Energy News Digest for July 17, 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.

To subscribe, email jmyer@masonpud3.org

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHTS (Details Below)

• Jefferson Utility Takeover Negotiations Conducted Out Of Public's Eye
• Clark Public Utilities Looks Good - Residential customer satisfaction
• Industrial Users Mull Grant County PUD Rate Proposal
• BPA Invites Public Feedback on Grand Coulee Transmission Line Replacement
• Fitch Rates Chelan County PUD's $68MM Various New Money Issues 'AA+’
• Seattle City Light: Big Power Lines To Stay
• Texas - Power Line Plans Alarm Hill Country Residents
• Pacific Gas & Electric Says 1920s Power Line Sparked S.F. Fire
• Natural Gas Reserves Increase As Expected
• NEW DEVELOPMENT: Strategies for Tapping Hydro’s Potential
• Hearing Examiner to Take Up Clallam County Salmon Pond Plan
• Editorial - Stop the suction dredging of state's rivers
• Temporary Halt to New Wells in Upper Kittitas County
• Kessler Seeks Answers from Ecology on Water Rules for Streamflow
• Seattle Reservoirs to Be Majorly (Sic) Re-Done After Leaks Found
• Manchester Sewer Plant Tops State Ratings
• Limits on Oregon Logging Are Reinstated
• Tribal Canoes to Watch Puget Sound
• Black Goop Floating Off Arctic Coast Identified As Algae
• Oregon Supreme Court Backs More Columbia Gorge Protection
• Honolulu Mayor Looks To Block Transport Of Trash To Longview
• Editorial - Kittitas County Is Keen On Green
• Unites States Becomes World Leader in Wind Power
• U.S. Looks to Rediscover Hydropower as Untapped Energy Source
• Colorado Electricity Co-Ops Oppose More State Regulation
• Texas - All Austinites May Soon Shoulder Extra Green Energy Costs
• United Kingdom - Don’t Blow Our £100 Billion ($164b US) On Wind Power
• United Kingdom - Green Light For £500m ($819m US) Biomass Plant
• California - Onions Produce Tears And Energy At An Oxnard Plant
• Smart Grid Project May Help Milton-Freewater Businesses Lower Their Utility Bills
• Are Consumers Ready For The Smart Grid?
• States Awash In Stimulus Money to Weatherize Homes
• American and China Pledge to Study Energy-Efficient Building Practices
• Renewable Energy 101: How Do I Install A Solar Powered Attic Vent Fan?
• Chelan PUD - Putting Hydro to Work in Green Markets
• Editorial - Federal Climate Bill Will Intensify Oregon's Recession
• U.S. Lawmakers Debate Climate Bills' Economic Impact
• Consumer Groups Push Senate on Climate Bill's Rate-Protection Language
• Will Regional Climate Change Efforts Drive National Climate Change
• Climate change taking toll on Glacier National Park
• Seattle Tops America's 'Green' Cities (Thanks to HYDRO!)
• Google Gets Shifty With Its Data Center Operations
• Study Shows Broadband Access Translates To $32B to Consumers
• Vermont & New Hampshire - Fairpoint Investigations Loom
• CableOrganizer.com Issues Top Five Reasons to Choose Fiber Optics
• Web’s Anonymity Makes Cyberattack Hard to Trace
• Bremerton Man Severely Injured While Making Fireworks
• Seattle's Light Rail Officially Takes Off On Saturday
• Herald joins forces with Yahoo!

WORD OF THE DAY

Omnibus • \AHM-nih-bus\ • adjective - 1: of, relating to, or providing for many things at once 2: containing or including many items

“I’m goin’ home,” sulked the goth teenager to his fresh-faced preppy girlfriend. “Well then take all your stuff and go!” she sqeaked tossing vinyl records battered copies of ‘Catcher in the Rye” and many other manner of things onto the nearby omnibus bus.

