Energy News Digest for April 2, 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)

- Clallam PUD raises power rates
- U.S.' LNG projects in doubt after court ruling
- Cowlitz County stands firm on request for NorthernStar pipeline permits
- Group calls Washington's new heat rules 'ridiculous'
- Maryland – This is no time for Baltimore Gas & Electric to fail Fuel Fund for low income energy assistance
- Nuclear Regulatory Commission Takes 32 Years to Answer Nuclear Energy Watchdog Group’s Petition
- North Carolina – Eight protesters arrested at Duke Energy's Cliffside plant
- The Consumerist – IDT Energy Scamming Spreads Past New York City
- Florida – Sparks fly at Boca GOP club energy talk
- Killing of Oregon Sea Lions Postponed
- Time to Give Up On 2008 Salmon Season?
- Three Little Pigs Could Save The Salmon? No Fooling
- California State Senate OKs salmon habitat funds
- Cooperation at Salmon Harvest Talks
- Oregon Fish and Wildlife managers are angling for pricier fishing and hunting licenses
- NY Times Editorial – Patagonia without Dams
- Snohomish County – Snowpack near Spada Lake buries 1997 record
- Water Levels Stay Above Average This Spring
- Oregon pulls certification of water-testing lab
- Colorado town deals with salmonella-tainted water
- Energy Pulse Commentary – Why the Recent Texas Reliability Event Raises No Concerns about Much Higher Wind Penetration
- Where to store wind-powered energy? Under water!
- Australia – Not enough 'green energy' to meet carbon emission targets
- Bye, Bye, Biomass – San Francisco Chronicle Opinion – Bay Area fireplace ban makes sense
- News Release – PSE's Aggressive Energy Efficiency Plans Means More Customer Incentives, Bigger Energy Savings
- Beacon or Boondoggle? New Lights for the Capitol
- Proposed Battelle carbon project delayed
- Oregon proposes greenhouse gas reporting rules
- Are Carbon Off-Sets For Fools Only?
- Maryland – State Senate Rejects Carbon Credit Program
- Fiber-optic line vandalism costs Qwest $25,000
- Verizon needs $8B for airwave license
- FCC chairman to oppose Skype open-network petition
- Intel Makes a Push Into Pocket-Size Internet Devices
- NY Times Editorial – Broadening Broadband
- Australia cancels high-priced rural broadband deal
- How data centers are cooling down
- Comcast’s Blurry High Definition Picture
- Government ban on new IBM contracts stems from $84 million EPA deal awarded to another company
- Microsoft wins document format standards battle
- $4 gas for U.S. by summer?
- Blame our crazy spring weather on La Nina
- At Sanderson Field Near Shelton – No Drag Racing This Summer
- Beijing pollution risky for endurance athletes
- More than 150 trees in Tumwater have pruning damage

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

WORD OF THE DAY

Disremember • \dis-rih-MEM-ber\ • verb – Forget

“I must say, that I disremember the details of the dismembering of the different elements of my energy company,” droned the energy trader at his trial. “I do remember that our lawyers were out of the room at the time, so we may have just been joking,” he quipped, while slowly winking at the attractive juror number 6.

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

Clallam PUD raises power rates (KONP Radio, Port Angeles)
http://www.konp.com/local/3518

U.S.' LNG projects in doubt after court ruling – Delaware can block a liquefied natural gas terminal in New Jersey, which could affect LNG proposals for Oregon (The Oregonian)
http://www.oregonlive.com/business/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/business/120702211864120.xml&coll=7

Cowlitz County stands firm on request for NorthernStar pipeline permits (The Daily News, Longview)
http://www.tdn.com/articles/2008/04/02//area_news/doc47f2f9e0962f7512975073.txt

Group calls Washington's new heat rules 'ridiculous' (Puget Sound Business Journal)
http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2008/03/31/daily11.html?ana=from_rss

Maryland – This is no time for Baltimore Gas & Electric to fail Fuel Fund for low income energy assistance (Baltimore Sun)
http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/bal-bz.hancock02apr02,0,3870091.column

Energy Dept. Hesitates on Dealing with Uranium – The government is sitting on an inventory of partly processed uranium that could be sold for billions of dollars (NY Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/01/washington/01cnd-nuke.html?ex=1364788800&en=7c2541d90f18c929&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

Nuclear Regulatory Commission Takes 32 Years to Answer Nuclear Energy Watchdog Group’s Petition (Associated Press, via the Seattle Times)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2004320431_apslowfederalresponse.html?syndication=rss

North Carolina – Eight protesters arrested at Duke Energy's Cliffside plant (Charlotte Business Journal)
http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/stories/2008/03/31/daily23.html?ana=from_rss

The Consumerist – IDT Energy Scamming Spreads Past New York City (Note that there may be PG-13 language in the comment section)
http://consumerist.com/consumer/snakeoil/idt-energy-scamming-spreads-past-new-york-city-257591.php

