Energy News Digest for May 8, 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)

- Supreme Court of the United States/Residential Exchange Filings
- Montana PSC Approves Reductions for NorthWest Energy Customers
- Loss of coal project may help Yellowstone Valley Electric Cooperative
- Bill Headed To Senate Includes $64M for Winter Flood Damage
- Oregon Department of Transportation, Utilities Step Up Recruiting at Trades Fair
- Pennsylvania – Conservation or 'total meltdown'
- Dynegy Swings to Loss as Energy Prices Surge
- New York – Cuomo Accuses Power Authority Officials of Erasing E-Mail of Investigation Target
- U.S. Department of Energy seeking input on FutureGen project
- Unsolved Sea Lion Death Spotlights Fight over Salmon
- Sea lions not shot, cause of death unknown
- Six Protected Sea Lions Found Dead Along River
- New dam plan helps Montana
- Central Oregon salmon population still strong
- Search resumes in Columbia River for 3 missing Yakama Indian fishermen
- Divers fish for deepwater dangers
- President Signs Wild Sky Wilderness Bill
- Low Lake Roosevelt affecting travel
- Drink tap water, not bottled, City of Seattle urges
- Oil Giants to Settle MTBE Water Suit
- Judge orders EPA to hurry on carbon monoxide
- Two utilities reached different conclusions on participating on cogeneration projects
- Wind Energy Hits Big Time in Indiana
- Alaska Hydropower project stirs dissent
- Australia – Bright solar power plan has dark side
- Wall Street Journal Op/Ed – The Biofuels Backlash
- Juneau school district's conservation efforts paying off after rate hike
- Proving a Building 'Green' Can Be Daunting
- DOE goes cave hunting to pump carbon underground
- U.S. Renewable Energy Leaders: Don't Count on Carbon Price Alone
- German solar expert sees gaps in Oregon's green ethos
- iProvo Sold To Broadweave For $40 Million
- Behind the scenes on Clearwire deal
- Comcast mulling Internet usage cap to discourage 'excessive' use
- EarthLink Dropping Philadelphia's Wireless Network
- Is it time for ubiquitous Wi-Fi?
- Broadband Over Power Lines – Only 4,776 Subscribers and falling after the sale of Dallas-area network
- One Dead After Boat Capsizes On Hood Canal
- Two people rescued from waters near Olympia
- Construction of Ramp from SR3 to U.S. 101 near Shelton Begins Monday
- Cantwell Calls for New Storm Radar

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

WORD OF THE DAY

Alliumphile • \ALLEY-yum-file\ • noun – A lover of garlic

Alfredo was a walking, talking, breathing, fume emitting, advertisement for garlic. As the town’s resident alliumphile, he was often requested to walk on the other side of the street…especially after his morning breakfast of twenty (count-‘em, twenty) cloves of pickled elephant garlic. His olfactory-challenged wife had no idea what the fuss was about.

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

SCOTUS/RESIDENTIAL EXCHANGE FILINGS –The US Solicitor General has filed a brief in opposition to a request from NW private utilities to the US Supreme Court. The plaintiffs are seeking high court review of a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in May of 2007 as to whether the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) acted within its statutory authority in creating “settlements” to potential disputes regarding “a statutory program (read that the small farm and residential exchange program)”, and whether BPA properly allocated the costs of the settlement agreements. The filing pretty much says that BPA can’t bypass requirements of law: it must be grounded in terms of the program enacted by Congress. (More details as they become readily available online)

Thanks BPA! PSC Approves Reductions for NWE Customers – The Montana Public Service Commission (PSC) today trimmed the amount some Northwestern Energy (NWE) customers pay for electricity (Liberty County Times)
http://highline.townnews.com/articles/2008/05/07/news/news7.txt

Loss of coal project may help Yellowstone Valley Electric Cooperative (Billings Outpost News)
http://newbillingsoutpost.com/news//index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=20552&Itemid=27

Bill Headed To Senate Includes $64M for Winter Flood Damage (KIRO-TV, Seattle)
http://www.kirotv.com/news/16192176/detail.html?rss=sea&psp=news

Oregon Department of Transportation, Utilities Step Up Recruiting at Trades Fair – The region's electric utilities made a much bigger showing at the fair this year than they have in the past (RedOrbit)
http://www.redorbit.com/news/health/1372784/oregon_department_of_transportation_utilities_step_up_recruiting_at_trades/

Pennsylvania – Conservation or 'total meltdown' – Gov. Ed Rendell is calling for nearly $1 billion in clean energy grants and conservation programs and he warned the state was on the “brink of disaster” from utility bills that could soon skyrocket. (Bucks County Courier Times)
http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/113-05082008-1530777.html

