Energy News Digest for April 11, 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)

- SE Washington power plant, carbon plans still in works
- Franklin PUD announces temporary rate credit – Ed Brost has been named interim manager effective May 1
- Puget Sound Energy & Avista – Some WA electric customers will get cheaper bills
- ColumbiaGrid Forms OASIS, Releases System Assessment
- Okanogan County PUD warns of scam seeking credit card numbers
- Judi Johansen gets a new job – Ex-PacifiCorp CEO/BPA Administrator named 13th president of Marylhurst University
- Natural gas stored in underground Lewis County reservoir
- New York – Gas Plant in Long Island Sound Is Rejected
- Billions of Barrels of Oil May Lie Under Northern Plains
- North Carolina – Commissioners Vote To Support Stanly County In Alcoa Dispute
- Salmon 'emergency' spawns new limits – Unprecedented fishing restrictions follow collapse of Calif. Chinook run
- Sharp Curb on Salmon Season
- Deal with tribes could raise rates up to 4 percent, Bonneville says
- Daily Astorian Editorial – Healthy river, ample fish – There may be more than one way of getting there
- Tri-City Herald Editorial – Salmon settlement likely a boon to sea lions
- Environmentalists: Agreements won’t save salmon
- Hastings, Baird seeking action on Endangered Salmon Predation Act
- California – Indictment alleges steelhead poaching near resident’s private dam
- Squaxin Island Tribe Seeks More Science On Johns Creek; Asks Ecology To Stop New Wells
- Murray blasts Administration over lack of levee funding
- U.S. Senate approves renewable energy tax credit extension
- Nevada – Prison’s $8.3 million wood-fired power plant a big loser
- Texas Study: Benefits of Wind Transmission Outweigh Costs
- United Technologies Power lands order for 110 geothermal plants
- San Jose mayor urges solar companies to do free residential installations
- World Bank Chief: Biofuels Boosting Food Prices
- Cut the electric bill without cutting the comfort
- Some Calif. utility customers targeted for $600M think tank bill
- Tribes urged to prepare for possible federal carbon incentives
- Climate Change Brings Health Risks
- Google Data Centers Mapped
- Fierce battle rages over Yahoo/Microsoft deal
- Colorado – Post-Independent Editorial – Broadband issue deserves yes vote
- Qwest plans high-speed fiber-optic network
- The End of Cheap Broadband
- Newsflash: Offer All You Can Eat and People Eat A Lot
- Retailers Fined $3.9 million Over Labels for Analog TVs
- The Top 10 Made Up Words of Web 3.0
- Governor says we've all "been lied to" on Sonics
- "Major disaster" for bees may jeopardize Washington State’s crops
- La Nina Brings Cool Spring, Warm Summer
- Thurston County Planning fund empty
- Wire thieves turn off Tacoma sign; DOT brings in generator

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

WORD OF THE DAY

Ineluctable • \in-uh-LUCK-tuh-bull\ • adjective – Not to be avoided, changed, or resisted

Herbert drew a deep sigh. He knew that the news reports would show the ineluctable stance of the opponents to what he saw was a reasonable course of action. “To keep our sport alive, we must move towards digital tiddlywinks,” he sagely intoned. Regardless, the traditionalists in his organization’s ranks refused to budge. “We’ll go digital when they pry the chips from our cold, dead hands,” they chanted.

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

SE Washington power plant, carbon plans still in works – Developers of a proposed coal-fueled power plant may have sidelined their project for the time being, but they hope it will gain steam in the future (Walla Walla Union-Bulletin)
http://www.union-bulletin.com/articles/2008/04/11/local_news/080410l1powerprojectcouldproc.txt

Franklin PUD announces temporary rate credit – Ed Brost has been named interim manager effective May 1 (Tri-City Herald)
http://www.tri-cityherald.com/901/story/153619.html

Puget Sound Energy & Avista – Some WA electric customers will get cheaper bills (Associated Press, via the Seattle Post Intelligencer)
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/6420ap_wa_electric_bills.html

ColumbiaGrid Forms OASIS, Releases System Assessment (North American Wind Power)
http://www.nawindpower.com/naw/e107_plugins/content/content_lt.php?content.2085

Okanogan County PUD warns of scam seeking credit card numbers (Omak Chronicle)
http://www.omakchronicle.com/nws/n080410c.shtml

Ex-PacifiCorp CEO/BPA Administrator named 13th president of Marylhurst University – Judith A. Johansen, who has spent virtually her entire career in the energy business, is selected over two other finalists with more traditional academic backgrounds (The Oregonian)
http://www.oregonlive.com/education/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1207796140127610.xml&coll=7

