Energy News Digest for April 3, 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)

- Electric customers of Puget Sound Energy can expect one month of rate relief
- Idaho Falls Power Rebate on the Agenda
- Court hears appeal of Enron's Skilling
- Star of Grand Coulee Op/Ed – Take another look at I-937
- The Peninsula Gateway Editorial – Peninsula Power & Light union deal a sign of future dealings
- Woman to get $450,000 in storm-related lawsuit
- Clark Public Utilities’ Bekkedahl Hired By BPA
- News Release – FERC approves $85.7 million Western energy settlement
- Toshiba Plans Nuclear Reactors in U.S.
- Texas – TXU Corp.'s buyer, Energy Future Holdings, reports $637 million loss
- News Release – NorthWestern Energy Files Application to Begin Trading on New York Stock Exchange
- Oregon’s Coast Range Snow Pack Breaks Records “…a whopping 474% of average…”
- Oregon boasts a record and bounty of snowpack
- California – Fishermen take salmon pleas to Washington
- Columbia River sport Chinook catch already at 4,400
- Snag (actually, fish for them, snagging is illegal) best salmon of year now on Columbia River
- Budd Inlet cleanup plan gains support
- La Center may use financial reserves to subsidize sewer rates
- Moses Lake – 'Manpower issues' resolved at REC Silicon site
- Firms seek to make solar power more affordable
- Desert Power: A Solar Renaissance
- Michigan – A Five Percent Hike: Holland electric rate hike to buy renewable energy
- U.S. Geothermal to Acquire Nevada Power Plant, Land and Water Rights
- Distributed vs. Utility Scale Renewables: A Dead-End Battle
- Report: Massachusetts energy efficiency savings are overstated
- New York – EPA claims CFL lights are harmless in home
- Washington one of 17 states suing EPA over global warming
- Seattle Post-Intelligencer Editorial – Greenhouse Gases: Forcing feds' hand
- Anchorage Daily News Op/Ed – Light bulbs and gimmicks won't stop global warming
- Task of Reversing Warming Grows More Daunting
- Grant County PUD commits to fiber expansion
- Comcast to Twin Cities: Want WideBand? Gonna Cost You Big
- 5 Ways to test if your ISP throttles P2P
- New frontier for wireless industry: boosting cell phone coverage in the home
- Sawdust: Once a nuisance, now valuable
- Dozens of trees butchered in Tumwater, 'Tree City USA'
- Seattle City Leaders Propose Fees On Disposable Shopping Bags
- Murray, Dicks excel in 'pork' spending – Projects are lawmakers' personal priorities
- California – Corona games called by darkness, copper wiring for lights stolen
- Sir Brad: Spain Honors WA Lieutenant Governor

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

WORD OF THE DAY

Infantilize • \IN-fant-tile-eyes\ • verb – To cause to be or remain like an infant or young child 2: to treat like an infant or young child

“And how’s our widdle patient today?” crooned the nurse to the recovering 50 year old heart attack patient. “He’s a little sick and tired of your efforts to infantilize him,” the patient thought to himself, his furrowed brow giving the nurse her warning that another goo goo statement would draw his ire. “However,” he mused, “those little Jell-O packs go down easy in my tummwy wummy!”

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

Some good news about your utility costs ... at least for one bill – Electric customers of Puget Sound Energy can expect one month of rate relief when the utility sends out its mid-April to mid-May bills. (The Olympian)
http://www.theolympian.com/news/story/407491.html

Idaho Falls Power Rebate on the Agenda – There's a big chance some of you could see a rebate coming in your power bill in the coming months. But, that hinges on what Idaho Falls City Council decides Thursday night. (KIDK-TV, Idaho Falls)
http://www.kidk.com/news/16632446.html

Court hears appeal of Enron's Skilling (Tri-City Herald)
http://www.tri-cityherald.com/business/business_wire/story/144336.html

Star of Grand Coulee Op/Ed – Take another look at I-937 – Don Brunell, President of Association of Washington Business
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1013&dept_id=387710&newsid=19446789&PAG=461&rfi=9

The Peninsula Gateway Editorial – Peninsula Power & Light union deal a sign of future dealings
http://www.gateline.com/opinion/story/1007.html