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

Jefferson Utility Takeover Negotiations Conducted Out Of Public's Eye (Peninsula Daily News, Port Angeles, WA)
http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/article/20090717/NEWS/307179991

Clark Public Utilities Looks Good - Residential customers' satisfaction with electric utilities rising (Utility Automation & Engineering)
http://uaelp.pennnet.com/Articles/Article_Display.cfm?Section=ONART&PUBLICATION_ID=22&ARTICLE_ID=366340&C=INDUS&dcmp=rss

Industrial Users Mull Grant County PUD Rate Proposal (Columbia Basin Herald, Moses Lake, WA)
http://www.columbiabasinherald.com/articles/2009/07/16/news/doc4a5faf88870c0634757493.txt

BPA Invites Public Feedback On Proposed Transmission Line Replacement Project At Grand Coulee Dam (Bonneville Power Administration)
http://www.piersystem.com/go/doc/1582/289293/

Fitch Rates Chelan County PUD's $68MM Various New Money Issues 'AA+’ (PR-Inside)
http://www.pr-inside.com/fitch-rates-chelan-county-pud-wa-s-r1394716.htm

Seattle City Light: Big Power Lines To Stay (KOMO-TV, Seattle)
http://www.komonews.com/news/local/50981937.html

Texas - Power Line Plans Alarm Hill Country Residents (San Antonio Express News, TX)
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/50985747.html

Pacific Gas & Electric Says 1920s Power Line Sparked S.F. Fire (SF Chronicle)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/07/16/BAHQ18P8CR.DTL&feed=rss.bayarea

Natural Gas Reserves Increase As Expected (Associated Press)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2009482895_apusnaturalgasstorage.html?syndication=rss

NEW DEVELOPMENT: Strategies for Tapping Hydro’s Potential (Hydro Review)
http://www.hydroworld.com/index/display/article-display/366364/s-articles/s-hydro-review/s-volume-28/s-issue-5/s-feature-articles/s-new-development-strategies-for-tapping-hydrorsquos-potential.html

FISH & WILDLIFE

Hearing Examiner to Take Up Clallam County Salmon Pond Plan (KONP Radio, Port Angeles)
http://www.konp.com/local/4933

SF Chronicle Editorial - Stop the suction dredging of state's rivers
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/07/16/EDUJ18Q1A8.DTL&feed=rss.opinion

WATER & THE ENVIRONMENT

Temporary Halt to New Wells in Upper Kittitas County (Associated Press)
http://www.kndu.com/global/story.asp?s=10741491

Kessler Seeks Answers from Ecology on Water Rules for Streamflow (Peninsula Daily News, Port Angeles, WA)
http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/article/20090716/news/307169986

Seattle Reservoirs To Be Majorly (Sic) Re-Done After Leaks Found (Seattle Times – Majorly?)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2009485902_reservoir17m.html?syndication=rss

Manchester Sewer Plant Tops State Ratings (Kitsap Sun, Bremerton, WA)
http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2009/jul/16/manchester-sewer-plant-tops-state-ratings/?partner=RSS

Limits on Oregon Logging Are Reinstated (NY Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/17/science/earth/17forest.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss

Tribal Canoes to Watch Puget Sound (Everett Herald, WA)
http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20090717/NEWS01/707179908/-1/RSS02

Black Goop Floating Off Arctic Coast Identified As Algae (Anchorage Daily News, AK)
http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/story/867160.html

Oregon Supreme Court Backs More Columbia Gorge Protection (Oregonian)
http://www.oregonlive.com/environment/index.ssf/2009/07/oregon_supreme_court_backs_mor.html

RENEWABLE & ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

Honolulu Mayor Looks To Block Transport Of Trash To Longview – Wants it for waste-to-energy plant (Daily News, Longview, WA)
http://www.tdn.com/articles/2009/07/16/area_news//doc4a5f94896b11f875275080.txt

Yakima Herald-Republic Editorial - Kittitas County Is Keen On Green -- And So Are We
http://www.pennenergy.com/index/articles/newsdisplay/s-133057189.html

Unites States Becomes World Leader in Wind Power (San Jose Mercury News)
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_12852693

U.S. Looks to Rediscover Hydropower as Untapped Energy Source “…A Department of Energy study found 130,000 sites that could provide small-scale hydropower…” (Popular Mechanics)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2009/07/16/hearstmaggreen397387.DTL