Natural gas stored in underground Lewis County reservoir (Associated Press, via Examiner.com)
http://www.examiner.com/a-1333942~Natural_gas_stored_in_underground_Lewis_County_reservoir.html?cid=rss-Washington_Headlines

New York – Gas Plant in Long Island Sound Is Rejected (NY Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/11/nyregion/11broadwater.html?_r=1&ex=1365652800&en=12f4d89ae08b8c79&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&oref=slogin

Billions of Barrels of Oil May Lie Under Northern Plains (NY Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/11/us/11oil.html?ex=1365652800&en=d32f4a70bef63e97&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

North Carolina – COMMISSIONERS VOTE TO SUPPORT STANLY COUNTY IN ALCOA DISPUTE – Cabarrus County commissioners this week voted to support neighboring Stanly County in opposing aluminum maker Alcoa's bid to renew its hydroelectric license for the Yadkin River. Stanly argues that Alcoa would pocket profits from electricity made on the Yadkin, about $8 million a year, without providing local jobs. The aluminum maker largely closed its Badin smelting plant, once powered by Yadkin dams, in 2002.Gov. Mike Easley on Friday asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to delay for one year issuing the license. Cabarrus County also lies in the Yadkin basin. Its commissioners adopted a resolution Monday that cites the need to protect water sources during a drought. (Charlotte Observer)

WATER, FISH & THE ENVIRONMENT

Salmon 'emergency' spawns new limits – Unprecedented fishing restrictions follow collapse of Calif. Chinook run (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/358664_salmon11.html?source=rss

Sharp Curb on Salmon Season – Faced with the collapse of the fall Chinook salmon run in the Sacramento River, the Pacific Fishery Management Council voted Thursday to cancel all commercial salmon fishing this year from the California coast to north-central Oregon. (NY Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/11/us/11salmon.html?ex=1365652800&en=5bd832df8cde98d2&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

Deal with tribes could raise rates up to 4 percent, Bonneville says – Not all of the money will go to new fish-protection programs, the agency also says (The Oregonian)
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1207799709233020.xml&coll=7

Daily Astorian Editorial – Healthy river, ample fish – There may be more than one way of getting there
http://www.dailyastorian.info/main.asp?SectionID=23&SubSectionID=392&ArticleID=50452

Tri-City Herald Editorial – Salmon settlement likely a boon to sea lions
http://www.tri-cityherald.com/942/story/153268.html

Environmentalists: Agreements won’t save salmon – Deals reached with Idaho and Northwest tribes provide funding for habitat work (Idaho Mountain Express)
http://www.mtexpress.com/index2.php?ID=2005120247

Hastings, Baird seeking action on Endangered Salmon Predation Act – Say a federal lawsuit filed to block the killing of sea lions could unnecessarily cause "thousands upon thousands" of endangered salmon to be destroyed (Tri-City Herald)
http://www.tri-cityherald.com/901/story/152613.html

California – Indictment alleges steelhead poaching near resident’s private dam (San Francisco Chronicle)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/04/11/BANS103RIJ.DTL&feed=rss.bayarea

SQUAXIN ISLAND TRIBE SEEKS MORE SCIENCE ON JOHNS CREEK; ASKS ECOLOGY TO STOP NEW WELLS – The Squaxin Island Tribe has filed a petition with the state Department of Ecology to stop all new water withdrawals, including permit-exempt wells, in the Johns Creek watershed. According to the Tribe's Chairman, Jim Peters, summer flows on Johns Creek are already below the minimum required by state rules to protect salmon spawning. "The responsible thing to do is for everyone to stop new water withdrawals and figure out what's really going on with the creek." Peters says the impact of over 270 exempt wells drilled in the last 25 years has never been quantified. The tribe is filing the notice under a provision of state law that closes a watershed from future withdrawals if not enough information is available to justify those withdrawals. Development of a groundwater model as proposed by the Tribe and the City of Shelton would have answered many of the questions surrounding Johns Creek, but funding for the model was denied by Ecology. The Tribe expects the Department of Ecology to respond to the petition within the 60-day period required by law. (KMAS Radio, Shelton)

Murray blasts Administration over lack of levee funding – Sen. Patty Murray sharply criticized the Bush administration Thursday for failing to ask for money for flood-control projects along the Chehalis River. She summoned U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officials to explain why (The News Tribune, Tacoma)
http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/332395.html

