Energy News Digest for April 28, 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)

- Oregon metal thieves hit six electrical substations
- Oregon – BPA looks into power line vandalism near St. Helens
- Talks on nuclear power revived in Washington as climate changes
- Maryland – The Path is Cleared and Paved for New Nuclear Reactor in Calvert
- Canadian uranium ban rankles industry groups
- Controversy Continues Over Washington Heat Stroke Rule
- Energy expert to assess Juneau crisis
- Aquila will pay Cass County $1.8M in power plant flap
- Incumbent, challenger vie for Eugene Water & Electric Board seat
- Arizona opposes plan for interstate power line
- Coal Replaces Gas in California Power Plant
- Candidates Perform the Coal Dance
- Application to Export Electric Energy; Minnesota Power
- Sea lion removal expected to resume today
- Sea lions removed in bid to save salmon
- No more salmon for pesky sea lions
- Jumbo squid invade coast off Northwest – Aggressive animals may threaten salmon, divers
- State restricts fall Chinook fishing – Regulations released for lower Columbia
- Sacramento Bee Op/Ed – A fisherman’s view of the salmon crisis
- Cities pay for water rights
- Scientists: Rescue plan for Sound falls short
- Humming Praises for the Wild Bee
- NBC – Today Show’s story about the Grand Coulee Dam
- Grays Harbor County PUD’s role with mill complex
- Mission: Transmission – Harvesting the breeze is trickier than it sounds
- Major Idaho Wind Farm Project Approved by Bingham County Planning and Zoning Commission
- Expert touts wind energy in Montana State University/Great Falls presentation
- Canada – Sewage could heat 30,000 Victoria homes, says expert
- Cut your gadgets' appetite for electricity
- PCs on sleep mode would save power and the climate, PDX Green says
- New Canadian light bulb standards may push up prices
- Lowering Your Energy Costs
- Action Line: Why should customers pay for Pacific Gas & Electric smart meters?
- Register-Pajaronian Op/Ed – School district should drop energy consultant
- A Vote for the 'Right to Tumble Dry' Movement
- Governors protest against federal emissions plan
- Wall Street Journal Opinion – The Real Cost of Tackling Climate Change
- REI explores the environmental cost of eco-tourism
- Geoengineered cooling of planet would have 'perilous effects'
- Time's up for Yahoo; what will Microsoft do next?
- Facebook’s Insatiable Hunger for Hardware
- IBM’s Plan to Slash Massive Power Needs
- Report clears adviser's role in wireless auction
- Starbucks rolls out AT&T Wi-Fi service
- Mills struggle as home construction slow, lumber prices fall
- Snoqualmie Indians feuding over control of tribe
- Want to Unseat Congressman Hastings? Good Luck
- Group Wants To Make Eastern Oregon Its Own State

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

WORD OF THE DAY

Timbre • \TAM-burr or TIM-burr\ • noun – The quality given to a sound by its overtones: as a: the resonance by which the ear recognizes and identifies a voiced speech sound b: the quality of tone distinctive of a particular singing voice or musical instrument.

Joel was so excited. His new, mahogany ukulele had arrived from Michigan….and on the first strum he found the timbre of the diminutive instrument quite pleasing. “Wow,” he enthused. “The resonance is outstanding! Well, as resonant as this dinky little wooden box can be.” The employees in the offices around quickly became tired of the incessant, tinny strains of “My Funny Valentine.”

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

Oregon metal thieves hit six electrical substations – Criminals have turned to electrical substations in Linn County, risking their lives (Albany Democrat-Herald, via Examiner.com)
http://www.examiner.com/a-1359855~Oregon_metal_thieves_hit_electrical_substations.html?cid=rss-Oregon_Headlines

Oregon – BPA looks into power line vandalism near St. Helens (The Oregonian)
http://blog.oregonlive.com/breakingnews/2008/04/bpa_looks_into_power_line_vand.html

Talks on nuclear power revived in Washington as climate changes (Tri City Herald)
http://www.tri-cityherald.com/901/story/167995.html

Maryland – The Path is Cleared and Paved for New Nuclear Reactor in Calvert (Bay Media Services)
http://www.thebaynet.com/news/index.cfm/fa/viewstory/story_ID/8332

Canadian uranium ban rankles industry groups – But it may come as no surprise: A British Columbia official says groups were told last year of the coming prohibition (The Globe and Mail)
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080426.BCURANIUM26/TPStory/National