Woman to get $450,000 in storm-related lawsuit – She sued the state and the City of Aberdeen for injuries she sustained in a 2006 storm, when high winds caused a light pole on the Chehalis River Bridge to fall onto her car, trapping her inside and severely injuring her. (The Daily World, Aberdeen)
http://www.thedailyworld.com/articles/2008/04/02/local_news/03news.txt

CLARK PUBLIC UTILITIES’ BEKKEDAHL HIRED BY BPA – Larry Bekkedahl, formerly director of engineering and technical services at Clark Public Utilities, will join the Bonneville Power Administration on Thursday as the regional electricity marketer's vice president of engineering and technical services. Bekkedahl joined Clark Public Utilities in 2001, after 20 years with other Northwest utilities. Bekkedahl will hold one of five vice president positions in BPA's transmission services division. He will manage the division's capital construction program and its 2008 budget of more than $300 million. The six branch managers who will report to Bekkedahl supervise BPA's land acquisitions and agreements; transmission lines, substation and control and communication engineering; construction project management; as well as the agency's commissioning and testing activities. (The Columbian)

News Release – FERC approves $85.7 million Western energy settlement (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission)
http://www.ferc.gov/news/news-releases/2008/2008-2/04-02-08.asp

Toshiba Plans Nuclear Reactors in U.S. (National Public Radio)
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89333919&ft=1&f=3

Texas – TXU Corp.'s buyer, Energy Future Holdings, reports $637 million loss (McClatchy Tribune Business News, via the Power Marketing Association Online)
http://powermarketers.netcontentinc.net/newsreader.asp?ppa=8knpp%5E%5CjjpumltYSfdt9K%22bfen%5Fv

News Release – NorthWestern Energy Files Application to Begin Trading on New York Stock Exchange (Yahoo! Finance)
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/080403/aqth525.html?.v=2

WATER, FISH & THE ENVIRONMENT

Oregon’s Coast Range Snow Pack Breaks Records “…snowpack in the coast range is a whopping 474% of average…” (Oregon Public Broadcasting)
http://news.opb.org/article/coast-range-snow-pack-breaks-records/

Oregon boasts a record and bounty of snowpack – Winter deposits twice as much in the state's snow bank as last year and sets a record snowfall total at Mt. Hood Meadows (The Oregonian)
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1207106713137090.xml&coll=7

California – Fishermen take salmon pleas to Washington – West Coast commercial fishermen are on Capitol Hill this week urging Congressional leaders to investigate the worst salmon fishery collapse in history. (The Eureka Times-Standard)
http://www.times-standard.com/localnews/ci_8793240

Columbia River sport Chinook catch already at 4,400 (The Columbian)
http://www.columbian.com/sports/localNews/2008/04/04032008_Sport-chinook-catch-already-at-4400.cfm/

Snag (actually, fish for them, snagging is illegal) best salmon of year now on Columbia River (The Olympian)
http://www.theolympian.com/outdoors/story/407463.html

Budd Inlet cleanup plan gains support – A community-based plan to clean up and protect Budd Inlet is taking shape among four local governments. (The Olympian)
http://www.theolympian.com/news/story/407490.html

La Center may use financial reserves to subsidize sewer rates – Almost $1.6 million in reserves to be drawn down over five years (The Columbian)
http://www.columbian.com/news/localNews/2008/04/04022008_La-Center-may-use-financial-reserves-to-subsidize-sewer-rates.cfm?newsletter=2

RENEWABLE/ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

Moses Lake – 'Manpower issues' resolved at REC Silicon site – The construction manager on a major Moses Lake expansion project and a union of plate fitters resolved a situation which arose in late March (Columbia Basin Herald)
http://www.columbiabasinherald.com/articles/2008/04/02/news/news01.txt

Firms seek to make solar power more affordable – Companies launch programs to cut the initial outlay for homeowners to as little as 10% of the total installation cost (Los Angeles Times)
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-solar3apr03,1,405880.story

Desert Power: A Solar Renaissance (GeoTimes)
http://www.geotimes.org/apr08/article.html?id=feature_solar.html

