Energy News Digest for September 3, 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)

• No Floor in Sight for Natural Gas; Prices Plunge
• Douglas PUD Proposes Electricity Rate Hikes
• Texas – Houston Area's Utility Bills Lead Highest-Priced List
• Leaving Snohomish PUD - Woman Is Trading One Washington for Another
• Coal Slated To Roll Along Montana Rail Line
• BPA Construction Will Cause Brief Slow-Down in Tumwater on Thursday
• Ontario Shutting Down Four Coal-Fired Units
• Clumsy Squirrel Sparks Fire near Rossmoor
• Lots of Pink Salmon in Puget Sound
• Canada - Pink Salmon Making Major Comeback in Nanaimo Harbour
• Record-Low Sockeye Return Expected For the Fraser River
• Skokomish River "Fish Camp” At Hunter Farms in Mason County Ordered to Close
• Dead Killer Whale Calf Spotted Near Orcas Island
• Arizona Lawsuit: Flood Insurance Neglects Species Threats
• Study: Bigeye Tuna Stocks in Pacific under Threat
• Shroud of Smoky Haze Hangs Over Much of the West
• PacifiCorp. Schedules Flood Management Meeting in Woodland
• California: Urging Water Rules Change
• Cow Powered: WWU Gets $500K for Methane Project
• Geothermal Energy Company Calls Halt to California Drilling Project
• N.J. Lining Up Against Proposed Delaware Bay Wind Farm
• Wood Energy: The New Renewable?
• PEMCO Clock Raising Awareness on Solar Energy
• Detroit Edison Program Will Pay Customers for Solar Systems
• Discarded Watermelons Could Be New Source of Biofuel
• Companies Doing More to Cut Energy Use in Office
• Climate Change Bill a Tough Sell in Montana
• North Mason Green Businesses Make Debut
• Connected Nation Takes Inside Track on Minnesota Mapping, Too
• Verizon, Comcast Ok with Low Bar When Defining Broadband
• Yahoo's Chief Accounting Officer Resigns
• Can I Sue Gmail For Going Off-Line?
• Momentum Continues for Mason County Hospital District Switch
• Feds Failed To Clear Brush in LA Wildfire Area
• Former Oregon Governor Will Seek A Third Term
• Inventor Sues 3 Northwest Universities over Mustard Seed Patent

WORD OF THE DAY

Shambolic • \sham-BALL-ick\ • adjective – obviously disorganized or confused

“Let’s see how our marketing staff has been doing with the new product campaign,” whispered the CEO as he quietly swung the conference room door open. To his horror, and that of the other board members, the room was a shambolic mess of paper stars, paper punch confetti and bubble packing material that had obviously been long deflated. The marketing staff was nowhere to be seen.

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

No Floor in Sight for Natural Gas; Prices Plunge (Associated Press)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2009800315_apusoilprices.html?syndication=rss

Douglas PUD Proposes Electricity Rate Hikes (Wenatchee World, WA)
http://wenatcheeworld.com/article/20090902/NEWS04/709029825?Douglas-PUD-proposes-electricity-rate-hikes

Texas – Houston Area's Utility Bills Lead Highest-Priced List (Houston Chronicle, TX)
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/6600037.html

Leaving Snohomish PUD - Woman Is Trading One Washington for Another (Everett Herald, WA)
http://www.enterprisenewspapers.com/article/20090902/NEWS01/709029782/0/ETPZONELT

Coal Slated To Roll Along Montana Rail Line (Examiner.com)
http://www.examiner.com/a-2198693~Coal_slated_to_roll_along_MT_rail_line.html?cid=rss-Montana_Headlines

BPA Construction Will Cause Brief Slow-Down in Tumwater on Thursday (Olympian, WA)
http://www.theolympian.com/breakingnews/story/958076.html

Ontario Shutting Down Four Coal-Fired Units (Power Engineering)
http://pepei.pennnet.com/Articles/Article_Display.cfm?Section=ONART&PUBLICATION_ID=6&ARTICLE_ID=368690&C=INDUS&dcmp=rss

Clumsy Squirrel Sparks Fire near Rossmoor (SF Chronicle)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/09/02/BALM19HG96.DTL&feed=rss.news

FISH & WILDLIFE

Lots of Pink Salmon in Puget Sound (Seattle Times)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/othersports/2009795355_fish03.html?syndication=rss

Columbia River Record Broken For Salmon and Steelhead Trips and Fish Caught (Seattle Times)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/reeltimenorthwest/2009794621_columbia_river_record_broken_f.html

Canada - Pink Salmon Making Major Comeback in Nanaimo Harbour (Victoria Times-Colonist, BC)
http://www.timescolonist.com/Pink+salmon+making+major+comeback+Nanaimo+harbour/1955445/story.html

Record-Low Sockeye Return Expected For the Fraser River (Vancouver Sun, BC)
http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Record+sockeye+return+expected+Fraser+River/1956497/story.html
Skokomish River "Fish Camp” At Hunter Farms in Mason County Ordered to Close (KMAS Radio, Shelton, WA)
http://www.masoncountydailynews.com/News/NewsArticle/tabid/1897/smid/3468/ArticleID/8140/reftab/1632/Default.aspx

