Energy News Digest for April 16, 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)

- News Release – Mason County PUD No. 3 to Provide for Compact Fluorescent Light Bulb Recycling
- Jefferson County commissioners warm to studying PUD as power provider
- Washington State fines Puget Sound Energy $366,000 for fuel spill at Crystal Mountain
- Columbia River PUD warns of identity theft after rip-off
- Crash Knocks Out Power In South Seattle
- After wind turbine fatality, Siemens will defend safety procedures
- Valley public power group and PG&E settle dispute
- Local California communities reach for power over energy
- Canada – Alberta's nuclear power plans concern northern British Columbia mayors
- Wisconsin – Past Due Utility Bills Near $115 Million
- Wisconsin – Electric rates go up Tuesday – again
- Sport Chinook fishery on Chehalis River closed
- Columbia River spring Chinook salmon fishing can get you hooked
- Demand for B.C. farmed salmon outstrips supply, industry says
- Washington State Ecology to lay off as many as nine in its Water Quality Program
- Odessa Aquifer report released for public review
- Study looks at piping water to Umatilla basin farms
- Klamath Basin – It looks like Basin got a break on water supply
- Portland to pay settlement for nearly 90 sewage spills over six years
- Montana –State panel to hear wind-power case
- Will Wind Power Make the Grid Less Reliable?
- Demand and cost of natural gas – Costly fertilizer could bump crop prices
- Demand growing for employees in renewable energy
- Seattle-Based native company launches wind energy project
- Kentucky – Idaho company to study river power at Newburgh Lock & Dam
- Energy Pulse Commentary – Regulation in a Time of Looming Darkness
- Study Finds Garbage-To-Fuel Best Fit for Northwest
- Is ethanol's carbon footprint bad? It depends
- Is the silicon shortage in solar ending? Tea leaves mixed
- Hello Gridwise – Fridges of the world, unite! Smarter appliances mean fewer brown-outs
- White House floats new climate proposal with GOP conservatives
- Climate Changing Faster In The Northwest, Study Finds
- Seattle Post-Intelligencer Editorial – Climate Change: Last gasp for autos
- Chinese Officials Announce Plans to Clear Air before Olympics
- Turning White Space into Wireless
- Tennessee – Chattanooga power company to pursue cable venture
- Bill would ban in-flight phone talk
- Did Google 'dupe' FCC?
- Layoffs At Simpson Timber Company
- Unseasonably Cold Storm System Possible By Week's End
- KVI employee suspected of rigging radio contest

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

WORD OF THE DAY

Spinous • \SPY-nuss\ • adjective – 1a: covered or armed with spines; broadly: bearing spines, prickles, or thorns b: slender and pointed like a spine *2: difficult or unpleasant to handle or meet: thorny

Tom had heard the old proverb “as ticklish as dancing with a porcupine,” but until his spinous encounter in dancing class with his neighbor’s pet hedgehog, he never really knew what it meant. An hour later, his emergency room doctor spelled it all out for him.

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

News Release – Mason County PUD No. 3 to Provide for Compact Fluorescent Light Bulb Recycling (Mason County PUD No. 3)
http://www.masonpud3.org/News/display.asp?NewsID=425

Jefferson County commissioners warm to studying PUD as power provider (Peninsula Daily News)
http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/article/20080415/NEWS/804150305

Washington State fines Puget Sound Energy $366,000 for fuel spill at Crystal Mountain (The Olympian)
http://www.theolympian.com/breakingnews/story/419998.html

Columbia River PUD warns of identity theft after rip-off (South County Spotlight)
http://www.spotlightnews.net/news/story.php?story_id=120830002485421400

Crash Knocks Out Power In South Seattle (KIRO-TV, Seattle)
http://www.kirotv.com/news/15897180/detail.html

After wind turbine fatality, Siemens will defend safety procedures – The wind turbine maker talks to Oregon regulators today about a tower that fell (The Oregonian)
http://www.oregonlive.com/business/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/business/1208314508290870.xml&coll=7

