Energy News Digest for April 10, 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)

- Debate on PSE deal goes beyond foreign buyer – Effect on public is biggest concern
- UTC to vote Thursday on rate relief for PSE customers
- BPA refund means Prosser-area electric bills will decrease
- Ephrata resident Don Long announces candidacy for Grant County PUD Commission
- Preventing Power Outages One Tree at a Time
- Maryland – High-stakes energy debate hardly over
- New Jersey Energy trader guilty of fraud involving natural gas futures
- FERC Oversight Attacked
- Study Reveals Critical Industry Issues That Keep North American Energy Executives Up at Night
- Disagreement surfaces about $900M fish plan
- Idaho Announces Long-Term, $65 Million Fish Agreement with Bonneville Power Administration
- Seattle Post-Intelligencer Editorial Board – Wild Salmon: Let science rule
- Pacific Salmon Fishery Faces Limits, Closure
- Alaska Chinook allocation down by 48 percent
- Salmon limits won't affect Columbia
- Canada – Activists deem development a 'travesty' for salmon runs
- Mammoth snowpack generates encouraging outlook about region's water supply
- Critics Blast Water Truce in Central Washington
- Oregon Wine Country Towns Look To Willamette Drinking Water
- Bottlers, looking for water, meet resistance across U.S.
- US Senate expected to extend federal tax credits for solar project to 2016
- Florida baseball team buys carbon credits from Bonneville Environmental Foundation
- New York Wind Farm Buffets Family, Town Relations
- The push to electric cars will come with hidden costs
- The emergence of the smart meter
- Seattle Post Intelligencer Guest Columnist – Green jobs law an empty promise
- Secret deal: Canadian cars to follow Calif. pollution standards
- Washington State Internet law to improve access
- Port Ludlow merchants pitched idea of 'digital village'
- Verizon Sues Time Warner Cable Over Advertising
- Does the Internet Need More Roads or Better Traffic Signals?
- Shelton High School track in 'horrible' condition

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

WORD OF THE DAY

Coalesce • \koe-uh-LESS\ • verb – 1: to grow together 2a: to unite into a whole: fuse *b: to unite for a common end: join forces 3: to arise from the combination of distinct elements

The special interest lobbyists were displaying a wonderful springtime dance on the lawn in front of the capitol building. Their wheeling steps gently drew the different lines of the dark-suited men and women into one seething mass, which then coalesced into the shape of a dollar sign, reminiscent of a Busby Berkeley choreographed musical sequence. “Bravo,” breathed the congressional aid, who observed the activity from his perch atop the capitol dome.

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

Debate on PSE deal goes beyond foreign buyer – Effect on public is biggest concern (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/358441_pse10.html?source=rss

UTC to vote Thursday on rate relief for PSE customers (The Olympian)
http://www.theolympian.com/breakingnews/story/414359.html

BPA refund means Prosser-area electric bills will decrease (Yakima Herald-Republic)
http://www.yakima-herald.com/stories/3055

Ephrata resident Don Long announces candidacy for Grant County PUD Commission (Columbia Basin Herald)
http://www.columbiabasinherald.com/articles/2008/04/09/news/news05.txt

Preventing Power Outages One Tree at a Time (KNDO-TV, Tri-Cities)
http://www.kndu.com/global/story.asp?s=8144725

Maryland – High-stakes energy debate hardly over: Key issues remain unsettled (McClatchy Tribune Business News, via Power Marketers Industry Publications)
http://powermarketers.netcontentinc.net/newsreader.asp?ppa=8knpp%5E%5CjlplmrlRSmkt9K%22bfen%5Fv

New Jersey Energy trader guilty of fraud involving natural gas futures (The Record)
http://www.northjersey.com/business/news/17412884.html

FERC Oversight Attacked – A government watchdog agency is attacking federal energy regulators, saying that that they are not properly monitoring the convergence among electric and gas utilities (EnergyBiz Insider, via Power Marketers Industry Publications)
http://powermarketers.netcontentinc.net/newsreader.asp?ppa=8kowu%5D%5CjlqqstrXSmkt9K%22bfen%5Fv

News Release – Study Reveals Critical Industry Issues That Keep North American Energy Executives Up at Night (Electric Energy Online)
http://www.electricenergyonline.com/IndustryNews.asp?m=1&id=87150

WATER, FISH & THE ENVIRONMENT

Disagreement surfaces about $900M fish plan – "…The interests of the environmental plaintiffs are narrow, and their objective seems to be singular — focused on Snake River dam breaching. The tribes go well beyond extinction issues. We want healthy, viable populations of all stocks — listed or unlisted — across the [Columbia River] basin," including unlisted salmon, steelhead and lamprey…” (Associated Press, via the Seattle Times)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2004338997_bpatribes10m.html?syndication=rss

