Energy News Digest for September 17, 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)

- PUD-financed study cites savings if district assumes East Jefferson County's electrical service
- Strange Bedfellows – hired guns fight PUDs
- As shares drop, Puget Energy investors fret over pending buyout
- Chelan PUD reorganizes for efficiency
- Kelso city manager quits to become Cowlitz County PUD's lawyer
- MONTANA – Flathead growth may cause energy crunc
- Avista Reaches Settlement in Electric and Natural Gas General Rate Cases
- OREGON – Voters defeat liquefied natural gas pipeline measure
- Crews From 31 States in Texas to Restore Power
- Key provisions of US House energy bill
- New York regulators: Con Ed ordered to repay $9M to customers for '07 power outage
- New England governors and Canadian leaders talk power
- Energy Pulse Commentary – Does Your Utility Have Telephone Standards?
- Oregonian Editorial – When the Rogue ran wild
- OREGON – Researchers track cool-water habits of Willamette fish
- Ten pikeminnow anglers land a total of $20,000, ten chances remain
- Wildlife Management: Salmon Fisheries, Yellowstone Wolf Introduction Show What Is Possible
- Ecotrust Looks To Economics To Save Environment
- PPL Montana begins drawdown of Flathead Lake
- Water, sewer rates going up in Port Angeles
- Olympian Editorial – Money, politics likely to weigh into Capitol Lake's fate
- Critics say order to ban washing cars in county, city driveways is all wet
- CALIFORNIA – Berkeley Approves City-Backed Loans for Solar Panels
- The powerlessness of energy subsidies
- MONTANA – Conservation measures to lower temperatures in buildings
- NEW YORK – Clarkstown school district aims to save millions through energy conservation
- North Pole ever closer to having no ice
- Arctic Ocean Ice Retreats Less Than Last Year
- Ohio Outages – Carbon footprints dwindle without power
- How the Web Can Help You Fight Greenwashing
- Critics: Homeland Security unprepared for cyberthreats
- EPA Lets Electronic Waste Flow Freely, GAO Report Says
- Lawmakers See Challenges for TV Transition
- Go Loggers! – Earn high school diploma online through Onalaska district
- Red flag warning for wildfire in Western Washington
- U.S. regulators try to find WaMu buyer: report
- Lehman bankruptcy costs Washington pension fund $130M
- Money Market Fund Says Customers Could Lose Money
- State's jobless rate 6%, a 4-year high
- State agency investigating technician's fatal fall off cell phone tower
- Former Washington state lawmaker accused of mail fraud
- Mason Residents Invited to Be Part of Notification System
- Mason County Appoints New Road Engineer
- Planning behind proposed Brinnon mega-resort sound, state growth board rules

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

WORD OF THE DAY

Misprision • \mis-PRIZH-un\ • noun – 1a: neglect or wrong performance of official duty b: concealment of treason or felony by one who is not a participant in the treason or felony 2: misunderstanding, misinterpretation

“Thanks for your outstanding misprision,” the faltering investment company’s Chairman of the Board said to the outgoing CEO. “Here’s your $20 million severance check, and the $14 million bonus we promised if you’d stay longer than a month on the job!”

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

PUD-financed study cites savings if district assumes East Jefferson County's electrical service (Peninsula Daily News, Port Angeles, WA)
http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/article/20080917/NEWS/809170309

Strange Bedfellows – hired guns fight PUDs (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/seattlepolitics/archives/148921.asp

As shares drop, Puget Energy investors fret over pending buyout (Seattle Times)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2008184353_pugetenergy17.html

Chelan PUD reorganizes for efficiency (Wenatchee World, WA)
http://wenatcheeworld.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080916/NEWS04/709169948/1005

Kelso city manager quits to become Cowlitz County PUD's lawyer (The Daily News, Longview, WA)
http://www.tdn.com/articles/2008/09/17/area_news/10422603.txt

MONTANA – Flathead growth may cause energy crunch – The Bonneville Power Administration will not be able to supply energy for any growth come 2011, which will bring up issues with cost (KAJ-TV, Kalispell, MT)
http://www.montanasnewsstation.com/Global/story.asp?S=9021958

News Release – Avista Reaches Multi-Party Settlement in Washington Electric and Natural Gas General Rate Cases (Avista)
http://www.electricenergyonline.com/IndustryNews.asp?m=1&id=97063

OREGON – Voters defeat liquefied natural gas pipeline measure (Associated Press)
http://columbian.com/article/20080917/NEWS02/809179995/-1/news

Crews From 31 States in Texas to Restore Power (NY Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/17/us/17ike.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

Key provisions of US House energy bill (Associated Press)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080917/ap_on_go_co/offshore_drilling_glance_1

New York regulators: Con Ed ordered to repay $9M to customers for '07 power outage (Associated Press)
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080917/ny_electricity_reliability.html?.v=1

New England governors and Canadian leaders talk power (Associated Press)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2008184786_apnewenglandcanadasummit.html?syndication=rss

Energy Pulse Commentary – Does Your Utility Have Telephone Standards?
http://www.energypulse.net/centers/article/article_display.cfm?a_id=1834

FISH & WILDLIFE

Oregonian Editorial – When the Rogue ran wild (Portland, OR)
http://www.oregonlive.com/commentary/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/editorial/1219101913269500.xml&coll=7&thispage=1

