Energy News Digest for April 29, 2009

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.

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TODAY’S HIGHLIGHTS (Details Below)

- News Tribune Editorial - Fix Those Bills (Including I-937) Before the Special Session
- Nuclear Solution Comes with a Huge Price Tag
- Companies That Want To Build New Nuclear Reactors
- Poll: Utilities Expect Higher Power Bills
- The Challenge: Constant Current from Fickle Winds
- Oregon - Dangling Power Line Creates Scare
- C/NET News Op/Ed - Where Federal Energy Research Money Should Go
- Tonbridge Power Names Veteran Power Executive to Its Board of Directors
- Environmental Groups Say Idaho Gravel Mine Violates Laws
- Campbell River Coho Survival Rate Worries Scientists
- Canada – BC Indian Band Accepts Payment for Destroyed Village Fishery
- If Sturgeon Could Talk - A short history of Lake Washington
- Puget Sound Gets Bad Grades on Air Quality Report
- Oregon - Plans for New Vestas Headquarters on Hold
- U.S. Wind Industry Installs 2,800 MW in First Quarter
- Texas - Wind Turbine Rules Go Back for Changes
- United Kingdom - Wind Energy: Mainstream Renewable Power
- Intel Tops EPA Green Power List
- Seattle, Nissan Team Up For Electric-Car Charging Network
- Oregon - The wait continues for biomass money
- The Switch: Consumers Want To Conserve, But It's A Challenge
- At Grand Central, a Fluorescent Twist to a Light-Bulb Joke
- Smart Meter Saves Big Bucks for Pennsylvania Family
- A winter’s Tale: My First Season With Micro-Combined Heat and Power
- Climate Bill Has Some on Edge
- Democrats See U.S. Coal As Good Coal, Foreign Coal As Bad Coal
- Another Report - Obama Emissions Plan To Cost $1,400 A Family
- Cold Facts Dispel Theories on Warming
- Qwest Earnings Climb 37% After Cost Cuts
- Qwest Adds 42,000 Broadband Customers
- A Dying Landline Business Sounds a Lot like Static
- Ask.com parent IAC reports Q1 loss
- U.S. Steps Up Effort on Digital Defenses
- Texas Launches Effort to Extend Broadband Statewide
- New Google Search Tool Aimed at Making Sense of Public Data
- What Hath Olympia Wrought?
- Analysis: Scorecard for the 2009 Wash. Legislature
- Feds Offer Checklist for Businesses Preparing for Swine Flu
- Mason General Purchases Health Center
- Spin Meter: The Politics of Counting Stimulus Jobs
- Hood Canal Bridge Closure Nightmare for Some, Dream for Others
- Port Townsend Braces for Hood Canal Bridge Closure
- Walla Walla - Remoteness Hurts Washington Wine Town in Downturn
- Lake Chelan Area Wins Designation as aDistinct Wine Grape-Growing Region

WORD OF THE DAY

Twitter • \TWITT-err \ • noun – 1: a trembling agitation: quiver 2: a small tremulous intermittent sound (as of birds) 3a: a light chattering b: a light silly laugh: giggle 4: A Web site and service that lets users send short text messages from their computers or cell phones to a group of friends or colleagues.

Twitter • \TWITT-err \ • verb – 1: to utter successive chirping noises 2a: to talk in a chattering fashion b: giggle, titter

The office was all a-twitter over an impending merger with ConHugeCo, the conglomerate that had virtual control over the production of jackstraw games in at least three-quarters of the world’s countries. High-squeaking noises twittered from Penelope’s lips as she updated co-workers via her Twitter account on the impressive procession of the CEO and her minions on their office tour. The stream of narrative kept everyone glued to their cell phone and computer screens. Unfortunately, it would soon be their undoing; the digital distraction prevented eye contact and groveling before the new boss…which marked each employee so engaged as expendable in the looming reorganization.

