Energy News Digest for May 15, 2008

The Energy News Digest will be on vacation May 16 and May 19 as it travels down the Oregon Coast to invest in the tourist trade. It will return rested and relaxed on May 20.

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)

- Puget Sound Energy may raise rates
- Utilities' executive pay will get closer look from Washington State Utilities and Transportation Commission
- PenLight CEO sets eyes on the future
- Utilities seek public’s help to thwart thefts of metal
- Montana – Ex-energy executive: Phase out coal, oil
- FERC Sees Higher US Wholesale Electricity Prices
- New York – State, federal energy policies topic of power producers annual meeting
- Energy Pulse Commentary – Winning Over Customers – Challenges of Growing Online Bill Payment
- Heatstroke killed six trapped sea lions at Bonneville Dam
- New column Part 1: Shoot the messenger, not the sea lions
- New column Part 2: Salmon are a uniter, not a divider
- Anglers blast wildlife officials in Cathlamet over Columbia Chinook fishing
- Port of Grays Harbor touts what fishing there is
- Spring salmon season off to good start on Klamath
- Survey shows trout vital to Montana
- Makah judge fails to empanel jury to prosecute whalers
- City of Olympia, tribe agreement aims to ease water worries
- Bellingham Herald Op/Ed – Squaxin Island Tribe finds basis in state law to limit wells, conserve water
- Seattle Times Editorial – Failing our Sound
- EPA asks Grant County to help start well sampling program
- North Carolina – Bad gauge measured water level too high
- Pacific Gas & Electric to Congress: take action on renewable-energy tax credits
- San Francisco Chronicle Op/Ed – Congress must side with renewable energy tax credits
- Ohio mill's power going green – Plant will simultaneously generate electricity and heat
- Solar-plant builder BrightSource raises $115 million
- IBM magnifying power of solar cells
- In-River Turbines – New idea would turn Niagara River into power plant
- California – Lafayette schools to install solar panels
- Seattle Times Guest columnist – Biofuels and food: a grain of truth
- Pacific Northwest energy conservation hits high in 2007
- San Francisco Mayor touts green standards at D.C. hearing
- Salt Lake Tribune Editorial – Getting green: Energy conservation begins with individuals
- Washington State University Offers Energy Saving Schedule Change
- SE Washington Carbon Sequestration Experiment Meets Opposition
- Oregon Governor asks CFOs for backing on green initiatives, transportation
- Polar Bear Is Made a Protected Species
- A $3 trillion climate change battle
- Rural Telcos Bring Fiber-to-the-Boondocks
- Digital divide in U.S. closing slowly but still 'significant'
- Tennessee: Cable group seeks EPB suit rehearing
- Reversing trend, cable modems win over DSL
- After Embarrassing failure, FCC starts over with emergency network push
- Billionaire investor will lead revolt against Yahoo, report says
- Ask.com plans to announce that it has agreed to acquire privately-held Lexico
- CBS buying CNet for $1.8 billion
- Forecasters say Washington weather turning hot
- Hot Weather, Quick Snow Melt to Cause Dangerous Conditions
- State Rep. Mary Skinner bows out of politics
- Mars Lander May Find First Signs of Life on the Red Planet

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

WORD OF THE DAY

Titivate • \TIH-tuh-vayt\ • verb – To make or become smart or spruce

With a June wedding approaching, Gaylord worked long hours to titivate his backwoods cabin. The crowning glory, however, were the two life-sized black velvet paintings of Elvis that were slated for the master suite. The young Elvis was to be placed near the closet. Ironically, the old, jump-suited Elvis was inadvertently placed in the bathroom. (Ouch…sorry Elvis fans)

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

Puget Sound Energy may raise rates (MyNorthwest.com)
http://www.mynorthwest.com/?nid=11&sid=55248

Utilities' executive pay will get closer look from Washington State Utilities and Transportation Commission (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/virgin/363086_virgin15.html?source=rss

PenLight CEO sets eyes on the future (The Peninsula Gateway, Gig Harbor)
http://www.gateline.com/106/story/1376.html

Utilities seek public’s help to thwart thefts of metal (The Eugene Register-Guard)
http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/dt.cms.support.viewStory.cls?cid=100728&sid=4&fid=1

Montana – Ex-energy executive: Phase out coal, oil (The Missoulian)
http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2008/05/14/news/mtregional/news07.txt

FERC Sees Higher US Wholesale Electricity Prices (Dow Jones NewsWire)
http://www.nasdaq.com/aspxcontent/NewsStory.aspx?cpath=20080515%5cACQDJON200805151121DOWJONESDJONLINE000762.htm&&mypage=newsheadlines&title=UPDATE:%20FERC%20Sees%20Higher%20US%20Wholesale%20Electricity%20Prices

New York – State, federal energy policies topic of power producers annual meeting – Anti coal efforts fail to gain traction (The Business Review)
http://www.bizjournals.com/albany/stories/2008/05/12/daily32.html?ana=from_rss