Idaho Announces Long-Term Agreement with Bonneville Power Administration – 10-year $65 million funding today to enhance fish recovery projects in Idaho (KIFI-TV, Idaho Falls)
http://www.localnews8.com/Global/story.asp?S=8143850&nav=menu554_2_2

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Editorial Board – Wild Salmon: Let science rule
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/358415_salmoned.html?source=rss

Pacific Salmon Fishery Faces Limits, Closure (National Public Radio)
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89521887&ft=1&f=3

Alaska Chinook allocation down by 48 percent (Juneau Empire)
http://www.juneauempire.com/stories/041008/loc_267164185.shtml

Salmon limits won't affect Columbia (Yakima Herald-Republic)
http://www.yakimaherald.com/stories/3066

Canada – Activists deem development a 'travesty' for salmon runs – Adams River condo and marina proposal will destroy fish habitat, environmentalists say (The Globe and Mail)
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080410.wbcmarina10/BNStory/National/home

Mammoth snowpack generates encouraging outlook about region's water supply (Seattle Times)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2004338916_snowpack10m.html

Critics Blast Water Truce in Central Washington (Northwest Public Radio)
http://www.nwpr.org/07/HomepageArticles/Article.aspx?n=3762

Oregon Wine Country Towns Look To Willamette Drinking Water – water is starting to get increasingly tight across western Oregon, as well, particularly in wine country (Oregon Public Broadcasting)
http://news.opb.org/article/water-wars-brewing-oregons-wine-country/

Bottlers, looking for water, meet resistance across U.S. (Associated Press, via the Seattle Times)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2004338809_waterbottling10.html?syndication=rss

RENEWABLE/ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

US Senate expected to extend federal tax credits for solar project to 2016 (Portland Business Journal)
http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2008/04/07/daily30.html?ana=from_rss

Florida baseball team buys carbon credits from Bonneville Environmental Foundation (Tampa Bay Business Journal)
http://www.bizjournals.com/tampabay/stories/2008/04/07/daily42.html?ana=from_rss

New York Wind Farm Buffets Family, Town Relations (National Public Radio)
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89432191&ft=1&f=2

The push to electric cars will come with hidden costs – A large-scale switch from gas to electricity would require new sources of power for the provincial grid. (The Vancouver Sun)
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/editorial/story.html?id=99e1c72d-cd35-4812-b034-62f52c14d127

CONSERVATION

The emergence of the smart meter (San Jose Mercury News)
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_8874601?source=rss

CLIMATE CHANGE SEQUESTRATION VAULT

Seattle Post Intelligencer Guest Columnist – Green jobs law an empty promise
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/358407_climate10.html?source=rss

Secret deal: Canadian cars to follow Calif. pollution standards (Canwest News Service)
http://www.canada.com/topics/news/story.html?id=613b44ae-832c-4cf3-9215-7d81f57eda96&k=14444

TELECOMMUNICATIONS & TECHNOLOGY

Washington State Internet law to improve access – Internet Deployment and Adoption Initiative brings hope that one day fast, affordable Internet access may span the state (The Columbian)
http://www.columbian.com/business/businessNews/2008/04/04102008_Internet-law-to-improve-access.cfm/

Port Ludlow merchants pitched idea of 'digital village' – Peninsula Daily News
http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/article/20080410/NEWS/804100305

Verizon Sues Time Warner Cable – what is a “fiber network?) – Verizon is seeking a restraining order to prevent Time Warner from running its supposedly defamatory ads, unspecified monetary damages, and an order requiring it to retract its previous claims (Light Reading)
http://www.lightreading.com/document.asp?doc_id=150783&site=cdn&f_src=lightreading_gnews

Does the Internet Need More Roads or Better Traffic Signals? (GigaOM)
http://gigaom.com/2008/04/10/does-the-internet-need-more-roads-or-better-traffic-signals/

GENERAL NEWS

Shelton High School track in 'horrible' condition (The Olympian)
http://www.theolympian.com/143/story/414989.html

DIVERSIONS

Dry cleaner gives same-day steam cleaning service to thieves – while their clothes were still on them!
http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSN0944801020080409?feedType=RSS&feedName=oddlyEnoughNews

Big, Black Dogs May Scare Away Adopters – Stereotypes May Keep Fine Dogs In Shelters
http://www.kirotv.com/family/15843868/detail.html?rss=sea&psp=irresistible

Car wash finds $500,000 diamond pendant
http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSL1050973720080410?feedType=RSS&feedName=oddlyEnoughNews

Beer-sipping clients have taxes done in a bar
http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSN1034276220080410?feedType=RSS&feedName=oddlyEnoughNews