Colorado Electricity Co-Ops Oppose More State Regulation - Clean-energy advocates say oversight would increase use of renewables (Durango Herald, CO)
http://durangoherald.com/sections/News/2009/07/17/Coops_oppose_more_state_regulation/

Texas - All Austinites May Soon Shoulder Extra Green Energy Costs: To meet ambitious renewable energy goals, city must find a way to pay for them. (Austin American-Statesman, TX)
http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/2009/07/17/0717greenchoice.html

United Kingdom - Don’t Blow Our £100 Billion ($164b US) On Wind Power: Instead of pouring money into renewable energy, we should invest in technology that will really tackle climate change (Financial Times of London, UK)
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article6717079.ece

United Kingdom - Green Light For £500m ($819m US) Biomass Plant (Financial Times of London, UK)
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/68166e66-71a1-11de-a821-00144feabdc0.html?nclick_check=1

California - Onions Produce Tears And Energy At An Oxnard Plant (LA Times)
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-onions-fuel17-2009jul17,1,6891708.story

CONSERVATION & EFFICIENCY

Smart Grid Project May Help Milton-Freewater Businesses Lower Their Utility Bills (Union Bulletin, Walla Walla, WA)
http://union-bulletin.com/articles/2009/07/15/local_news/090715local07strictly.txt

Are Consumers Ready For The Smart Grid? (CNN)
http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/ptech/07/16/cnet.smart.grid/

States Awash In Stimulus Money to Weatherize Homes (Associated Press)
http://www.seattlepi.com/national/1110ap_us_stimulus_weatherizing_homes.html?source=rss

American and China Pledge to Study Energy-Efficient Building Practices (NY Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/17/world/asia/17beijing.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

Renewable Energy 101: How Do I Install A Solar Powered Attic Vent Fan? (Examiner.com)
http://www.examiner.com/x-14744-LA-Renewable-Energy-Examiner~y2009m7d16-Renewable-Energy-101-How-do-I-install-a-solar-powered-attic-vent-fan

CLIMATE CHANGE SEQUESTRATION VAULT

Chelan PUD - Putting Hydro to Work in Green Markets: Participation in the Chicago Climate Exchange has earned Chelan County Public Utility District more than $900,000 in financing and helped the utility emphasize that hydropower is an important, emissions-free source of renewable energy (Hydro Review)
http://www.hydroworld.com/index/display/article-display/366366/s-articles/s-hydro-review/s-volume-28/s-issue-5/s-feature-articles/s-carbon-trading-putting-hydro-to-work-in-green-markets.html

Salem Statesman Journal Editorial - Federal Climate Bill Will Intensify Oregon's Recession
http://www.statesmanjournal.com/article/20090717/OPINION/907170309/1049

U.S. Lawmakers Debate Climate Bills' Economic Impact (Reuters)
http://www.reuters.com/article/GCA-GreenBusiness/idUSTRE56F4ZH20090716

Consumer Groups Push Senate on Climate Bill's Rate-Protection Language “…residential customers deserve treatment parallel to that being given to big business…” (NY Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2009/07/16/16greenwire-consumer-groups-push-senate-on-climate-bills-r-55475.html

Will Regional Climate Change Efforts Drive National Climate Change (Energy Pulse)
http://www.energypulse.net/centers/article/article_display.cfm?a_id=2092

Climate change taking toll on Glacier National Park (C/NET News)
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13772_3-10288113-52.html?tag=nl.e703

BARREL O’ GREEN POTPOURRI

Seattle Tops America's 'Green' Cities “…the city relies on hydroelectric plants for 90 percent of its power (which has helped keep Seattle's air quality high)…” (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
http://blog.seattlepi.com/seattlepolitics/archives/173823.asp

TECHNOLOGY & TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Google Gets Shifty With Its Data Center Operations (GigaOM)
http://gigaom.com/2009/07/16/google-gets-shifty-with-its-data-center-operations/

