Energy News Digest for June 27, 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)

- US Supreme Court ruling helps Snohomish County PUD's case in contract dispute
- US Supreme Court Justices keep Snohomish County Public Utility District rate-contract fight alive
- Extra water, wind strain Northwest power grid – The Northwest is awash in electric power this spring
- Bonneville Power Administration removes major obstacle to Cosmopolis mill sale
- Communities consider taking over PSE territory
- Whidbey PUD backers say they are close to reaching petition goal
- CALIFORNIA – Electricity deregulation – a poor choice for consumers
- MONTANA – City of Great Falls puts coal plant on back burner for 30 days
- Inland Power mulls joining non-federal power pool to meet some of its future energy needs
- Man Accused Of Stealing $7,500 In Power From Grays Harbor County PUD
- FERC examines causes of, responses to rising electricity costs
- NEW YORK – Union Says It and Con Edison Are Far Apart on Contract
- Can Power Grid Be Hacked?
- MASSACHUSETTS – Plan to let businesses pool energy purchases
- Poll Reveals Surprising Support for Nuclear Power
- Hauling in their nets for good? U.S. fishing industry grapples with high fuel prices
- Anger surfaces at meeting on Oregon marine reserves
- Sea lions feasted on slightly fewer salmon at Bonneville Dam this year
- Oregon Panel Approves Emergency Funds For Salmon Fishermen
- More Than a Million Salmon Released From Gorst Ponds
- CANADA – Salmon farms move to protect wild fish from sea lice
- Legislation introduced to restore Puget Sound
- Water Groups Questions Potato Numbers
- Washington State high court hearing on Kittitas County wind farm appeal
- California utility looks to British Columbia for green power
- OREGON – Multnomah County's big solar roof project faces challenge
- CANADA – Waste-to-energy plans raise concerns in Metro Vancouver
- US Rep. Inslee Introduces Renewable Energy Pricing Legislation
- Citing Need for Assessments, U.S. Freezes Solar Energy Projects
- UNITED KINGDOM – Renewable optimism – Thousands of turbines, millions of electric cars
- UNITED KINGDOM – Families facing an extra £260 ($517 US) on their annual energy bill to pay for £100bn ($198 bn US) green energy expansion
- New Hawaii law requires solar water heaters
- Energy storage coming to a power grid near you
- South Carolina passes ethanol law challenged by oil companies
- ALASKA – Despite lower prices, Juneau still conserving power
- CANADA – Carbon tax opposition heats up in rural British Columbia
- CANADA – Climate plan is a tough sell with soaring fuel prices
- North Pole May Be Ice-Free This Summer
- Still mail bills? Study says go green, go online
- Energy costs for data centers forecast to leap 13-fold by 2012
- Fast facts on data centers
- Microsoft Seeks Path Beyond the Gates Legacy
- Intuit cuts 575 jobs, or 7 percent of workforce, in reorganization
- TENNESSEE – Cable firms oppose JC Power Board’s proposed fiber-optic backbone
- VIRGINIA – Broadband in Nelson takes step forward
- Yahoo Reorganizes in Strategy Shift
- What’s Wrong With Yahoo?
- Comcast, Cox, Trot Out Their Worst 'Bandwidth Hogs'
- U.S. Broadband Cannot Be Fixed Until You Tackle Corruption
- Near-record temperatures this weekend in Washington
- In the Metal Recycling Business, It’s Loud, Dirty and Suddenly Lucrative
- OREGON – A Wave of Precious Metal Pilfering in Portland
- Community Says Farwell to Shelton Fire Chief Jim Ghiglione
- North Mason Hospital District Selects Superintendent
- Shocker – Long-Time Olympia prep sports' voice finds new on-air home
- Honeybee disappearances could get worse
- Mars Phoenix lander finds soil similar to that in backyards on Earth
- Hams will get serious this weekend

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

WORD OF THE DAY

Impuissant • \im-PWISS-unt\ • adjective – Weak, powerless

Try as he might, Dilton could not climb the rope all the way to the ceiling in sixth grade gym class. A couple of factors, including his impuissant physique, as well as a funny feeling “down there” caused him to quit before he was even four feet up the wildly gyrating length of hemp.