Florida – Sparks fly at Boca GOP club energy talk – The sparks flew, appropriately enough, over the subject of electricity and energy independence, both discussed last week at the Boca Raton Republican Club meeting (Boca Raton News)
http://www.bocaratonnews.com/news/local/329-sparks-fly-boca-gop-club-energy-talk.php

WATER, FISH & THE ENVIRONMENT

Killing of Oregon Sea Lions Postponed (Associated Press)
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5g2I_mWpkCUDgk32sjohuj32YJHXAD8VPGTQ80

Time to Give Up On 2008 Salmon Season? People who make a living from salmon fishing on the West Coast face a no-win question. Should they fight over crumbs or just give up on the 2008 season? (Oregon Public Broadcasting)
http://news.opb.org/article/time-give-2008-salmon-season/

Three Little Pigs Could Save The Salmon? No Fooling (Eugene Register-Guard)
http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/dt.cms.support.viewStory.cls?cid=86727&sid=40&fid=1

California State Senate OKs salmon habitat funds – Money would come from a $5.4 billion water bond approved in 2006 (Contra Costa Times)
http://www.contracostatimes.com/ci_8780778?source=rss

Cooperation at Salmon Harvest Talks (Kitsap Sun, may require free registration)
http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2008/apr/01/cooperation-seen-at-salmon-harvest-talks/

Oregon Fish and Wildlife managers are angling for pricier fishing and hunting licenses – Town hall meetings will be held throughout the state in coming weeks (The Oregonian)
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1207018530290270.xml&coll=7

NY Times Editorial – Patagonia without Dams – Recently, environmental activists and local residents gathered near the small Chilean town of Cochrane to protest a plan to build a series of hydroelectric dams.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/01/opinion/01tue3.html?ex=1364702400&en=f02daaa4c1685e30&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

Snohomish County – Snowpack near Spada Lake buries 1997 record (Everett Herald)
http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20080402/NEWS01/567459102&news01ad=1

Water Levels Stay Above Average This Spring (KNDO-TV, Tri-Cities)
http://www.kndu.com/global/story.asp?s=8103722

Oregon pulls certification of water-testing lab (The Oregonian, via Examiner.com)
http://www.examiner.com/a-1315749~Oregon_pulls_certification_of_water_testing_lab.html?cid=rss-Oregon_Headlines

Colorado town deals with salmonella-tainted water – Chlorination treatment made drinking supply unusable, forcing schools to close and residents to avoid bathing (Contra Costa Times)
http://www.contracostatimes.com/ci_8780756?source=rss

RENEWABLE/ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

Energy Pulse Commentary – Why the Recent Texas Reliability Event Raises No Concerns about Much Higher Wind Penetration
http://www.energypulse.net/centers/article/article_display.cfm?a_id=1701

Where to store wind-powered energy? Under water! (CNN Technology)
http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/science/03/31/windpower/

Australia – Not enough 'green energy' to meet carbon emission targets (Yahoo! News)
http://au.news.yahoo.com/080402/21/16c6l.html

Bye, Bye, Biomass – San Francisco Chronicle Opinion – Bay Area fireplace ban makes sense
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/04/02/EDMMVU10L.DTL&feed=rss.opinion

CONSERVATION

News Release – PSE's Aggressive Energy Efficiency Plans Means More Customer Incentives, Bigger Energy Savings (Puget Sound Energy, via Earth Times)
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/pses-aggressive-energy-efficiency-plans,335068.shtml

Beacon or Boondoggle? New Lights for the Capitol – Update Would Conserve Energy, Democrats Say (Washington Post)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/01/AR2008040103145.html?nav=rss_politics

CLIMATE CHANGE SEQUESTRATION VAULT

Proposed Battelle carbon project delayed – The carbon sequestration demonstration project at the Wallula Gap Business Park has been delayed because seismic data analysis isn't complete (Tri-City Herald)
http://www.tri-cityherald.com/901/story/143648.html

Oregon proposes greenhouse gas reporting rules (The Associated Press)
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/O/OR_GREENHOUSE_GAS_RULES_OROL-?SITE=ORKLA&SECTION=STATE&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Are Carbon Off-Sets For Fools Only? Activists around the world dubbed April First ‘Fossil Fools Day’ to draw attention to carbon emissions (Oregon Public Broadcasting)
http://news.opb.org/article/are-carbon-sets-fools-only/

Maryland – State Senate Rejects Carbon Credit Program – Bill Was Crucial to O'Malley's Energy Conservation Plan (Washington Post)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/01/AR2008040101693.html

TELECOMMUNICATIONS & TECHNOLOGY

Fiber-optic line vandalism costs Qwest $25,000 – Vandals cut a fiber-optic phone cable south of Kelso at around midnight Sunday, but apparently once they discovered the cable contained glass and not copper, they left. (The Daily News, Longview)
http://www.tdn.com/articles/2008/04/02//area_news/doc47f2eb9359448487799391.txt