Study Shows Broadband Access Translates To $32B To Consumers (Austin Business Journal)
http://www.bizjournals.com/austin/stories/2009/07/13/daily21.html

For A Mildly Vulgar Translation about What the Above Story Means, Visit the Consumerist
http://consumerist.com/5315796/consumers-get-32-billion-more-than-they-bargained-for-with-broadband-says-study

Fairpoint Investigations Loom - Vermont, New Hampshire consumer advocates want inquiries (Broadband Reports)
http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Fairpoint-Investigations-Loom-103480

CableOrganizer.com Issues Top Five Reasons to Choose Fiber Optic Cabling (TCM Net)
http://dark-fiber.tmcnet.com/topics/dark-fiber/articles/60108-cableorganizercom-issues-top-five-reasons-choose-fiber-optic.htm

Web’s Anonymity Makes Cyberattack Hard to Trace (NY Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/17/technology/17cyber.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

GENERAL NEWS

Bremerton Man Severely Injured While Making Fireworks (KING-TV, Seattle)
http://www.king5.com/localnews/stories/NW_071609WAB-bremerton-explosion-KC.4a395eda.html?rss?npc

Seattle's Light Rail Officially Takes Off On Saturday (KING-TV, Seattle)
http://www.king5.com/localnews/stories/NW_071709WAB-light-rail-SW.4c3e1b11.html?rss?npc

Herald joins forces with Yahoo! (Tri-City Herald, WA)
http://www.tri-cityherald.com/915/story/648331.html?mi_email=Tri-City%20Herald_PM+%26+Breaking+News

ALLIGATORS IN THE SEWER - DIVERSIONS

Man Fends Off Wyoming Lion Attack with Chainsaw
http://www.examiner.com/a-2122203~Man_fends_off_Wyo__lion_attack_with_chainsaw.html?cid=rss-Montana_Headlines

Man Locks Himself in Train Station Locker, Nearly Suffocates
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090717/od_nm/us_germany_locker_odd;_ylt=AuB_W2rSZTY75obpiD6l74vtiBIF;_ylu=X3oDMTJxdmM4NDgzBGFzc2V0A25tLzIwMDkwNzE3L3VzX2dlcm1hbnlfbG9ja2VyX29kZARwb3MDMwRzZWMDeW5fYXJ0aWNsZV9zdW1tYXJ5X2xpc3QEc2xrA2FuZHdoeWRpZHRoZQ--

Cannes Bans Nudists after Yacht Club Complains
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090717/od_nm/us_nudists_odd;_ylt=AmlTsYPQX0wbR8tEISoh1VLtiBIF;_ylu=X3oDMTJqcWlpZ3RsBGFzc2V0A25tLzIwMDkwNzE3L3VzX251ZGlzdHNfb2RkBHBvcwM1BHNlYwN5bl9hcnRpY2xlX3N1bW1hcnlfbGlzdARzbGsDY2FubmVzYmFuc251

NY Teen Torches Car (BMW) He Hated
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090717/ap_on_fe_st/us_odd_teen_hates_car;_ylt=Ai5SQy4FTodTx2p2Nk0b0xLtiBIF;_ylu=X3oDMTJydWhkajMyBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMDkwNzE3L3VzX29kZF90ZWVuX2hhdGVzX2NhcgRwb3MDMTEEc2VjA3luX2FydGljbGVfc3VtbWFyeV9saXN0BHNsawNwb2xpY2VueXRlZW4-

Artist's Nazi Saluting-Gnome Sparks Police Probe
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090717/od_uk_nm/oukoe_uk_germany_nazi_salute;_ylt=AlzFLi9YpCUsxh_pUK9uSeHtiBIF;_ylu=X3oDMTMydm1kNjNtBGFzc2V0A25tLzIwMDkwNzE3L291a29lX3VrX2dlcm1hbnlfbmF6aV9zYWx1dGUEcG9zAzE3BHNlYwN5bl9hcnRpY2xlX3N1bW1hcnlfbGlzdARzbGsDYXJ0aXN0MzlzbmF6

SONG OF THE DAY

Bruce Springsteen - I'm on Fire
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzQvGz6_fvA