Michigan – A Five Percent Hike: Holland electric rate hike to buy renewable energy (The Grand Rapids Press)
http://www.mlive.com/news/grpress/index.ssf?/base/news-41/1207228527211970.xml&coll=6

U.S. Geothermal to Acquire Nevada Power Plant, Land and Water Rights (Renewable Energy World)
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/story?id=52057&src=rss

Distributed vs. Utility Scale Renewables: A Dead-End Battle (Renewable Energy World)
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/reinsider/story?id=52046&src=rss

CONSERVATION

Report: Massachusetts energy efficiency savings are overstated (Boston Business Journal)
http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/stories/2008/03/31/daily48.html?ana=from_rss

New York – EPA claims CFL lights are harmless in home – I am writing to dispute a recent letter to the editor (March 16) that claimed that Compact Florescent Light bulbs are hazardous (Albany Times Union)
http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=677621&category=OPINION&newsdate=4/3/2008

CLIMATE CHANGE SEQUESTRATION VAULT

Washington one of 17 states suing EPA over global warming (Associated Press, via the Everett Herald)
http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20080402/NEWS03/183763624/-1/RSS01

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Editorial – Greenhouse Gases: Forcing feds' hand
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/357468_greenhoused.html?source=rss

Anchorage Daily News Op/Ed – Light bulbs and gimmicks won't stop global warming
http://www.adn.com/opinion/story/364067.html

Task of Reversing Warming Grows More Daunting (National Public Radio)
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89318798

TELECOMMUNICATIONS & TECHNOLOGY

Grant County PUD commits to fiber expansion – Commissioners approve $50 million for aggressive build out through 2012 (Wenatchee World)
http://wenatcheeworld.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080402/NEWS04/611433786

Comcast to Twin Cities: Want WideBand? Gonna Cost You Big (GigaOM)http://gigaom.com/2008/04/02/comcast-docsis3-0-wideband/

5 Ways to test if your ISP throttles P2P (GigaOM)
http://gigaom.com/2008/04/02/5-ways-to-test-if-your-isp-throttles-p2p/

New frontier for wireless industry: boosting cell phone coverage in the home – “And while you’re at it, don’t forget to buy the optional ‘Faraday Cage’ you Luddites” (San Jose Mercury News)
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_8784692?source=rss

GENERAL NEWS

Sawdust: Once a nuisance, now valuable – From Maine to Oregon, the price of sawdust, along with other wood byproducts, has soared. (The Associated Press, via the Seattle Times)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2004323874_sawdust03.html?syndication=rss

Dozens of trees butchered in Tumwater, 'Tree City USA' (KOMO-TV, Seattle)
http://www.komotv.com/news/local/17245614.html

Seattle City Leaders Propose Fees On Disposable Shopping Bags (KIRO-TV, Seattle)
http://www.kirotv.com/news/15774371/detail.html

Murray, Dicks excel in 'pork' spending – Projects are lawmakers' personal priorities (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/357525_earmarkswash031.html?source=rss

California – Corona games called by darkness, copper wiring for lights stolen (The Press-Enterprise, via Examiner.com)
http://www.examiner.com/a-1318196~Corona_games_called_by_darkness__copper_wiring_for_lights_stolen.html?cid=rss-California_Headlines

Sir Brad: Spain Honors WA Lieutenant Governor (The Olympian)
http://www.theolympian.com/northwest/story/407025.html

DIVERSIONS

Man crowded out of home by collecting passion
http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSL0236222520080402?feedType=RSS&feedName=oddlyEnoughNews

11-year-old outsmarts Smithsonian museum – Michigan Boy Finds Mistake In Exhibit
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_8793447?source=rss

Book Names 'Pork-Barrel Pigs' Of Congress
http://www.kirotv.com/politics/15772329/detail.html

Canadian Legislator offers his 2 cents: scrap penny (Australians round to the nearest five cents)
http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSN0238889020080403?feedType=RSS&feedName=oddlyEnoughNews

'Goldilocks' found asleep in Chehalis home cited for trespass
http://www.examiner.com/a-1318229~_Goldilocks__found_asleep_in_Chehalis_home_cited_for_trespass.html?cid=rss-Washington_Headlines