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

US Supreme Court ruling helps Snohomish County PUD's case in contract dispute – Justices say federal regulators could have intervened in the case of a controversial electricity contract (The Everett Herald, WA)
http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20080627/NEWS01/805041912#Supreme.Court.ruling.helps.PUDs.case.in.contract.dispute

US Supreme Court Justices keep Snohomish County Public Utility District rate-contract fight alive (The Seattle Times, WA)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008020296_pud27m.html

Extra water, wind strain Northwest power grid – The Northwest is awash in electric power this spring (The Oregonian, Portland, OR)
http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2008/06/extra_water_wind_strain_northw.html

Bonneville Power Administration removes major obstacle to Cosmopolis mill sale; Grays Harbor County PUD is pleased (The Daily World, Aberdeen, WA)
http://www.thedailyworld.com/articles/2008/06/26/local_news/02news.txt

Communities consider taking over PSE territory – Petitions call for local utility vote (Bill Virgin, Seattle Post Intelligencer Columnist)
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/368591_pse27.html

Whidbey PUD backers say they are close to reaching petition goal (South Whidbey Record, Langley, WA)
http://www.pnwlocalnews.com/news/21804389.html

CALIFORNIA – Electricity deregulation – a poor choice for consumers (The Capitol Weekly, Sacramento, CA)
http://www.capitolweekly.net/article.php?_adctlid=v%7Cjq2q43wvsl855o%7Cx7u2b4a1xmoizx&issueId=x7thlm9cz68q4m&xid=x7ttedo2xmo2h1

MONTANA – City of Great Falls puts coal plant on back burner for 30 days – Grant County PUD expresses interest in some output (Great Falls Tribune, MT)
http://www.greatfallstribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080627/NEWS01/806270330/1002/news01

Inland Power mulls joining non-federal power pool to meet some of its future energy needs (Spokane Journal of Commerce, WA)
http://www.spokanejournal.com/spokane_id=article&sub=3641

MAN ACCUSED OF STEALING $7,500 IN POWER FROM GRAYS HARBOR COUNTY PUD – A 45-year-old Aberdeen man pleaded not guilty Monday to stealing more than $7,500 in electricity from the Grays Harbor PUD during the past four years. Douglas S. Hamilton is accused of first-degree defrauding a public utility after PUD employees at his home on April 24 discovered his power meter had been tampered with. “The meter base had been energized without the knowledge or authorization of the PUD,” court papers stated. “Representatives from the PUD estimate that in excess of 100,000 (kilowatt hours) were obtained without payment, having a value in excess of $7,500.” Court records stated the PUD disconnected the power to the rental residence in September 2004 when Hamilton failed to pay bills, but replacing breakers had allowed him and his girlfriend to continue receiving power. Investigators reported Hamilton agreed the power had been turned off in 2004 until he found one panel was still working. “The defendant acknowledged switching breakers out of the panel the PUD had turned off and in this way obtaining power,” court records stated. “The defendant acknowledged receiving power to the premises throughout the time period charged ... without notification or authorization of the PUD.” (The Daily World, Aberdeen, WA)

FERC examines causes of, responses to rising electricity costs (Utility Automation & Engineering)
http://uaelp.pennnet.com/display_article/332987/22/ARTCL/none/none/1/FERC-examines-causes-of,-responses-to-rising-electricity-costs/

NEW YORK – Union Says It and Con Edison Are Far Apart on Contract (The NY Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/27/nyregion/27coned.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

Can Power Grid Be Hacked? — A smarter network doesn’t necessarily mean a safer network, or so goes the thinking when it comes to the new intelligent power grid (GigaOM)
http://gigaom.com/2008/06/26/hacked-power-grid/

MASSACHUSETTS – Plan to let businesses pool energy purchases (The Boston Globe, MA)
http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/06/27/plan_to_let_businesses_pool_energy_purchases/

Poll Reveals Surprising Support for Nuclear Power (KNDO-TV, Tri-Cities, WA)
http://www.kndu.com/global/story.asp?s=8553450

FISH & WILDLIFE

Hauling in their nets for good? U.S. fishing industry grapples with high fuel prices (The Associated Press, via the Seattle Times, WA)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2008020067_fishfuelprice27.html?syndication=rss

