Energy News Digest for October 14, 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)

- B.C. Hydro still investigating source of blackout on Vancouver Island
- Political winds buffet California ballot measures on energy
- Avista to lower gas prices
- Third company enters Oregon liquefied natural gas race
- Effective tips for dealing with emotional utility customers
- New study: 80 percent of utilities have substation automation programs underway
- Oregon – A man-made solution to salmon's man-made crisis
- Bi-State commission to discuss salmon allocation
- Rossi promises salmon summit during Kelso rally
- Sea lions in Port San Luis playing havoc with marinas throughout the west
- Patches of Oregon savanna being restored
- Walla Walla: Septic users in line for fines
- Florida – Bottled water firm steamed about Miami-Dade water ads
- A Gust of Green Jobs – could “green jobs” ride to the rescue of industrial America?
- Bill Virgin: 'Green jobs' won't be the answer for every economy
- Ellensburg-Area Teachers Tour Renewable Energy Facilities
- Wave energy device test is success
- Greater Portland-Vancouver's Low Electricity Rates and Business Tax Climate Make It a Top Competitor for Solar
- Canada – Wind power close to reality in northern BC
- Missouri to vote on alternative energy issue
- Businesses bank on solar power
- Nuclear Power: The Safe and Easy Way
- Seattle P-I Guest Columnists – Green building is environmental solution
- Fiscal woes could delay climate change efforts
- Bad weather was good for Alaska glaciers
- Rising Temperatures May Dry Up Peat Bogs, Causing Carbon Release
- Microsoft exec touts technology for rural business
- Massachusetts – Panel to launch fiber-optic pitch
- Microsoft's failed Yahoo bid now looks like lucky miss
- Negotiations between Boeing, Machinists collapse
- Mason County Commissioners Calm Deputy's Fear of Lay Offs
- King County to Cut 400 Jobs
- Olympia port to sue anti-war protesters
- To Stimulate Development, City of Shelton Asked To Waive Some Utility Charges
- Washington Paid Family Leave Program on Indefinite Hold
- Morris challenged by Green Party candidate in Washington State House race
- At Indian Call Centers, another View of U.S.
- Saddled With Debt, Some Decide to Torch Vehicles

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

WORD OF THE DAY

Posse • \PAH-see\ • noun – *1: a large group often with a common interest 2: a body of persons summoned by a sheriff to assist in preserving the public peace usually in an emergency 3: a group of people temporarily organized to make a search (as for a lost child) 4: one’s attendants or associates

‘Fredo strode confidently into the boardroom, his posse in tow, intent of facing down a takeover of his board game empire by the game behemoth ‘Milton Bradley’. Unfortunately for ‘Fredo, he did not count on a breakfast buffet line set up just outside the mammoth wood and glass doors of the meeting room, where all his backers had detoured. It was only after he heard the booming slam of the doors that he realized he was all alone…one against the best twelve lawyers in all gamedom.

WORD ORIGINS FROM MERRIAM-WEBSTER ONLINE: "Posse" started out as a technical term in law, part of the term "posse comitatus," which in Medieval Latin meant "power or authority of the county." As such, it referred to a group of citizens summoned by a sheriff to preserve the public peace as allowed for by law. "Preserving the public peace" so often meant hunting down a supposed criminal that "posse" eventually came to mean any group organized to make a search or embark on a mission. In even broader use it can refer to any group, period. Sometimes nowadays that group is a gang or a rock band but it can as easily be any group -- of politicians, models, architects, tourists, children, or what have you -- acting in concert.

WEATHER

Shelton Forecast and Weather Alerts
http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/forecast/MapClick.php?textField1=47.213805&textField2=-123.113412&site=all&smap=1&searchresult=Shelton%2C%20WA%2C%20USA

ENERGY & UTILITY ISSUES

Canada – B.C. Hydro still investigating source of blackout on Vancouver Island: 200,000 homes lose electricity (Victoria Times-Colonist, BC)
http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/story.html?id=e495343e-8f84-4119-8820-85a86770db16

Political winds buffet California ballot measures on energy (Sacramento Bee, CA)
http://pubsys.sacbee.com/294/story/1235833.html

Avista to lower gas prices (Portland Business Journal)
http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2008/10/13/daily10.html?ana=from_rss

Third company enters Oregon liquefied natural gas race (Associated Press)
http://www.examiner.com/a-1636966~Third_company_enters_Ore__LNG_race.html?cid=rss-Oregon_Headlines

Effective tips for dealing with emotional utility customers (Utility Automation & Engineering)
http://uaelp.pennnet.com/Articles/Article_Display.cfm?Section=ONART&PUBLICATION_ID=22&ARTICLE_ID=342233&C=INDUS&dcmp=rss

New study: 80 percent of utilities have substation automation programs underway (Utility Automation & Engineering)
http://uaelp.pennnet.com/Articles/Article_Display.cfm?Section=ONART&PUBLICATION_ID=22&ARTICLE_ID=342559&C=INDUS&dcmp=rss

FISH & WILDLIFE

Oregon – A man-made solution to salmon's man-made crisis (The Oregonian, Portland, OR)
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2008/10/a_manmade_solution_to_salmons.html

Bi-State commission to discuss salmon allocation (Seattle Times)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008264735_aporfishcommission.html?syndication=rss

Rossi promises salmon summit during Kelso rally (The Daily News, Longview, WA)
http://www.tdn.com/articles/2008/10/14/area_news/doc48f3e93b42824046946568.txt