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

News Tribune Editorial - Fix Those Bills (Including I-937) Before the Special Session
http://www.thenewstribune.com/opinion/story/724885.html

Nuclear Solution Comes with a Huge Price Tag “…No matter the charges, Americans will need to get used to paying more for electricity…” (Associated Press)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/04/28/financial/f125017D03.DTL&feed=rss.business

Companies That Want To Build New Nuclear Reactors: A list of companies that have announced their intent to submit applications to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for new plant licenses (Associated Press)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2009138250_apuscostlynuclearpowerglance.html?syndication=rss

Poll: Utilities Expect Higher Power Bills - North American utility executives say they expect the Obama presidency to include stricter environmental regulations and higher electricity prices (United Press International)
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2009/04/28/Poll-Utilities-expect-higher-power-bills/UPI-23861240938909/

The Challenge: Constant Current from Fickle Winds (National Public Radio)
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103575144&ft=1&f=3

Oregon - Dangling Power Line Creates Scare (The Umpqua Post, OR)
http://www.theumpquapost.com/articles/2009/04/28/public_records/police_reports/doc49f78163c3b39180998209.txt

C/NET News Op/Ed - Where Federal Energy Research Money Should Go
http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-10229241-54.html?tag=nl.e703

Tonbridge Power Names Veteran Power Executive to Its Board of Directors - Walter E. Pollock former executive with the Bonneville Power Administration (Marketwire)
http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Tonbridge-Power-Inc-TSX-VENTURE-TBZ-981091.html

FISH & WILDLIFE

Environmental Groups Say Idaho Gravel Mine Violates Laws, Threatens Fish (Idaho Statesman, Boise)
http://www.idahostatesman.com/newsupdates/story/749297.html

Campbell River Coho Survival Rate Worries Scientists (Campbell River Mirror, BC)
http://www.bclocalnews.com/vancouver_island_north/campbellrivermirror/news/43908852.html

Canada – BC Indian Band Accepts Ottawa's Offer to Pay for Destroying Village Fishery in 1959 (The Globe and Mail, Canada)
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20090429.BCHAGWILGET29ART2124/TPStory/National

If Sturgeon Could Talk - A short history of Lake Washington, as told to our author by one very long fish (Crosscut Seattle)
http://crosscut.com/2009/04/29/animals-wildlife/18962/

WATER & THE ENVIRONMENT

Puget Sound Gets Bad Grades on Air Quality Report (Associated Press)
http://www.king5.com/localnews/stories/NW_042909WA-AP-puget-sound-air-quality-LJ.1576499.html?rss

Here’s a link to the Washington State Rundown (Lung Association)
http://www.stateoftheair.org/2009/states/washington/

RENEWABLE/ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

Oregon - Plans for New Vestas Headquarters on Hold: Company to lay off 1,900 workers in Denmark and England (Portland Business Journal)
http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2009/04/27/daily15.html?ana=from_rss

U.S. Wind Industry Installs 2,800 MW in First Quarter (Renewable Energy World)
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2009/04/u-s-wind-industry-installs-2800-mw-in-first-quarter?src=rss

Texas - Wind Turbine Rules Go Back for Changes: City Council wants to make more homes eligible (The Caller-Times, Corpus Christi, TX)
http://www.caller.com/news/2009/apr/28/council_wind/

United Kingdom - Wind Energy: Mainstream Renewable Power - Wind energy is spearheading Britain’s efforts to generate 35% of our electricity from renewable sources by 2020 (The Telegraph, UK)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sponsored/business/businesstruth/5238497/Wind-Energy-Mainstream-Renewable-Power.html

Intel Tops EPA Green Power List (Oregon Public Broadcasting)
http://news.opb.org/article/4876-intel-tops-epa-green-power-list/

Seattle, Nissan Team Up For Electric-Car Charging Network (Seattle Times)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2009139766_webelectric28.html?syndication=rss

Oregon - The wait continues for biomass money: No word on the county’s $4.1 million request for federal stimulus dollars (Baker City Herald, OR)
http://www.bakercityherald.com/Local-News/The-wait-continues-for-biomass-money

CONSERVATION & EFFICIENCY

The Switch: Consumers Want To Conserve, But It's A Challenge (Oregon Public Radio)
http://news.opb.org/article/4882-switch-consumers-want-conserve-its-challenge/

At Grand Central, a Fluorescent Twist to a Light-Bulb Joke (NY Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/29/nyregion/29bulbs.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

Smart Meter Saves Big Bucks for Pennsylvania Family (National Public Radio)
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103437607&ft=1&f=2

A winter’s Tale: My First Season With Micro-Combined Heat and Power (NY Times)
http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/29/a-winters-tale-my-first-season-with-micro-combined-heat-and-power/

CLIMATE CHANGE SEQUESTRATION VAULT

Climate Bill Has Some on Edge (Politico)
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0409/21828.html