Dynegy Swings to Loss as Energy Prices Surge – The Houston-based power provider said it lost $152 million in the first quarter as market prices for power surged, causing accounting losses on some forward sales (NY Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/business/AP-Earns-Dynegy.html?_r=1&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&oref=slogin

New York – Cuomo Accuses Power Authority Officials of Erasing E-Mail of Investigation Target (NY Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/08/nyregion/08cuomo.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

U.S. Department of Energy seeking input on FutureGen project (St. Louis Business Journal)
http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/stories/2008/05/05/daily48.html?ana=from_rss

FISH & WILDLIFE

Unsolved Sea Lion Death Spotlights Fight over Salmon (Finding Dulcinea)
http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/environment/May-June-08/Six-Sea-Lions-Killed--Spotlighting-Fight-Over-Salmon.html#1

Sea lions not shot, cause of death unknown (Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Dateline Earth Blog)
http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/environment/archives/138364.asp?source=mypi

Six Protected Sea Lions Found Dead Along River (National Public Radio)
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90259919&ft=1&f=2

New dam plan helps Montana – The federal government this week released a combination of “biological opinions” to govern the recovery of 13 threatened or endangered salmon and steelhead species in the Columbia Basin. (The Daily Inter Lake, Kalispell)
http://www.dailyinterlake.com/articles/2008/05/08/news/news03.txt

Central Oregon salmon population still strong (KTVZ-TV, Bend)
http://www.ktvz.com/Global/story.asp?S=8287136

Search resumes in Columbia River for 3 missing Yakama Indian fishermen after their boat overturned near Stevenson (Associated Press, via the Columbian)
http://news.columbian.com/news/state/APStories/AP05082008news314837.cfm

Divers fish for deepwater dangers – A cleanup effort is under way to get rid of forgotten dangers lurking deep in the mud of the Puget Sound (KOMO-TV, Seattle)
http://www.komotv.com/news/local/18751314.html

WATER & THE ENVIRONMENT

President Signs Wild Sky Wilderness Bill (KIRO-TV, Seattle)
http://www.kirotv.com/news/16200191/detail.html

Low Lake Roosevelt affecting travel – Balancing the needs for power, fish, irrigation and flood control can get tricky after a long winter and you now you can add transportation to that list (The Star of Grand Coulee)
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19669054&BRD=1013&PAG=461&dept_id=387707&rfi=6

Drink tap water, not bottled, City of Seattle urges – Officials, activists join forces to convince public (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/362153_seattlewater08.html?source=rss

Oil Giants to Settle Water Suit – A dozen oil companies agreed to pay $423 million in cash plus clean-up costs to settle litigation over groundwater contamination from the gasoline additive, MTBE (NY Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/08/business/08oil.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

Judge orders EPA to hurry on carbon monoxide – The Bush administration has violated legal deadlines for updating the nation's clean-air standards on carbon monoxide, a federal judge in San Francisco has ruled. (San Francisco Chronicle)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/05/08/MNJR10I1HQ.DTL&feed=rss.news

RENEWABLE/ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

Two utilities reached different conclusions on participating on cogeneration projects – one in Tacoma, the other in Cosmopolis (The Daily World, Aberdeen)
http://www.thedailyworld.com/articles/2008/05/07/local_news/02news.txt

Wind Energy Hits Big Time in Indiana (Indiana Prairie Farmer)
http://indianaprairiefarmer.com/index.aspx?ascxid=fpStory&fpsid=33672&fpstid=2

Alaska Hydropower project stirs dissent – A $4 million hydroelectric project proposed for Hatcher Pass is getting re-energized but is facing questions about its impact on a premier salmon stream (Anchorage Daily News)
http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/story/398411.html

Australia – Bright solar power plan has dark side “…would pay home owners only for the electricity exported to the grid after what is consumed in the home. This raises serious concerns about equity issues and the ability of these schemes to produce the desired levels of renewable energy take-up…” (The Age)
http://business.theage.com.au/bright-solar-power-plan-has-dark-side/20080508-2cd0.html

Wall Street Journal Op/Ed – The Biofuels Backlash
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121011613215972205.html?mod=opinion_main_review_and_outlooks

CONSERVATION

Juneau school district's conservation efforts paying off after rate hike (Juneau Empire)
http://www.juneauempire.com/stories/050708/loc_276387520.shtml

Proving a Building 'Green' Can Be Daunting – Critics knock LEED's one-size-fits all point system and the cumbersome certification process (National Public Radio)
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90259935&ft=1&f=2