Energy Pulse Commentary – Winning Over Customers – Challenges of Growing Online Bill Payment
http://www.energypulse.net/centers/article/article_display.cfm?a_id=1735

FISH & WILDLIFE

Heatstroke killed six trapped sea lions at Bonneville Dam – Necropsies – With the cage doors shut; the animals couldn't reach the water to cool off (The Oregonian)
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/121082191574480.xml&coll=7

Government: Overheating may have killed sea lions (The Associated Press, via the Seattle Times)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2004415552_sealions15m.html

New column Part 1: Shoot the messenger, not the sea lions (The Daily News, Longview)
http://www.tdn.com/articles/2008/05/15//area_news/doc482a167d5aaa1735795551.txt

New column Part 2: Salmon are a uniter, not a divider “…So, when sea lions congregate at the dam it isn’t so much the fish they’re eating that bothers us, it’s all the money we’ve spent trying to keep those fish around for us to kill…” (The Daily News, Longview)
http://www.tdn.com/articles/2008/05/15//area_news/doc482b946185e3c107811604.txt

Anglers blast wildlife officials in Cathlamet over Columbia Chinook fishing –"…You guys did not go to bat for us…" (Daily News, Longview)
http://www.tdn.com/articles/2008/05/15/area_news/10245736.txt

Port of Grays Harbor touts what fishing there is – The Port of Grays Harbor and much of the fishing community are battening down the hatches and bracing for a devastating recreational fishing season at Westport (The Daily World, Aberdeen)
http://www.thedailyworld.com/articles/2008/05/14/local_news/05news.txt

Spring salmon season off to good start on Klamath (The Daily Triplicate, Crescent City)
http://www.triplicate.com/news/story.cfm?story_no=8726

Survey shows trout vital to area – Wild trout, Montana icons hard hit by development, pollution and other threats, remain an important part of the Missoula area's economy and culture, a new survey found (The Missoulian)
http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2008/05/14/news/local/znews05.txt

Makah judge fails to empanel jury to prosecute whalers (Seattle Times)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2004415609_makah16m.html?syndication=rss

WATER & THE ENVIRONMENT

City of Olympia, tribe agreement aims to ease water worries (The Olympian)
http://www.theolympian.com/news/story/449548.html

Bellingham Herald Op/Ed – Squaxin Island Tribe finds basis in state law to limit wells, conserve water
http://www.bellinghamherald.com/291/story/408944.html

Seattle Times Editorial – Failing our Sound
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/editorialsopinion/2004415131_pugeted15.html

EPA asks Grant County to help start well sampling program (Columbia Basin Herald)
http://www.columbiabasinherald.com/articles/2008/05/14/news/news02.txt

North Carolina – Bad gauge measured water level too high: Duke Energy Web site incorrectly reported lake above target for about 3 weeks (McClatchy Tribune Business News, via Power Marketing Association Online)
http://powermarketers.netcontentinc.net/newsreader.asp?ppa=8knpp%5E%5CkhgnljlSTif%216C%29bfen%5Fv

RENEWABLE/ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

Pacific Gas & Electric to Congress: take action on renewable-energy tax credits (East Bay Business Times)
http://www.bizjournals.com/eastbay/stories/2008/05/12/daily50.html?ana=from_rss

San Francisco Chronicle Op/Ed – Congress must side with renewable energy tax credits
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/05/14/ED4F10LJ07.DTL

Mill's power going green – Plant will simultaneously generate electricity and heat, which the company says will make it the first carbon-neutral paper plant in North America, burning only industrial wood and fiber waste. (Cincinnati Enquirer – So, emitting carbon that would normally remain sequestered is carbon neutral…what?)
http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080513/BIZ01/805130320/1076/BIZ

Solar-plant builder BrightSource raises $115 million – Oakland Company Aims To Grow Globally (San Jose Mercury News)
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_9266366?source=rss

IBM magnifying power of solar cells – Says Technology Provides 5-Fold Increase (San Jose Mercury News)
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_9266393?source=rss

In-River Turbines – New idea would turn Niagara River into power plant (Business First of Buffalo)
http://www.bizjournals.com/buffalo/stories/2008/05/12/daily29.html?ana=from_rss

California – Lafayette schools to install solar panels – The district will have solar panels installed on the roofs of four of its five schools, all without paying a dime (Contra Costa Times)
http://www.contracostatimes.com/ci_9260100?source=rss

Seattle Times Guest columnist – Biofuels and food: a grain of truth
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2004415125_biofuelsop15.html?syndication=rss

CONSERVATION

Pacific Northwest energy conservation hits high in 2007 (The Associated Press, via KMTR-TV, Springfield, OR)
http://www.kmtr.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=62e9e38b-9eff-4923-aa3e-eadffd4b28c0&rss=191