National Post Op/Ed - Democrats see U.S. coal as good coal, foreign coal as bad coal (Canada)
http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/fullcomment/archive/2009/04/28/david-frum-democrats-see-u-s-coal-as-good-coal-foreign-coal-as-bad-coal.aspx

Another Report - Obama Emissions Plan To Cost $1,400 A Family (Reuters)
http://uk.reuters.com/article/oilRpt/idUKN2832779720090428

Cold Facts Dispel Theories on Warming (The Australian)
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25400914-7583,00.html

TECHNOLOGY & TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Qwest Earnings Climb 37% After Cost Cuts (Associated Press)
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/04/29/technology/AP-US-Earns-Qwest.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

Qwest Adds 42,000 Broadband Customers - Telco says they're still testing faster speeds (Broadband Reports)
http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Qwest-Adds-42000-Broadband-Customers-102177

A Dying Landline Business Sounds a Lot like Static (GigaOM)
http://gigaom.com/2009/04/28/a-dying-landline-business-sounds-a-lot-like-static/

Ask.com parent IAC reports Q1 loss (San Francisco Business Times)
http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/stories/2009/04/27/daily38.html?ana=from_rss

U.S. Steps Up Effort on Digital Defenses (NY Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/28/us/28cyber.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

Texas Launches Effort to Extend Broadband Statewide (San Antonio Business Journal)
http://www.bizjournals.com/sanantonio/stories/2009/04/27/daily10.html?ana=from_rss

New Google Search Tool Aimed at Making Sense of Public Data (Washington Post)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/28/AR2009042802280.html?nav=rss_email/components

GENERAL NEWS

What Hath Olympia Wrought? In a very tough session, Republicans played no role, Democrats fought but probably avoided divorce court, and the majority party got cold feet about boosting taxes. And we get a mini-encore soon. (Crosscut Seattle)
http://crosscut.com/2009/04/29/animals-wildlife/18962/

Analysis: Scorecard for the 2009 Wash. Legislature (Associated Press)
http://www.seattlepi.com/local/6420ap_wa_xgr_analysis_winners__losers.html

Feds Offer Checklist for Businesses Preparing for Swine Flu (Portland Business Journal)
http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2009/04/27/daily29.html?ana=from_rss

Mason General Purchases Health Center (Business Examiner)
http://www.businessexaminer.com/blog/mason-general-purchases-health-center/

Spin Meter: The Politics of Counting Stimulus Jobs (Associated Press)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politics/2009142055_apusstimuluscountingjobs.html?syndication=rss

Hood Canal Bridge Closure Nightmare for Some, Dream for Others (KING-TV, Seattle)
http://www.king5.com/localnews/stories/NW_042809WAB-bridge-detour-KS.11db65e39.html?rss

Port Townsend Braces for Hood Canal Bridge Closure (Seattle Times)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2009141464_bridge29m.html

Walla Walla - Remoteness Hurts Washington Wine Town in Downturn (Associated Press)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/04/28/financial/f130939D08.DTL&feed=rss.business

Lake Chelan Area Wins Designation as the State's 11th Distinct Wine Grape-Growing Region (Seattle Times)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2009140125_webwine28.html?syndication=rss

DIVERSIONS

Severe Wind Sends Chihuahua Flying Into Sky - Pet Psychic Helps Owners Find Lost Dog In Woods
http://www.kirotv.com/family/19307489/detail.html

FaceBook Surfing While Sick Costs Woman Job - said she could not work in front of a computer as she needed to lie in the dark
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090424/od_nm/us_facebook_job;_ylt=AkrimzEXeIjtGB4bubHxbXPtiBIF

McCurry Beats McDonald’s In Malaysia Lawsuit
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090429/od_uk_nm/oukoe_uk_malaysia_courts_mcdonalds;_ylt=AtyRLnDeH_8ChXPN0WtyDintiBIF

Yuck! Winona Police Again Find 'Chicken Skimmings' On Streets
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090429/ap_on_fe_st/odd_chicken_skimmings_spill;_ylt=AqCEmBPFyDpz3P9SNKVXIontiBIF

SONG OF THE DAY

The Time Warp – Cover by Jack Hicko (PG-13 – couldn’t find a watchable version of the original, but I loved this interpretation; shades of Leon Redbone)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOOdNuoU4G0&feature=PlayList&p=0EBEF02CA82024D1&index=23