OREGON – Researchers track cool-water habits of Willamette fish (The Oregonian, Portland, OR)
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2008/09/researchers_track_coolwater_ha.html

News Release – Ten pikeminnow anglers land a total of $20,000, ten chances remain (Bonneville Power Administration)
http://www.piersystem.com/go/doc/1582/226837/

Wildlife Management: Salmon Fisheries, Yellowstone Wolf Introduction Show What Is Possible (Science Daily)
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080917074126.htm

Ecotrust Looks To Economics To Save Environment (Oregon Public Broadcasting)
http://news.opb.org/article/3063-ecotrust-looks-economics-save-environment/

WATER & THE ENVIRONMENT

PPL Montana begins drawdown of Flathead Lake (The Missoulian, MT)
http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2008/09/17/news/mtregional/news08.txt

Water, sewer rates going up in Port Angeles (KONP Radio, Port Angeles, WA)
http://www.konp.com/local/4011

Olympian Editorial – Money, politics likely to weigh into Capitol Lake's fate (Olympia, WA)
http://www.theolympian.com/opinion/story/587268.html

Critics say order to ban washing cars in county, city driveways is all wet (The Columbian, Vancouver, WA)
http://columbian.com/article/20080917/NEWS02/809169891/-1/news

RENEWABLE/ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

CALIFORNIA – Berkeley Approves City-Backed Loans for Solar Panels (NY Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/18/us/18solar.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

The powerlessness of energy subsidies (The Globe and Mail, Canada)
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080917.RREYNOLDS17/TPStory/Business

CONSERVATION

MONTANA – Conservation measures to lower temperatures in buildings (Montana Kaimin, Missoula)
http://www.montanakaimin.com/index.php/news/news_article/conservation_measures_to_lower_temperatures_in_buildings/2859

NEW YORK – Clarkstown school district aims to save millions through energy conservation (The Journal News, White Plains, NY)
http://lohud.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080917/NEWS03/809170383/-1/SPORTS

CLIMATE CHANGE SEQUESTRATION VAULT

North Pole ever closer to having no ice – Scientists seek causes for decline (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/379384_arctic17.html

Arctic Ocean Ice Retreats Less Than Last Year (NY Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/17/science/earth/17ice.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

Carbon footprints dwindle without power – As thousands of Ohioans go through another day without power, perhaps there's a silver, or even green, lining (The Columbus Dispatch, OH)
http://dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2008/09/17/Greenout.ART_ART_09-17-08_A7_F6BBLRI.html?sid=101

How the Web Can Help You Fight Greenwashing (GigaOM)http://gigaom.com/2008/09/16/how-the-web-can-help-you-fight-greenwashing/

TELECOMMUNICATIONS & TECHNOLOGY

Critics: Homeland Security unprepared for cyberthreats (C/NET News)
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10043665-38.html?tag=nl.e703

EPA Lets Electronic Waste Flow Freely, GAO Report Says (Washington Post)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/16/AR2008091603225.html?nav=rss_technology

Lawmakers See Challenges for TV Transition (Washington Post)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/16/AR2008091603283.html?nav=rss_technology

Go Loggers! – Earn high school diploma online through Onalaska district (The Olympian, Olympia, WA)
http://www.theolympian.com/breakingnews/story/587809.html

GENERAL NEWS

Red flag warning for wildfire in Western Washington (The Olympian, Olympia, WA)
http://www.theolympian.com/breakingnews/story/587797.html

U.S. regulators try to find WaMu buyer: report (Reuters)
http://www.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idUSBNG35155320080917?feedType=nl&feedName=usmorningdigest

Lehman bankruptcy costs Washington pension fund $130M (Puget Sound Business Journal)
http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2008/09/15/daily20.html?ana=from_rss

Money Market Fund Says Customers Could Lose Money (NY Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/17/business/17fund.html?_r=1&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&oref=slogin

State's jobless rate 6%, a 4-year high – 200,000 find no work; number likely to grow (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/379319_jobs17.html

State agency investigating technician's fatal fall off cell phone tower (Peninsula Daily News, Port Angeles, WA)
http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/article/20080917/NEWS/809170302

Former Washington state lawmaker accused of mail fraud (The Associated Press)
http://www.examiner.com/a-1591329~Former_Wash__state_lawmaker_accused_of_mail_fraud.html?cid=rss-Washington_Headlines

Mason Residents Invited to Be Part of Notification System (Kitsap Sun, Bremerton, WA)
http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2008/sep/16/mason-residents-invited-to-be-part-of-system/?partner=RSS

Mason County Appoints New Road Engineer (KMAS Radio, Shelton, WA)
http://www.masoncountydailynews.com/News/NewsArticle/tabid/1897/selectmoduleid/3468/ArticleID/5059/reftab/1896/Default.aspx

Planning behind proposed Brinnon mega-resort sound, state growth board rules (Peninsula Daily News, Port Angeles, WA)
http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/article/20080917/NEWS/809170306

DIVERSIONS

Teen sets record for blowing up balloons with nose
http://www.examiner.com/a-1591083~Teen_sets_record_for_blowing_up_balloons_with_nose.html?cid=rss-Washington_Headlines

Auction To Have Paintings By Penguin, Sea Lions
http://www.kirotv.com/irresistible/17486276/detail.html

"Hitchhiker's Guide" series to ride again
http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSLH9268320080917?feedType=RSS&feedName=oddlyEnoughNews