Valley public power group and PG&E settle dispute – The state's first public electricity cooperative (San Joaquin Valley Power Authority) and Pacific Gas & Electric Co. said Monday they have settled an acrid dispute over PG&E's marketing campaign against the co-op (Associated Press, via the San Francisco Chronicle)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/04/14/state/n175625D82.DTL&feed=rss.business

Local communities reach for power over energy – Marin County residents want more solar and wind power. San Francisco officials think they might be able to strike better energy deals. Some cities in the San Joaquin Valley want to build their own power plants. …California communities are trying to exert more power over, well, their power. (San Francisco Chronicle)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/04/15/MN1K105A81.DTL

Canada – Alberta's nuclear power plans concern northern British Columbia mayors (CBC News)
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2008/04/14/bc-alberta-nuclear-plant.html

Wisconsin – Past Due Utility Bills Near $115 Million (Light and Medium Truck)
http://lmtruck.com/articles/lmtbase.aspx?storyid=129

Wisconsin – Electric rates go up Tuesday - again: We Energies' second increase in 3 months blamed on fuel costs (McClatchy Tribune Business News, via Power Marketing Association Online)
http://powermarketers.netcontentinc.net/newsreader.asp?ppa=8knpp%5E%5CjmsrqtqUTjgt9K%22bfen%5Fv

WATER, FISH & THE ENVIRONMENT

Sport Chinook fishery on Chehalis River closed (KOMO-TV, Seattle)
http://www.komotv.com/news/local/17761119.html

Columbia River spring Chinook salmon fishing can get you hooked (Seattle Times)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/othersports/2004351686_chinook16.html?syndication=rss

Demand for B.C. farmed salmon outstrips supply, industry says (Fish Update)
http://www.fishupdate.com/news/fullstory.php/aid/10639/Demand_for_B.C._farmed_salmon_outstrips_supply,_industry_says.html

Ecology to lay off as many as nine – The state Department of Ecology plans to lay off up to nine workers in its 250-person Water Quality Program, prompted in part by declining construction statewide. (The Olympian)
http://www.theolympian.com/southsound/story/420563.html

Odessa Aquifer report released for public review (Tri-City Herald)
http://www.tri-cityherald.com/901/story/157988.html

Study looks at piping water to Umatilla basin farms – A consortium of three Oregon companies has been chosen to find out whether it's feasible to draw water from the Columbia River and store it for use by Umatilla basin farmers (The Oregonian)
http://www.oregonlive.com/environment/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1208310929186630.xml&coll=7

Klamath Basin – It looks like Basin got a break on water supply (Klamath Herald & News)
http://www.heraldandnews.com/articles/2008/04/14/viewpoints/op-ed/doc4801a48c95a48171180452.txt

Portland to pay settlement for nearly 90 sewage spills over six years (The Associated Press, via the Eugene Register-Guard)
http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/dt.cms.support.viewStory.cls?cid=93128&sid=4&fid=2

RENEWABLE/ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

Montana –State panel to hear wind-power case - Small producers, Northwestern at odds over fees (The Missoulian)
http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2008/04/15/news/mtregional/news07.txt

Will Wind Power Make the Grid Less Reliable? (Renewable Energy World Online)
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/ate/story?id=52179&src=rss

Demand and cost of natural gas – Costly fertilizer could bump crop prices
http://www.examiner.com/a-1342401~Costly_fertilizer_could_bump_crop_prices.html?cid=rss-California_Headlines

Demand growing for employees in renewable energy (Ashland Daily Tidings)
http://www.dailytidings.com/2008/0414/stories/0414_greenjobs.php

Seattle-Based native company launches wind energy project (Indian Country)
http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096417016

Kentucky – Idaho company to study river power at Newburgh Lock & Dam (Evansville Courier & Press)
http://www.courierpress.com/news/2008/apr/15/company-to-study-river-power-at-newburgh-lock/

Energy Pulse Commentary – Regulation in a Time of Looming Darkness
http://www.energypulse.net/centers/article/article_display.cfm?a_id=1719

Study Finds Garbage-To-Fuel Best Fit for Northwest (Oregon Public Broadcasting)
http://news.opb.org/article/study-finds-garbage-fuel-best-fit-northwest/

Is ethanol's carbon footprint bad? It depends (CNET News)
http://www.news.com/8301-11128_3-9919612-54.html?tag=nl.e703