CLIMATE CHANGE SEQUESTRATION VAULT

DOE goes cave hunting to pump carbon underground (CNET News)
http://www.news.com/8301-11128_3-9937986-54.html?tag=nl.e433

U.S. Renewable Energy Leaders: Don't Count on Carbon Price Alone (Renewable Energy World Online)
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/story?id=52417&src=rss

German solar expert sees gaps in Oregon's green ethos – Here to start a plant, Gunter Erfurt wonders why we aren't more like Europeans (The Oregonian)
http://www.oregonlive.com/business/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/business/121021711715500.xml&coll=7

TELECOMMUNICATIONS & TECHNOLOGY

iProvo Sold To Broadweave For $40 Million – One of Utah's two struggling municipal fiber networks, iProvo, is going to be sold (Broadband Reports)
http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/iProvo-Sold-To-Broadweave-For-40-Million-94208

Behind the scenes on Clearwire deal – Clearwire and Sprint Nextel have resurrected their plan to offer high-speed mobile Internet service with the help of some deep-pocketed supporters. (The Associated Press, via the News Tribune, Tacoma)
http://www.thenewstribune.com/business/story/355146.html

Comcast mulling Internet usage cap to discourage 'excessive' use – Comcast, the nation's second-largest Internet service provider, is considering setting an official limit on the amount of data that subscribers can download per month and charging a fee for those who go over.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/362185_internetcaps08.html?source=rss

EarthLink Dropping Philadelphia's Wireless Network (National Public Radio)
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90268427&ft=1&f=3

Is it time for ubiquitous Wi-Fi? (CNET News)
http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9938371-7.html?tag=nl.e703

Broadband Over Power Lines – Only 4,776 Subscribers and falling after the sale of Dallas-area network (Broadband Reports)
http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/BPL-Only-4776-Subscribers-94226

GENERAL NEWS

ONE DEAD AFTER BOAT CAPSIZES ON HOOD CANAL – One woman is dead and a man is in critical condition after a boating accident on Hood Canal. The State Patrol says the two were trapped under the 20-foot vessel when it flipped in high winds about 12:30 Wednesday afternoon. The woman had drowned by the time rescuers reached them, while the man was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. Their names have not been released. The accident occurred near the Sunset Motel in Hoodsport. According to the Mason County Sheriff's Office, there were nine people on the boat when it capsized. Other responding agencies were Mason County Fire Districts One, Six, Nine and 18. (KMAS Radio, Shelton)

Two people rescued from waters near Olympia (The Olympian)
http://www.theolympian.com/news/story/442539.html

CONSTRUCTION OF RAMP FROM SR3 TO U.S. 101 NEAR SHELTON BEGINS MONDAY – Crews break ground next week on a safety project that builds an on-ramp from Highway 3 to northbound U.S. Highway 101 just south of Shelton. Currently, motorist on SR3 who want to go north on 101 toward Hoodsport must turn left and cross oncoming traffic. A new ramp provides a safer and more direct connection to 101 and eliminates the left turn. The contractor, Tri State Construction, Inc. of Bellevue, begins construction Monday and the project is scheduled to wrap up the end of October. During the project, drivers should expect intermittent lane and ramp closures. The project has been allocated nearly $3.9 Million ($3, 886,412) from the 2005 Gas Tax. For more information visit the project website: www.wsdot.wa.gov/Projects/US101/SR3_OnRamp/.(KMAS Radio, Shelton)

Cantwell Calls for New Storm Radar – Most of the Washington Shoreline Is Without Doppler System to Look Inside Clouds (Daily Chronicle, Centralia)
http://www.chronline.com/story.php?subaction=showfull&id=1210182485&archive=&start_from=&ucat=1&

Shelton Highclimber upset is surprise of WCC tennis tournament (The Olympian)
http://www.theolympian.com/143/story/442694.html

DIVERSIONS

Massachusetts Mayor Cuts Every Program, Gives Self 28% Raise – One day after he "warned that his city might close library branches, reduce the police force, and cut services to seniors if voters reject a property tax increase," has released a budget proposal that gives him a 28% salary increase
http://www.boston.com/news/education/k_12/articles/2008/05/07/newtons_mayor_asks_for_28_raise/

Fla. Teacher Accused Of Wizardry – Man Made Toothpick Vanish In Class
http://www.local6.com/news/16169506/detail.html

Can a cardboard boat float down the Columbia?
http://www.tri-cityherald.com/901/story/178582.html

Platypus Looks Strange on the Inside, Too
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/08/science/08platypus.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

Woman fired for giving 16-cent treat to toddler
http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSN0836799020080508?feedType=RSS&feedName=oddlyEnoughNews