Dead Killer Whale Calf Spotted Near Orcas Island (Associated Press)
http://www.theolympian.com/breakingnews/story/957997.html

Arizona Lawsuit: Flood Insurance Neglects Species Threats (Associated Press)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2009794762_apazfloodinsurancesuit1stldwritethru.html?syndication=rss

Study: Bigeye Tuna Stocks in Pacific under Threat (Associated Press)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2009799992_apasasiadisappearingtuna.html?syndication=rss

WATER & THE ENVIRONMENT

Shroud of Smoky Haze Hangs Over Much of the West (NY Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/03/us/03smoke.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

PacifiCorp. Schedules Flood Management Meeting in Woodland (The Daily News, Longview, WA)
http://www.tdn.com/articles/2009/09/03/area_news/doc4a9f10770fe04584559252.txt

California: Urging Water Rules Change (NY Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/03/us/03brfs-URGINGWATERR_BRF.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

RENEWABLE/ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

Cow Powered: WWU Gets $500K for Methane Project (Puget Sound Business Journal)
http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2009/08/31/daily36.html?ana=from_rss

Geothermal Energy Company Calls Halt to California Drilling Project (NY Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/03/business/energy-environment/03alta.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

N.J. Lining Up Against Proposed Delaware Bay Wind Farm (New Jersey Newsroom, Montclair, NJ)
http://www.newjerseynewsroom.com/science-updates/nj-lining-up-against-proposed-delaware-bay-wind-farm

Wood Energy: The New Renewable? (Seeking Alpha)
http://seekingalpha.com/article/159671-wood-energy-the-new-renewable?source=yahoo

PEMCO Clock Raising Awareness on Solar Energy (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
http://blog.seattlepi.com/transportation/archives/178112.asp?source=pimail

Detroit Edison Program Will Pay Customers for Solar Systems (Renewable Energy World)
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2009/09/detroit-edison-program-will-pay-customers-for-solar-systems?cmpid=rss

Discarded Watermelons Could Be New Source of Biofuel (Finding Dulcinea)
http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/environment/2009/sep/Discarded-Watermelons-Could-Be-New-Source-of-Biofuel.html

CONSERVATION & EFFICIENCY

Companies Doing More to Cut Energy Use in Office (Washington Business Journal)
http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/2009/08/31/daily42.html?ana=from_rss

CLIMATE CHANGE SEQUESTRATION VAULT

Climate Change Bill a Tough Sell in Montana (Flathead Beacon, Kalispell, MT)
http://www.flatheadbeacon.com/articles/article/climate_change_bill_a_tough_sell_in_montana/12757/

BARREL O’ GREEN POTPOURRI

North Mason Green Businesses Make Debut (Kitsap Sun, Bremerton, WA)
http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2009/sep/02/green-businesses-make-debut/?partner=RSS

TECHNOLOGY & TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Connected Nation Takes Inside Track on Minnesota Mapping, Too - Who values consumer input? Apparently nobody. (Broadband Reports)
http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Connected-Nation-Takes-Inside-Track-On-Minnesota-Mapping-Too-104282

Verizon, Comcast Ok with Low Bar When Defining Broadband - Carriers think anything from 200kbps to 768kbps is ok (Broadband Reports)
http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Verizon-Comcast-Ok-With-Low-Bar-When-Defining-Broadband-104272

Yahoo's Chief Accounting Officer Resigns (Associated Press)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2009794793_apustecyahooresignation.html?syndication=rss

Can I Sue Gmail For Going Off-Line? (Slate Magazine)
http://www.slate.com/id/2227093/?from=rss

GENERAL NEWS

Momentum Continues for Mason County Hospital District Switch (Kitsap Sun, Bremerton, WA)
http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2009/sep/02/momentum-continues-hospital-district-switch/?partner=RSS

Feds Failed To Clear Brush in LA Wildfire Area (Examiner.com)
http://www.examiner.com/a-2198729~Feds_failed_to_clear_brush_in_LA_wildfire_area.html?cid=rss-California_Headlines

Former Oregon Governor Will Seek A Third Term (Associated Press)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politics/2009793904_apusoregongovernorsrace.html?syndication=rss

Inventor Sues 3 Northwest Universities over Mustard Seed Patent (Associated Press)
http://www.theolympian.com/northwest/story/958304.html

ALLIGATORS IN THE SEWER - DIVERSIONS

Knucklehead of the Week -- Clallam County Edition
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/theblotter/2009793564_knucklehead_of_the_week_--_cla.html?syndication=rss

Mount Vernon Not United On Mayor's 'Glenn Beck Day'
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2009796296_beck03m.html?syndication=rss

Finger Bitten Off During California Health Protest
http://www.examiner.com/a-2199800~Finger_bitten_off_during_California_health_protest.html?cid=rss-California_Headlines

Does This Case Of Beer Make My Thighs Look Fat?
http://www.tampabay.com/news/bizarre/does-this-case-of-beer-make-my-thighs-look-fat/1007765

SONG OF THE DAY

Red Steagall - Lone Star Beer and Bob Wills Music
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EFEk44VAlk&feature=related