Anger surfaces at meeting on Oregon marine reserves (The Eugene Register Guard, via Examiner.com)
http://www.examiner.com/a-1461770~Anger_surfaces_at_meeting_on_Ore__marine_reserves.html?cid=rss-Oregon_Headlines

Sea lions feasted on slightly fewer salmon at Bonneville Dam this year, but federal authorities figure human intervention had little to do with it (The Columbian, Vancouver, OR)http://www.columbian.com/news/localNews/2008/06/06272008_Sea-lions-feasted-on-slightly-fewer-salmon.cfm

Oregon Panel Approves Emergency Funds For Salmon Fishermen (Oregon Public Broadcasting)
http://news.opb.org/article/2440-panel-approves-emergency-funds-salmon-fishermen/

More Than a Million Salmon Released From Gorst Ponds (The Kitsap Sun, Bremerton, WA)
http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2008/jun/25/more-than-a-million-salmon-released-from-gorst/

CANADA – Salmon farms move to protect wild fish from sea lice (The Vancouver Sun, BC)
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=a4ed717a-51e6-4374-a532-c5b7bdbc5b9b

WATER & THE ENVIRONMENT

Legislation introduced to restore Puget Sound – Bill would create an EPA office specifically for recovery efforts (The Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/368586_pugetsound27.html

Water Groups Questions Potato Numbers (Northwest Public Radio)
http://www.nwpr.org/07/HomepageArticles/Article.aspx?n=4031

RENEWABLE/ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

Washington State high court hearing on Kittitas County wind farm appeal (The Associated Press, via the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, WA)
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/368677_windfarms27.html?source=rss

California utility looks to British Columbia for green power – Pacific Gas and Electric predicts the province will have a huge electricity surplus (The Vancouver Sun, BC)
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/business/story.html?id=5188fb47-e64f-49cb-8a17-02552ac5a3b2

OREGON – Multnomah County's big solar roof project faces challenge – Decision on Pacific Power's legal query due by end of July (The Oregonian, Portland, OR)
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1214537118233820.xml&coll=7

CANADA – Waste-to-energy plans raise concerns in Metro Vancouver (CBC News)
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2008/06/24/bc-waste-to-energy-metro-vancouver.html?ref=rss

US Rep. Inslee Introduces Renewable Energy Pricing Legislation (Renewable Energy World Online)
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/story?id=52899&src=rss

Citing Need for Assessments, U.S. Freezes Solar Energy Projects (The NY Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/27/us/27solar.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

UNITED KINGDOM – Renewable optimism – Thousands of turbines, millions of electric cars: a wind of change has swept through energy policy (The Guardian, UK)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/jun/26/renewableenergy.greenpolitics

UNITED KINGDOM – Families facing an extra £260 ($517 US) on their annual energy bill to pay for £100bn ($198 bn US) green energy expansion (The Daily Mail, UK)
http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/news/article-1029657/Taxpayers-face-utility-bills-hike-Government-unveils-100bn-renewable-energy-plan.html?ITO=1490

New Hawaii law requires solar water heaters (Pacific Business News, Honolulu, HI)
http://www.bizjournals.com/pacific/stories/2008/06/23/daily46.html?ana=from_rss

Energy storage coming to a power grid near you (CNET News)
http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-9977209-54.html

South Carolina passes ethanol law challenged by oil companies – South Carolina fuel distributors must have access to pure gasoline needed to make their own ethanol blends under a law that supporters say is first in the nation and will save customers at the pump (The Associated Press, via the Seattle Times, WA)http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2008019635_apethanolblending.html?syndication=rss

CONSERVATION

ALASKA – Despite lower prices, Juneau still conserving power (The Juneau Empire, AK)
http://www.juneauempire.com/stories/062708/loc_296264891.shtml

CLIMATE CHANGE SEQUESTRATION VAULT

CANADA – Carbon tax opposition heats up in rural British Columbia (CBC News)
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2008/06/26/bc-carbon-tax-opposition-north.html

CANADA – Climate plan is a tough sell with soaring fuel prices (The Vancouver Sun, BC)
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/editorial/story.html?id=25722034-6e7e-43e2-83a3-d89153be486a&k=63970

North Pole May Be Ice-Free This Summer (Finding Dulcinea)
http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/environment/May-June-08/North-Pole-May-Be-Ice-Free-This-Summer.html