Is the silicon shortage in solar ending? Tea leaves mixed (CNET News)
http://www.news.com/8301-11128_3-9919442-54.html?tag=nl.e703

CONSERVATION

Hello Gridwise – Fridges of the world, unite! Smarter appliances mean fewer brown-outs (The Economist Magazine Online)
http://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11041528

CLIMATE CHANGE SEQUESTRATION VAULT

White House floats new climate proposal with GOP conservatives (The Associated Press, via the Minneapolis Star)
http://www.startribune.com/politics/17675349.html

Climate Changing Faster In The Northwest, Study Finds (Oregon Public Broadcasting)
http://news.opb.org/article/climate-changing-faster-northwest-study-finds/

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Editorial – Climate Change: Last gasp for autos
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/359157_drived.html?source=rss

Chinese Officials Announce Plans to Clear Air before Olympics (Washington Post – Ed. Note: two words – BIG fans)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/14/AR2008041401598.html?nav=rss_nation

TELECOMMUNICATIONS & TECHNOLOGY

Turning White Space into Wireless – Some companies want to use leftover parts of the TV broadcast spectrum to create inexpensive wireless service. Such a move could be dangerous, critics say (National Public Radio)
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89652413&ft=1&f=17

Tennessee – Chattanooga power company to pursue cable venture - EPB says judge's dismissal of suit clears way for plans (Knoxville News)
http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2008/apr/16/chattanooga-power-company-to-pursue-cable/

Bill would ban in-flight phone talk (Contra Costa Times)
http://www.contracostatimes.com/ci_8939101?source=rss

Did Google 'dupe' FCC? Google manipulated the U.S. government spectrum auction by bidding just enough to trigger rules that opened a nationwide set of airwaves to any device and then walking away, Republican lawmakers said Tuesday. (San Jose Mercury News)
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_8942121?source=rss

GENERAL NEWS

LAYOFFS AT SIMPSON TIMBER COMPANY – Simpson Timber Company is laying off a total 111 workers at two sawmills at the end of this month. This includes 65 at the mill in Shelton. The other 46 are in Tacoma. The operations in Dayton and Longview, and at Simpson Tacoma Kraft Company are not affected by these layoffs. The Company says the layoffs will take effect April 28th and are the result of a downturn in the wood products business. The Tuesday announcement also said that company officials "cannot predict when improved economic conditions will occur." (KMAS Radio, Shelton)

UNSEASONABLY COLD STORM SYSTEM POSSIBLE BY WEEK'S END – A strong, cold low pressure system dropping south out of Canada will usher in a colder air mass that will result in unseasonably cold temperatures and plummeting snow levels by this weekend. The National Weather Service predicts daytime temperatures on Friday will be in the mid 40s to lower 50s. On Saturday, daytime temperatures are expected to be “winter like.” Temperatures this time of year are normally in the mid 50s to lower 60s. The snow level is also predicted to plummet to near sea level late Friday night making it likely that any showers will change to snow or a rain and snow mix. The precipitation will change back to rain during the day Saturday. The threat of snow will continue late Saturday night and early Sunday morning. If any clearing occurs at night, temperatures could dip into the mid 20s in some areas but especially over the southwest interior. Keep it tuned to 1030 KMAS for updates. (KMAS Radio, Shelton)

KVI employee suspected of rigging radio contest (KING-TV, Seattle)
http://www.king5.com/localnews/stories/NW_041508WAB_rigged_radio_contest_KC.6aaf56a7.html

DIVERSIONS

Car Towed With Sleeping 7-Year-Old Inside – Police: Possible Kidnapping Investigation Under Way
http://www.kirotv.com/automotive/15898495/detail.html

80 Percent Admit To 'Mental Health Days' – Stress, Family Problems Lead To Time Off
http://www.kirotv.com/health/15896645/detail.html

Pranksters Get Payback Of Thousands Of Forks In Yard
http://www.kirotv.com/irresistible/15900388/detail.html

Divorcing Wife Spouts Secrets On YouTube – Woman Also Dishes About Spouse's Family, Intimate Life
http://www.kirotv.com/family/15899534/detail.html