Controversy Continues Over Washington Heat Stroke Rule (Oregon Public Radio)
http://news.opb.org/article/controversy-continues-over-washington-heat-stroke-rule/

Energy expert to assess Juneau crisis (The Associated Press, via KTVA-TV, Anchorage)
http://www.ktva.com/alaskanews/ci_9075799

Aquila will pay Cass County $1.8M in power plant flap – Plant built without county approval. (Kansas City Business Journal)
http://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/stories/2008/04/21/daily44.html?ana=from_rss

Incumbent, challenger vie for Eugene Water & Electric Board seat – When John Simpson first sought election to EWEB four years ago, he pledged to himself that he would serve for a total of 12 years – voters willing. (The Register-Guard)
http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/dt.cms.support.viewStory.cls?cid=96435&sid=4&fid=1

Arizona opposes plan for interstate power line – A California utility may be first to apply to build under a 2005 law (The Oregonian)
http://www.oregonlive.com/business/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/business/1209182114294350.xml&coll=7

Coal Replaces Gas in California Power Plant – Searles Valley Minerals Operations Inc. (SVM) is located in the California high desert near the town of Trona (Power Engineering)
http://pepei.pennnet.com/display_article/326577/6/ARTCL/none/none/1/Coal-Replaces-Gas-in-California-Power-Plant/

Candidates Perform the Coal Dance – Four of the seven remaining presidential primaries are in big coal-producing states. This forces Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton to walk a fine line, balancing concerns about global warming with concerns about energy (National Public Radio)
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89984931

Application to Export Electric Energy; Minnesota Power (transit route includes Bonneville Power Administration)
http://www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/news/Stock%20News/1443769/

FISH & WILDLIFE

Sea lion removal expected to resume today (The Columbian)
http://www.columbian.com/news/localNews/2008/04/04282008_Sea-lion-removal-expected-to-resume-today.cfm/

Sea lions removed in bid to save salmon – Alternative was to put them down since they're feeding on threatened fish (MSNBC)
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24352029/

No more salmon for pesky sea lions – Salmon isn’t on the menu at Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium, but for the next couple of weeks Tacoma’s zoo will host a bunch of sea lions with expensive tastes (News Tribune, Tacoma)
http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/345000.html

Jumbo squid invade coast off Northwest – Aggressive animals may threaten salmon, divers (Bellingham Herald)
http://www.bellinghamherald.com/255/story/392822.html

State restricts fall Chinook fishing – Regulations released for lower Columbia (The Olympian)
http://www.theolympian.com/outdoors/story/430780.html

Sacramento Bee Op/Ed – A fisherman’s view of the salmon crisis (The Sacramento Bee)
http://www.sacbee.com/110/story/894138.html

WATER & THE ENVIRONMENT

Cities pay for water rights – Price insufficient, brewery owner says. The cities of Lacey, Olympia and Tumwater have taken formal possession of the water rights held by the former Olympia brewery. (The Olympian)
http://www.theolympian.com/news/story/430521.html

Scientists: Rescue plan for Sound falls short – The latest blueprint to rescue Puget Sound fails to deal with the biggest source of pollution, scientists charge (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/360706_stormwater26.html

Humming Praises for the Wild Bee (NY Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/24/garden/24garden.html?ex=1367121600&en=f64a9a4937c790fe&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

RENEWABLE/ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

NBC – Today Show’s story about the Grand Coulee Dam (NBC, accessible via WPUDA web site)
http://www.wpuda.org/

PUD’s role with mill complex – The Grays Harbor PUD must do some nimble legal footwork to make sure its plan to generate power at the Cosmopolis Pulp mill doesn’t run afoul of the law, state officials said (Daily World, Aberdeen)
http://www.thedailyworld.com/articles/2008/04/27/local_news/02news.txt

Mission: Transmission – Harvesting the breeze is trickier than it sounds. “BANANA” is the wind industry’s bitter motto for its farms—meaning Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anyone. Most people do not want to see or hear a wind farm, just as they want to stay clear of other power plants (The Economist Magazine)
http://www.economist.com/world/international/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11114962

News Release – Major Idaho Wind Farm Project Approved by Bingham County Planning and Zoning Commission (Ridgeline Energy, via PR Newswire)
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=109&STORY=/www/story/04-24-2008/0004800051&EDATE=

Expert touts wind energy in Montana State University/Great Falls presentation (Great Falls Tribune)
http://www.greatfallstribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080428/NEWS01/804280301