Still mail bills? Study says go green, go online (Reuters)
http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSPAR75042320080327

TELECOMMUNICATIONS & TECHNOLOGY

Energy costs for data centers forecast to leap 13-fold by 2012 (San Jose Mercury News, CA)
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_9716379?source=rss

Fast facts on data centers (San Jose Mercury News, CA)
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_9716380?source=rss

Microsoft Seeks Path Beyond the Gates Legacy (The NY Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/27/technology/27soft.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&adxnnlx=1214582559-1sgJIkiHWwRN55Rm7s3Lyg

Intuit cuts 575 jobs, or 7 percent of workforce, in reorganization (San Jose Mercury News, CA)
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_9708382?source=rss

TENNESSEE – Cable firms oppose JC Power Board’s proposed fiber-optic backbone (Kingsport Times-News, TN)
http://www.timesnews.net/article.php?id=9006962

VIRGINIA – Broadband in Nelson takes step forward – Nelson officials are continuing to work to bring broadband Internet access to part of the county (The Nelson County Times, Amherst, VA)
http://www.nelsoncountytimes.com/nco/news/local/article/broadband_in_nelson_takes_step_forward/5877/

Yahoo Reorganizes in Strategy Shift (The NY Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/27/technology/27yahoo.html?_r=1&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&oref=slogin

What’s Wrong With Yahoo? (GigaOM)
http://gigaom.com/2008/06/26/whats-wrong-with-yahoo/

Comcast, Cox, Trot Out Their Worst 'Bandwidth Hogs' “…some subscribers have used in the 3-plus terabyte range. ‘They did nothing but download movies constantly’..." (Broadband Reports)
http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Comcast-Cox-Trot-Out-Their-Worst-Bandwidth-Hogs-95623

U.S. Broadband Cannot Be Fixed Until You Tackle Corruption – Editorial: broadband cheerleading and Ivy League round tables aren't enough (Broadband Reports)
http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/US-Broadband-Cannot-Be-Fixed-Until-You-Tackle-Corruption-95609

GENERAL NEWS

Near-record temperatures this weekend in Washington (The Associated Press, via the Columbian, Vancouver, WA)
http://news.columbian.com/news/state/APStories/AP06272008news333915.cfm

In the Metal Recycling Business, It’s Loud, Dirty and Suddenly Lucrative (The NY Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/27/nyregion/27scrap.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

OREGON – A Wave of Precious Metal Pilfering in Portland (The NY Times)
http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/06/26/a-wave-of-precious-metal-pilfering/index.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

Community Says Farwell to Shelton Fire Chief Jim Ghiglione (KMAS Radio, Shelton, WA)
http://www.masoncountydailynews.com/News/NewsArticle/tabid/1897/selectmoduleid/3468/ArticleID/349/reftab/1896/Default.aspx

North Mason Hospital District Selects Superintendent (KMAS Radio, Shelton, WA)
http://www.masoncountydailynews.com/News/NewsArticle/tabid/1897/selectmoduleid/3468/ArticleID/350/reftab/1896/Default.aspx

Shocker – Long-Time Olympia prep sports' voice finds new on-air home (The Olympian, Olympia, WA)
http://www.theolympian.com/143/story/490755.html

Honeybee disappearances could get worse, House panel told (McClatchy Newspapers, via the Olympian, Olympia, WA)
http://www.theolympian.com/breakingnews/story/490077.html

Mars Phoenix lander finds soil similar to that in backyards on Earth (San Jose Mercury News, CA)
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_9709042?source=rss

Hams will get serious this weekend – Amateur radio operators gather for emergency simulations (Seattle Post-Intelligencer, WA)
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/368675_radio27.html?source=rss

ELEPHANTS ON ACID - DIVERSIONS

Washington dentist's staff saddles up to beat gas costs
http://www.examiner.com/a-1461684~Wash__dentist_s_staff_saddles_up_to_beat_gas_costs.html?cid=rss-Washington_Headlines

Va. bride gets beverage company to sponsor wedding
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2008020693_apweddingauction.html?syndication=rss

Honk once for "I do" – The Church of Sweden will carry out drive-in weddings
http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSN2631073520080626?feedType=nl&feedName=usmorningdigest

Manure thief falls into dung, flees naked
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080627/od_nm/manure_dc