxide as a potential liability when it mulls financing utility sector projects (Knight Ridder Tribune Business News, via Power Marketing Association Online)
http://powermarketers.netcontentinc.net/newsreader.asp?ppa=8knpp%5E%5CikptnlrWThey30qbfen%5Fv

Venture to Use Sea to Fight Warming Runs Out of Cash – Planktos, a California company that is trying to turn a profit by fertilizing the ocean with iron dust, canceled planned field tests on Wednesday, citing a lack of funds. (NY Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/14/technology/14planktos.html?ex=1360731600&en=38a8af7e074b4a93&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

TECHNOLOGY & TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Source: Yahoo in talks with Murdoch's News Corp. to stave off Microsoft (Seattle Times)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2004180436_webyahoo13.html?syndication=rss

Little Room for Yahoo to Maneuver (NY Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/14/technology/14yahoo.html?ex=1360731600&en=33717d876b99d821&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

Layoffs Across Yahoo — Finally (NY Times)
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/02/12/layoffs-across-yahoo-finally/index.html?ex=1360645200&en=ccc9c1eadd51bee6&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

Net neutrality bill aims for fair online traffic – Opponents say it's stifling, needless regulation of Web (San Francisco Chronicle)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/02/14/BUVVV1MLN.DTL&feed=rss.business

Blueprint for big broadband not quite big enough (Wisconsin Technology Network)
http://wistechnology.com/article?id=4536

GENERAL NEWS

Bernanke says economic outlook is worse – Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress Thursday the economy is deteriorating and signaled a readiness to keep on lowering a key interest rate to shore things up. (Associated Press, via the Olympian)
http://www.theolympian.com/breakingnews/story/358914.html

Tuesday primary seems designed to irritate – Presidential balloting? For the most part, no (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/351245_primary14.html?source=rss

Senate lifts ban on public financing of local campaigns (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/351234_senate14.html?source=rss

Grays Harbor – Five honored at banquet – The firefighters of the year worked as a team during the Dec. 2-3 storm to get Grays Harbor PUD lineman Scott Daniels to Harborview Medical Center after he was knocked from a hydraulic bucket while working on power lines. (Daily World, Aberdeen)
http://www.thedailyworld.com/articles/2008/02/13/local_news/02news.txt

Seattle Times Editorial – Winter snowfall reigns in summer. Crazy winter weather inspired a recent "man bites dog" report of ski areas forced to close because of too much snow.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/editorialsopinion/2004180933_watered14.html

DIVERSIONS

Drunk driver shows up for court drunk again – four times the legal limit
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/351132_drunk14.html?source=rss

Oops! High school automated system calls all 2,550 students to detention
http://www.usatoday.com/news/offbeat/2008-02-12-fla-students_N.htm?se=yahoorefer

Regulators now spooked by ghost stories
http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSN1442888920080214?feedType=RSS&feedName=oddlyEnoughNews

Ex-mayor: Didn't steal Puddles the pooch
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080214/ap_on_fe_st/odd_mayor_dognapping;_ylt=AvOvEjIhXTv52trbYOclz6ftiBIF

Cat pulls a fast one on firefighters
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/odd_firefighters_cat;_ylt=Agz7U1kImZ2zk8owggUC.yntiBIF