Canada – Sewage could heat 30,000 Victoria homes, says expert – Greater Victoria flushes enough energy down its sewage pipes each day to heat at least 30,000 homes, says a Seattle expert hired as a consultant by the Capital Regional District (Victoria Times Colonist)
http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/story.html?id=a2ec96f0-6886-4fac-8796-4a8e7342d508&k=21516

CONSERVATION

Cut your gadgets' appetite for electricity (Seattle Times)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2004377719_btsoho28.html?syndication=rss

PCs on sleep mode would save power and the climate, PDX Green says – Estimates say 90 percent of the machines don't make use of the technology they already have (The Oregonian)
http://www.oregonlive.com/environment/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1208996730180240.xml&coll=7

New Canadian light bulb standards may push up prices (Victoria Times-Colonist)
http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/story.html?id=2db780e8-40c8-46ff-a7ce-bd959c46edb4&k=86644

Lowering Your Energy Costs – Summer is fast approaching, and for many Americans, with the heat comes a higher energy bill (CBS News)
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/04/27/personalfinance/main4048845.shtml

Action Line: Why should customers pay for Pacific Gas & Electric smart meters? (San Jose Mercury News)
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_9081354?source=rss

Register-Pajaronian Op/Ed – School district should drop energy consultant (Watsonville, CA)
http://www.register-pajaronian.com/V2_news_articles.php?heading=0&story_id=4155&page=77

A Vote for the 'Right to Tumble Dry' Movement – Environmentalists want people to curb their use of tumble dryers. But some refuse to let go of their dryer sheets (National Public Radio)
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89979943&ft=1&f=10

CLIMATE CHANGE SEQUESTRATION VAULT

Governors protest against federal emissions plan – Gov. Schwarzenegger and 11 others (including Washington State) say in a letter to President Bush that a greenhouse gas proposal for autos is 'an end run around 40 years of precedent.' (Los Angeles Times)
http://www.latimes.com/business/printedition/la-fiw-fuel25apr25,1,3802594.story

Wall Street Journal Opinion – The Real Cost of Tackling Climate Change
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120934459094348617.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

REI explores the environmental cost of eco-tourism (Seattle Times)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2004375890_sundaybuzz27.html

Geoengineered cooling of planet would have 'perilous effects' (CNET News)
http://www.news.com/8301-11128_3-9928831-54.html?tag=nl.e433

TELECOMMUNICATIONS & TECHNOLOGY

Time's up for Yahoo; what will Microsoft do next? (Seattle Times)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/microsoft/2004374944_microsoftyhoo26.html

Facebook’s Insatiable Hunger for Hardware (GigaOM)
http://gigaom.com/2008/04/25/facebooks-insatiable-hunger-for-hardware/

IBM’s Plan to Slash Massive Power Needs – IBM, the granddaddy of computing, uses 5 billion kilowatt hours to power its data center operations each year (Earth2Tech)
http://earth2tech.com/2008/04/25/ibms-plan-to-slash-massive-power-needs/

Report clears adviser's role in wireless auction – An investigation has cleared a for-profit adviser of any blame for tripping up U.S. government plans to create a wireless network that could be shared with emergency workers (Reuters, via Yahoo! Finance)
http://biz.yahoo.com/rb/080425/wireless_auction.html?.v=2

Starbucks rolls out AT&T Wi-Fi service (Portland Business Journal)
http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2008/04/21/daily50.html?ana=from_rss

GENERAL NEWS

Mills struggle as home construction slow, lumber prices fall (Everett Herald)
http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20080428/BIZ/443353548/-1/RSS01

Snoqualmie Indians feuding over control of tribe (The Associated Press, via the Olympian)
http://www.theolympian.com/northwest/story/432454.html

Want to Unseat Congressman Hastings? Good Luck (NW Public Radio)
http://www.nwpr.org/07/HomepageArticles/Article.aspx?n=3796

Group Wants To Make Eastern Oregon Its Own State (KIRO-TV, Seattle)
http://www.kirotv.com/news/16010613/detail.html

DIVERSIONS

After Losing Job, Ex-Mayor In Dognap Scandal Loses The Dog
http://www.kirotv.com/news/15994942/detail.html

Buddy The 'Beautiful Bulldog' Excels At Sleeping, Snoring
http://www.kirotv.com/irresistible/15968904/detail.html

Louisiana Panel Blocks Anti-Droopy Pants Bill
http://www.kirotv.com/irresistible/15968923/detail.html