Energy News Digest for May 20, 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)

- Puget Sound Energy errors may mean surprise bill for you
- Seattle Times Editorial – Uneasy lies the head of Puget Sound Energy
- Grays Harbor County PUD thief caught stealing sentenced
- Guest Columnist, Tri-City Herald – Nuclear power talk should be civil
- CA utility asks US to weigh disputed power line
- Three Strikes Against Kansas Coal Plants: Sebelius Vetoes Again
- Duke Energy Carolinas prevails in fight to keep costs confidential
- A retail electricity provider misses payments to state, loses thousands of customers as a result
- MBA candidates redesign South Africa's electrical industry
- United Kingdom – Utility Watchdog Demands Competition Probe Into Energy Market
- Puget Sound Energy’s Baker River fish passage system is complete; $10M over estimates
- Big ball of Columbia River sturgeon baffles experts
- Bad Fishing Weather Likely To Raise Copper River Salmon Prices
- Sammy Awards winners keep fighting for salmon
- Released Water from Howard Hansen Dam Destroy Man's Auburn Farmland
- Caution: High rivers ... and they're going to stay that way for a while
- Columbian Op/Ed – Other opinions: Proposal favors federal power, not farms
- Trial date is set for Olympia brewery water ruling
- Seattle Times Op/Ed –Energy from wind power can also help state's students
- Canada – New rules jeopardize wind and solar projects
- Bulbs pose trash problem – Recycling program needed for mercury-laced fluorescent lights
- Seattle Times Editorial – Those funny light bulbs – The cheapest kilowatt of new energy supply is the kilowatt you don't use
- News Release – PECO Encourages its Customers to Save More by Using Less with CFLs
- Carbon dioxide increases in 2007
- The U.S. Carbon Market
- Congressional Research Service – Climate Change: Costs and Benefits of S. 2191
- Old Trees Used to Build Up Carbon Credits
- Who loves high energy prices? The environment
- Seattle Post-Intelligencer Op/Ed – Consider transit's carbon effect
- Microsoft woos Yahoo again
- Portland, Oregon – The end is nigh for free Wi-Fi
- Comcast to invest in Seattle-based file-sharing company
- Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development: U.S. Largest, If Not The Fastest, Broadband Market
- Thanks to Cable, VoIP in the U.S. Is Booming
- New Hampshire – Towns plan joint wireless network
- Shelton Bear Sighting Closes Callanan Park
- US court: Paper money discriminates against blind

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

WORD OF THE DAY

Hierophant • \HYE-uh-ruh-fant\ • noun – 1: a priest in ancient Greece; specifically: the chief priest of the Eleusinian mysteries 2*a: a person who explains: commentator b: a person who defends or maintains a cause or proposal: advocate

“Well, my prediction was correct….if you discount the fact that the candidate who I said would win, actually lost,” blathered the clueless cable television hierophant. “If you discount all the votes for his opponent, my candidate won!” And the world swooned…

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 errors may mean surprise bill for you (Seattle Times)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2004420795_meter17m.html

Seattle Times Editorial – Uneasy lies the head of Puget Sound Energy
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/editorialsopinion/2004419914_pseed18.html

Grays Harbor County PUD thief caught stealing sentenced (KING-TV, Seattle)
http://www.king5.com/localnews/stories/NW_051908WAB_pud_thief_sentenced_SW.cd01b9d.html?npc

Guest Columnist, Tri-City Herald – Nuclear power talk should be civil
http://www.tri-cityherald.com/964/story/188450.html

CA utility asks US to weigh disputed power line (Associated Press, via AOL Finance)
http://money.aol.com/news/articles/_a/ca-utility-asks-us-to-weigh-disputed/n20080516193809990002?cid=1230

Three Strikes Against Kansas Coal Plants: Sebelius Vetoes Again (Environmental News Service)
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/may2008/2008-05-16-093.asp

Duke Energy Carolinas prevails in fight to keep costs confidential (Charlotte Business Journal)
http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/stories/2008/05/19/story14.html?b=1211169600^1636021

A retail electricity provider misses payments to state, loses thousands of customers as a result (Houston Chronicle)
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/biz/5790994.html

MBA candidates redesign South Africa's electrical industry – A team of Omaha business students is helping expand the electrical industry of a nation in another hemisphere (Omaha World-Herald)
http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=1208&u_sid=10338109&u_rss=1&

United Kingdom – Utility Watchdog Demands Competition Probe Into Energy Market (CNN Money)
http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/djhighlights/200805200757DOWJONESDJONLINE000260.htm

FISH & WILDLIFE

Puget Sound Energy’s Baker River fish passage system is complete; $10M over estimates (Puget Sound Business Journal)
http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2008/05/19/daily6.html?ana=from_rss

Big ball of Columbia River sturgeon baffles experts – Tens of thousands of sturgeon are found bunched up below Bonneville Dam (The Oregonian)
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/121091010848010.xml&coll=7

Bad Fishing Weather Likely To Raise Copper River Salmon Prices (KIRO-TV, Seattle)
http://www.kirotv.com/food/16293553/detail.html

Sammy Awards winners keep fighting for salmon (The Columbian)
http://www.columbian.com/news/localNews/2008/05/05182008_Sammy-Awards-winners-keep-fighting-for-salmon.cfm/