RENEWABLE/ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

U.S. Senate approves renewable energy tax credit extension (Atlanta Business Chronicle)
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/stories/2008/04/07/daily80.html?ana=from_rss

Nevada – Prison’s $8.3 million wood-fired power plant a big loser: After 2-month shutdown, state will farm out operations (Las Vegas Sun)
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2008/apr/11/prisons-wood-fired-power-plant-big-loser/

Texas Study: Benefits of Wind Transmission Outweigh Costs (Renewable Energy World)
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/story?id=52103&src=rss

United Technologies Power lands order for 110 geothermal plants (Mass High Tech: The Journal of New England Technology)
http://www.bizjournals.com/masshightech/stories/2008/04/07/daily51.html?ana=from_rss

San Jose mayor urges solar companies to do free residential installations (Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal)
http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/stories/2008/04/07/daily71.html?ana=from_rss

World Bank Chief: Biofuels Boosting Food Prices (National Public Radio)
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89545855&ft=1&f=3

CONSERVATION

Cut the electric bill without cutting the comfort (Medill Reports, Northwestern University)
http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/chicago/news.aspx?id=85391

CLIMATE CHANGE SEQUESTRATION VAULT

Some Calif. utility customers targeted for $600M think tank bill – Customers of privately owned utilities in California will fund a $600 million think tank charged with fighting global warming, under a plan approved Thursday by the Public Utilities Commission (San Francisco Chronicle)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/04/11/state/n055945D08.DTL&feed=rss.business

Tribes urged to prepare for possible federal carbon incentives (Indian Country Today)
http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096416971

Climate Change Brings Health Risks – A top government health official said Wednesday that climate change is expected to have a significant impact on health in the next few decades (The Associated Press, via the NY Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Climate-Health.html?ex=1365652800&en=8832fb2c3ef2fc57&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

TELECOMMUNICATIONS & TECHNOLOGY

Google Data Centers Mapped (GigaOM)
http://gigaom.com/2008/04/11/everything-you-want-to-know-about-googles-data-centers/

Fierce battle rages over Yahoo/Microsoft deal (San Francisco Chronicle)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/04/11/BUF7103GMT.DTL&feed=rss.business

Colorado – Post-Independent Editorial – Broadband issue deserves yes vote: Ballot issues will always tout the benefits for the future. Why else should voters be asked to support an issue if there aren’t benefits involved?
http://www.postindependent.com/article/20080411/VALLEYNEWS/859052598

Qwest plans high-speed fiber-optic network – Utah consumers interested in getting ultrahigh-speed Internet service may no longer have to wait for the financially struggling Utopia network to keep its promises (Salt Lake Tribune)
http://www.sltrib.com/ci_8871794

The End of Cheap Broadband (GigaOM)
http://gigaom.com/2008/04/10/the-end-of-cheap-broadband/

Newsflash: Offer All You Can Eat and People Eat A Lot – ABI Research makes a not-so-startling discovery... (Broadband Reports)
http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Newsflash-Offer-All-You-Can-Eat-And-People-Eat-A-Lot-93494

Retailers Fined $3.9 million Over Labels for Analog TVs
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/10/AR2008041003815.html?nav=rss_technology

The Top 10 Made Up Words of Web 3.0
http://darmano.typepad.com/logic_emotion/2008/04/the-top-10-made.html

GENERAL NEWS

Governor says we've all "been lied to" on Sonics (Seattle Times)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/sonics/2004341370_sonics11m.html?syndication=rss

"Major disaster" for bees may jeopardize Washington State’s crops (Seattle Times)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2004341374_bee11m.html?syndication=rss

La Nina Brings Cool Spring, Warm Summer (KIRO Radio, Seattle)
http://www.mynorthwest.com/?nid=11&sid=44526

Thurston County Planning fund empty – Money apparently spent in Futurewise dispute (The Olympian)
http://www.theolympian.com/southsound/story/415909.html

Wire thieves turn off Tacoma sign; DOT brings in generator (The News Tribune, Tacoma)
http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/332409.html

DIVERSIONS

Lake Stevens teen's pregnancy hoax fools teachers, friends
http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20080411/NEWS01/64342894/-1/RSS01

Crayola Celebrates Colorful Milestone – Company Introduces 8 New 'Kids' Choice' Colors
http://www.kirotv.com/family/15843618/detail.html

Pope Bobblehead Video Rattles D.C. Archdiocese – Metro Pulls Video From YouTube
http://www.kirotv.com/travelgetaways/15845201/detail.html

NASA plans to test lunar truck near Moses Lake
http://www.columbiabasinherald.com/articles/2008/04/10/news/news01.txt