San Francisco Mayor touts green standards at D.C. hearing – Gavin Newsom testified before Congress on Wednesday about the city's tough new green building standards and urged lawmakers to pass similar rules nationwide (San Francisco Chronicle)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/05/15/BAH310MDP5.DTL&feed=rss.bayarea

Salt Lake Tribune Editorial – Getting green: Energy conservation begins with individuals
http://www.sltrib.com/ci_9260272

WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY OFFERS ENERGY SAVING SCHEDULE CHANGE – An energy-saving option of a four-day work week is being offered to faculty and staff at the Washington State University Vancouver campus as part of a new summer initiative. Effective from May through August, all WSU campuses statewide will offer employees the option of working four 10-hour days. The Vancouver campus employs about 275 full-time employees. WSU employs approximately 6,000 statewide. (The Columbian)

CLIMATE CHANGE SEQUESTRATION VAULT

SE Washington Carbon Sequestration Experiment Meets Opposition (Northwest Public Radio)
http://www.nwpr.org/07/HomepageArticles/Article.aspx?n=3869

Oregon Governor asks CFOs for backing on green initiatives, transportation (Portland Business Journal)
http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2008/05/12/daily32.html?ana=from_rss

Polar Bear Is Made a Protected Species (NY Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/15/us/15polar.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&adxnnlx=1210871190-92XCNHg2o0lBPvhm5RMRWw

A $3 trillion climate change battle – Regulating greenhouse gases will generate a lot of money. Who should get it? (Fortune Magazine, via CNN)
http://money.cnn.com/2008/05/14/news/economy/climate_change_bill.fortune/?postversion=2008051507

TELECOMMUNICATIONS & TECHNOLOGY

Rural Telcos Bring Fiber-to-the-Boondocks (Light Reading, via Baller/Herbst)
http://www.lightreading.com/document.asp?doc_id=153767

Digital divide in U.S. closing slowly but still 'significant' (Baltimore Business Journal)
http://www.bizjournals.com/baltimore/stories/2008/05/12/daily26.html?ana=from_rss

Tennessee: Cable group seeks EPB suit rehearing – Officer had dismissed the Tennessee Cable Telecommunications Association’s lawsuit that sought to block EPB from offering fiber to the home (Chattanooga Times-Free Press, via Baller/Herbst)
http://timesfreepress.com/news/2008/may/14/cable-group-seeks-epb-suit-rehearing/

Reversing trend, cable modems win over DSL (Associated Press, via the San Francisco Chronicle)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/05/15/financial/f075102D60.DTL&feed=rss.business

FCC starts over with emergency network push – A high-profile government auction earlier this year failed to attract enough private investment dollars for airwaves dedicated to a nationwide broadband network for emergency responders (CNET News)
http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9944129-7.html?tag=nl.e703

Billionaire investor will lead revolt against Yahoo, report says (News Tribune, Tacoma)
http://www.thenewstribune.com/business/story/361017.html

Ask.com Tries Again – The company plans to announce that it has agreed to acquire privately-held Lexico, which owns Dictionary.com, as well as Thesaurus.com and Reference.com (NY Times)
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/05/15/askcom-tries-again-and-not-just-with-women/index.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

CBS buying CNet for $1.8 billion (San Jose Mercury News)
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_9267469?source=rss

GENERAL NEWS

Forecasters say Washington weather turning hot (Associated Press, via the Columbian)
http://news.columbian.com/news/state/APStories/AP05152008news317768.cfm

Hot Weather, Quick Snow Melt To Cause Dangerous Conditions (KIRO-TV, Seattle)
http://www.kirotv.com/news/16267205/detail.html?rss=sea&psp=news

Skinner bows out of politics – State Rep. Mary Skinner stunned the local political establishment Wednesday, announcing her retirement one month after assuring supporters she would seek an eighth term (Yakima Herald-Republic)
http://www.yakimaherald.com/stories/4054

Mars Lander May Find First Signs of Life on the Red Planet (Finding Dulcinea)
http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/science/May-June-08/Mars-Lander-May-Find-First-Signs-of-Life-on-the-Red-Planet.html

DIVERSIONS

Ants Invade Houston, Eat Computers
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5i0Ck8ZlMj4LewikS7scW7Ca-z6PgD90LJMFO2

Gas Giveaway Drawing New Parishioners – Georgia Church Giving Two $500 Gas Cards
http://www.kirotv.com/automotive/16261885/detail.html

Rare Bottle Of Oregon Beer Sells For $707 – Six-Pack Of Hair Of The Dog Beer Would Cost $4,242
http://www.kirotv.com/money/16262747/detail.html

Vatican scientist says belief in God and aliens is OK
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080514/od_uk_nm/oukoe_uk_pope_extraterrestrials;_ylt=AqKx9G7O12tZ8GL5aDPaqHjtiBIF

Von Trapp's "Sound of Music" villa to become hotel
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080514/od_nm/soundofmusic_dc;_ylt=AlkOn5TQqlG9LpMu5yn8yXPtiBIF