WATER & THE ENVIRONMENT

Released Water from Howard Hansen Dam Destroy Man's Auburn Farmland (KIRO-TV, Seattle)
http://www.kirotv.com/news/16293010/detail.html

Caution: High rivers ... and they're going to stay that way for a while (Yakima Herald-Republic)
http://www.yakimaherald.com/stories/4219

Columbian Op/Ed – Other opinions: Proposal favors federal power, not farms
http://www.columbian.com/opinion/news/2008/05/05162008_Other-opinions-Proposal-favors-federal-power-not-farms.cfm?newsletter=5

Trial date is set for Olympia brewery water ruling – Lacey, Olympia and Tumwater will compensate owner (The Olympian)
http://www.theolympian.com/southsound/story/451636.html

RENEWABLE/ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

Seattle Times Op/Ed –Energy from wind power can also help state's students
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2004425403_windop20.html?syndication=rss

Canada – New rules jeopardize wind and solar projects (Toronto Star)
http://www.thestar.com/Business/article/427244

CONSERVATION

Bulbs pose trash problem – Recycling program needed for mercury-laced fluorescent lights (Associated Press, via the Everett Herald)
http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20080520/BIZ/157005623/-1/RSS03

Mason County PUD No. 3’s news release on CFL recycling is here: PUD 3 to Provide for Compact Fluorescent Light Bulb Recycling
http://www.masonpud3.org/News/display.asp?NewsID=425

Seattle Times Editorial – Those funny light bulbs – The cheapest kilowatt of new energy supply is the kilowatt you don't use.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/editorialsopinion/2004417411_savingsed16.html

News Release – PECO Encourages its Customers to Save More by Using Less with CFLs (Electric Energy Online)
http://www.electricenergyonline.com/IndustryNews.asp?m=1&id=90119

CLIMATE CHANGE SEQUESTRATION VAULT

Carbon dioxide increases in 2007 (NY Times)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politics/2004426368_apcongressclimate.html?syndication=rss

The U.S. Carbon Market (Renewable Energy World Online)
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/ate/story?id=52451&src=rss

Congressional Research Service – Climate Change: Costs and Benefits of S. 2191
http://opencrs.cdt.org/document/RL34489

Old Trees Used to Build Up Carbon Credits – For many people, buying carbon offsets has become a way to go personally "carbon neutral." But these voluntary efforts are entirely unregulated and in California, that's beginning to change (National Public Radio)
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90570215&ft=1&f=10

Who loves high energy prices? The environment – The skyrocketing costs pinch consumers but are expected to reduce use and emissions (The Oregonian)
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1211160307236140.xml&coll=7

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Op/Ed – Consider transit's carbon effect
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/363708_transit20.html?source=rss

TELECOMMUNICATIONS & TECHNOLOGY

Microsoft woos Yahoo again (San Francisco Chronicle, via the Tri-City Herald)
http://www.tri-cityherald.com/915/story/188160.html

Portland, Oregon – The end is nigh for free Wi-Fi – Without a buyer, the system may shut off by the end of June (The Oregonian)
http://www.oregonlive.com/business/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1210992908135060.xml&coll=7

Comcast to invest in Seattle-based file-sharing company (The News Tribune, Tacoma)
http://www.thenewstribune.com/business/story/365170.html

Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development: U.S. Largest, If Not The Fastest, Broadband Market (GigaOM)
http://gigaom.com/2008/05/20/oecd-us-largest-if-not-the-fastest-broadband-market/

Thanks to Cable, VoIP in the U.S. Is Booming (GigaOM)
http://gigaom.com/2008/05/19/thanks-to-cable-voip-in-the-us-is-booming/

New Hampshire – Towns plan joint wireless network (The Dartmouth)
http://thedartmouth.com/2008/05/20/news/wcnh/

GENERAL NEWS

SHELTON BEAR SIGHTING CLOSES CALLANAN PARK – A bear sighting has closed Callanan Park until further notice. According to Shelton City Commissioner Dawn Pannell, the bear was spotted in the Park late Saturday night rummaging through a garbage can. The State Department of Fish and Wildlife has placed a trap in the Park and officials hope to have the bear out of the area as soon as possible. But until officials can capture the bear or confirm that the bear has left the area, Callanan Park will remain closed. This means all events, including little league games; will not be held in the park until further notice. (KMAS Radio, Shelton)

US court: Paper money discriminates against blind (Actually it is the DESIGN of the money, not the money itself that discriminates – Associated Press, via the Olympian)
http://www.theolympian.com/breakingnews/story/454475.html

DIVERSIONS

UPS Avoids Making Left Turns To Save Gas
http://www.kirotv.com/news/16293880/detail.html

Man Has Own Oil Well In Back Yard
http://www.kirotv.com/irresistible/16329053/detail.html

Ohio Northern University Awards Dog A Degree – 1-Year-Old Golden Retriever Gets Degree In Canine Companionship
http://www.kirotv.com/education/16320881/detail.html

Little Leaguer Benched For Mom's No-Show – Woman Was Supposed To Work Concession Stand
http://www.kirotv.com/family/16292533/detail.html