Verizon needs $8B for airwave licenses – Ambitious plan for a new wireless network has a big pricetag, and it's coming due (Fortune Magazine)
http://money.cnn.com/2008/04/01/news/companies/moritz_verizon.fortune/index.htm?source=yahoo_quote

FCC chairman to oppose Skype open-network petition (Reuters)
http://www.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUSN0126806320080401?feedType=nl&feedName=usmorningdigest

Intel Makes a Push Into Pocket-Size Internet Devices – Intel plans to proclaim Wednesday in Shanghai that the next big thing in consumer gadgets will be the “Internet in your pocket.” (NY Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/02/technology/02chip.html?_r=1&ei=5088&en=4a7860afc5474b69&ex=1364875200&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&adxnnlx=1207151208-bWVgObNwzFpT0CdiiR56lg

NY Times Editorial – Broadening Broadband
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/29/opinion/29sat4.html?_r=2&ref=opinion&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

Australia cancels broadband deal – The Australian government has terminated a 958 million Australian dollar ($869 million) agreement with a Singapore-backed consortium to build a rural broadband network, officials said Wednesday. (The Associated Press, via Tri-City Herald)
http://www.tri-cityherald.com/991/story/144332.html

How data centers are cooling down (CNET News)
http://www.news.com/2300-13842_3-6236292-1.html?tag=nl.e433

Comcast’s Blurry High Definition Picture – Not only has Comcast been slowing down Internet users exchanging files with the BitTorrent protocol, it has been quietly reducing the quality of some high definition television networks it carries as well. (NY Times)
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/03/31/comcasts-blurry-high-definition-picture/index.html?ex=1364875200&en=a021e89e17f70dd6&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

Government ban on new IBM contracts stems from $84 million EPA deal awarded to another company (San Jose Mercury News)
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_8772251?source=rss

Microsoft wins document format standards battle (Reuters)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080401/tc_nm/microsoft_standard_dc_2

GENERAL NEWS

$4 gas for U.S. by summer? (Seattle Times)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2004321336_stoxcenter02.html?syndication=rss

Blame our crazy spring weather on La Nina (KING-TV, Seattle)
http://www.king5.com/localnews/stories/NW_040108WAB_la_nina_spring_weather_TP.216ecc2b.html

AT SANDERSON FIELD NEAR SHELTON – NO DRAG RACING THIS SUMMER – The Port of Shelton Commission is NOT reconsidering its denial of the Shelton Drag Strip Association's request to hold races on Sanderson Field's decommissioned runway this summer. Last week, Commissioner Jack Miles started discussions with the other Port Commissioners about the possibility of holding the drag races this year sighting that the reasons for the Port's denial in February no longer apply. Those reasons included public safety due to construction work in the area and work to update the Port's Airport Master Plan. According to Miles, the construction work will be completed before the requested race dates and the Port can approve the races under the current Airport plan. With that in mind, Miles made a motion Tuesday for the Commission to reconsider their denial and allow the Association to only hold the Reunion Drag Race in August not all the events originally requested. That motion died for a lack of a second. For Commissioner Rick Byrd, the reasons not to reconsider the denial center on the Federal Aviation Administration which told him they are not in favor of those types of events at Sanderson Field as it is an airport. He also believes the Drag Racing issue has taken too much time away from other Port business. Commissioner Jay Hupp stands by his signature on the denial letter sent to the Shelton Drag Strip Association saying the subject has disrupted the business of the Port and the decision to deny the request was well thought out. Several people testified during Tuesday's meeting. Most drag race supporters said they understand the Commission's decision. Officials with the Shelton Drag Strip Association said they had already moved forward and are working to develop their own facility, away from the Airport. Not everyone was pleased with the situation but most made respectful comments as the drag racing issue at the airport is finished. (KMAS Radio, Shelton)

Beijing pollution risky for endurance athletes (Reuters)
http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSPEK8843220080402?feedType=nl&feedName=ustopnewsearly

More than 150 trees in Tumwater have damage – An unprecedented rash of improper and unpermitted tree pruning has damaged more than 150 of the city's flowering cherry trees and other street tree species, arborists say. (The Olympian)
http://www.theolympian.com/southsound/story/406331.html

DIVERSIONS

Pay-per-view funerals go live online in Britain
http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/story.html?id=aa441b2a-b911-45b6-8430-732703a4befd&k=21826

Woman calls cops to buy cocaine
http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20080402/NEWS02/760275534/-1/RSS01

Burglar Plays Dead at Funeral Home
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/O/ODD_SPAIN_PLAYING_DEAD?SITE=ORKLA&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2008-04-02-10-07-57

Man Escapes From Jail, Nobody Notices
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/O/ODD_JAIL_ESCAPE?SITE=ORKLA&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2008-04-01-20-43-58