Sea lions in Port San Luis playing havoc with marinas throughout the West Coast (The Tribune, San Luis Obispo, CA)
http://www.sanluisobispo.com/news/local/story/497151.html

Patches of Oregon savanna being restored – Project has raised some concerns “…the Bonneville Power Administration and the Forest Restoration Partnership helped pay for it…” (Argus Observer, Ontario, OR)
http://www.argusobserver.com/articles/2008/10/13/news/doc48f3824c9731b364137739.txt

WATER & THE ENVIRONMENT

Walla Walla: Septic users in line for fines – The city has put about 350 people and businesses on notice (Union Bulletin)
http://www.union-bulletin.com/articles/2008/10/13/local_news/081013local01septic.txt

Florida – Bottled water firm steamed about Miami-Dade water ads (Miami Herald)
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/miami-dade/story/723788.html

RENEWABLE/ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

A Gust of Green Jobs – could “green jobs”, so beloved of presidential candidates, ride to the rescue of industrial America? (NY Times)
http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/13/a-gust-of-green-jobs/?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

Bill Virgin: 'Green jobs' won't be the answer for every economy (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/virgin/383092_virgin14.html

Ellensburg-Area Teachers Tour Renewable Energy Facilities (KNDO-TV, Tri-Cities, WA)http://www.kndu.com/global/story.asp?s=9164959

Wave energy device test is success (Portland Business Journal)
http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2008/10/13/daily6.html?ana=from_rss

Greater Portland-Vancouver's Low Electricity Rates, Skilled Workforce and Business Tax Climate Make It a Top Competitor for Solar, New Study Shows (MarketWatch)
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/greater-portland-vancouvers-low-electricity-rates/story.aspx?guid=%7B1A29C5FD-3864-4BF9-ACE7-883BDE06C9DD%7D&dist=hppr

Canada – Wind power close to reality in northern BC: Proponents say 8 turbine towers will be turning by January (Vancouver Sun, BC)
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/westcoastnews/story.html?id=440a1d28-0cb3-4ef7-b038-5df1c803b619

Missouri to vote on alternative energy issue – Proposition would require 3 utilities to meet alternative energy targets (CNN Money)
http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/apwire/df7826a72309dbd802d009b087cf3dc6.htm

Businesses bank on solar power (C/NET News)
http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-10064819-54.html?tag=nl.e703

Nuclear Power: The Safe and Easy Way (Renewable Energy World)
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/reinsider/story?id=53803&src=rss

CONSERVATION

Seattle P-I Guest Columnists – Green building is environmental solution
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/383102_greenbuilding14.html?source=rss

CLIMATE CHANGE SEQUESTRATION VAULT

Fiscal woes could delay climate change efforts (San Francisco Chronicle)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/10/13/MNO313EQ65.DTL

Bad weather was good for Alaska glaciers (Anchorage Daily News)
http://www.adn.com/news/environment/story/555283.html

Rising Temperatures May Dry Up Peat Bogs, Causing Carbon Release (NY Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/14/science/14obpeat.html?_r=2&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

TECHNOLOGY & TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Microsoft exec touts technology for rural business (Associated Press)
http://www.komonews.com/news/local/30928209.html

Massachusetts – Panel to launch fiber-optic pitch (Berkshire Eagle Staff, Pittsfield, MA)
http://www.berkshireeagle.com/ci_10708294?source=most_emailed

Microsoft's failed Yahoo bid now looks like lucky miss (Seattle Times)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2008263357_webballmer14.html?syndication=rss

GENERAL NEWS

Negotiations between Boeing, Machinists collapse – Job security is biggest stumbling block in contract talks; strike now in second month (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/383153_boeingstrike14.html

Mason County Commissioners Calm Deputy's Fear of Lay Offs (KMAS Radio, Shelton)
http://www.masoncountydailynews.com/News/NewsArticle/tabid/1897/selectmoduleid/3468/ArticleID/5286/reftab/1896/Default.aspx

King County to Cut 400 Jobs (KIRO-TV, Seattle)
http://www.kirotv.com/news/17706021/detail.html

Olympia port to sue anti-war protesters (Associated Press)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008264737_webprotestsuits14m.html?syndication=rss

To Stimulate Development, City of Shelton Asked To Waive Some Utility Charges (KMAS Radio, Shelton)
http://www.masoncountydailynews.com/News/NewsArticle/tabid/1897/selectmoduleid/3468/ArticleID/5285/reftab/1896/Default.aspx

Washington Paid Family Leave Program on Indefinite Hold Because Of Budget Woes (Oregon Public Radio)
http://news.opb.org/article/3277-washington-paid-family-leave-program-hold/

Morris challenged by Green Party candidate in Washington State House race (Bellingham Herald, WA)
http://www.bellinghamherald.com/102/story/605492.html

At Indian Call Centers, another View of U.S. – As Economy Falters, Debt Collectors Hear Sobering Stories from the Land of Plenty (Washington Post)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/13/AR2008101302701.html?nav=rss_business

Saddled With Debt, Some Decide to Torch Vehicles (Washington Post)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/12/AR2008101202255.html?nav=rss_nation

DIVERSIONS

More than 100 sick as too many Chinese cooks spoil broth – added rust remover because it “needed more flavor”
http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSTRE49C73B20081013?feedType=RSS&feedName=oddlyEnoughNews

Philomath moves toward killing turkeys (Associated Press)
http://www.examiner.com/a-1636927~Philomath_moves_toward_killing_turkeys.html?cid=rss-Oregon_Headlines

Rolling Stone ends large format after 4 decades
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/10/14/entertainment/e064114D25.DTL&feed=rss.business