Energy News Digest for October 19, 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)

• BPA Makes Payment to US Treasury
• Eugene Water & Electric Board Manager Opposes Pay Cuts
• Bogged-Down Dams - Emerald People’s Utility District Seeks to Add Turbines
• Oregon Trail Electric Cooperative Warns About Possible Telephone Scams
• Customers Say New Pacific Gas & Electric Meters Not Always Smart
• US Rejects Nuclear Plant Design over Specifications of Key Piece
• United Kingdom Power Bills May Rise to Fund Reactors
• Lower Granite Fish Run Ranks Among Best
• Steelhead: Hatchery Fish Pose Threat
• Op/Ed - Migrating Toward Consensus on Salmon
• Op/Ed - Obama Disappoints On Salmon
• Oregon - Restoration Attempts to Help Salmon
• California Water - It’s Fish vs. Lawns, Not North vs. South
• NOAA's 2009 Winter Outlook Has Pacific Northwest Drier than Average
• California Water War Spreads to Congress
• Help for Puget Sound Water Management
• Roslyn Gets New Water Deal
• Bassett will try again with Cosmopolis Pulp Mill
• California & Texas: Renewable Energy’s Odd Couple
• Small Wind Goes Big
• Canada - Controversy Heats up as Cities Look to Incinerators
• Energy Star Appliances May Not All Be Efficient, Audit Finds
• Energy-Efficient Appliance Rebate Program Still Lacks Catchy Name
• Op/Ed - There's Real Power in Energy Conservation
• Kitsap Community Resources Taking Applications for Weatherization Program
• Graser Hired For New WSU/PUD Energy Program in Ferry County
• New Lighting Technology Gaining Ground
• Energy Firms Are Split on Bill to Battle Climate Change
• US Hunters, Anglers Lobby For Climate Bill
• Private Capital Looks to Cash in On Carbon Trading
• Puget Sound Cars About To Get Plugged In
• Residents of Transit-Oriented Oregon Community Still Driving Cars to Work
• Editorial - Time to Drop Ethanol Credit
• Colorado - Climate Concerns Turn City's Smell into Cash Cow
• Hurdles Remain As FCC Ponders Net Neutrality Rules
• Broadband Now! So Why Don’t Some Use It?
• Canadians Take Heed of Harvard Broadband Study
• Comcast to Raise Rates Nearly 3% in January
• Firms Wonder If They Should Use Twitter
• Symantec Says Fake Security Software in Millions of Computers
• US Supreme Court Asked To Hear R-71 Case
• Balloon Scare Was a 'Hoax'; Felony Counts Deemed Likely
• Welco to Close Naples Lumber Mill
• Stimulus Good for Washington - Part of It, Anyway
• Northwest Tribal Leaders to Meet With the President
• States, US Treasury in Spat over WWII Bonds

WORD OF THE DAY

Auteur • \OH-tour\ • noun – 1: a film director whose practice accords with the auteur theory; broadly 2: an artist (as a musician or writer) whose style & practice are distinctive

Alfred was a self-proclaimed auteur in his small town of Brooklyn, Washington. One could not deny that his hats made out of old beer cans were unique.

WEATHER

Shelton Forecast & 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

BPA Makes Payment to US Treasury - U.S. taxpayers get return on their investment in NW hydro system (Bonneville Power Administration)
http://www.piersystem.com/go/doc/1582/357166/

Eugene Water & Electric Board Manager Opposes Pay Cuts (Eugene Register-Guard, OR)
http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/web/news/cityregion/21551288-41/story.csp

Bogged-Down Dams - Emerald People’s Utility District Seeks to Add Turbines despite Roadblocks (Eugene Register-Guard, OR)
http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/web/news/cityregion/20497939-57/story.csp

Oregon Trail Electric Cooperative Warns About Possible Telephone Scams (Baker City Herald, OR)
http://www.bakercityherald.com/Local-News/OTEC-warns-about-possible-telephone-scams

Customers Say New Pacific Gas & Electric Meters Not Always Smart (SF Chronicle)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2009/10/18/BUJI1A658S.DTL

U.S. Rejects Nuclear Plant Design over Specifications of Key Piece (NY Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/16/science/earth/16nuke.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

United Kingdom Power Bills May Rise to Fund Reactors (Reuters)
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2009/10/18/business/business-uk-electricity-britain.html

FISH & WILDLIFE

Lower Granite Fish Run Ranks Among Best - Nearly a quarter of a million steelhead have crossed Lower Granite Dam this year, making it one of the biggest runs on record (News Tribune, Tacoma, WA)
http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/northwest/story/918609.html

Steelhead: Hatchery Fish Pose Threat - Wild stocks’ gene pool at risk of dilution (Spokesman-Review, Spokane, WA)
http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2009/oct/19/hatchery-fish-pose-threat/

Seattle Times Op/Ed - Migrating Toward Consensus on Salmon
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2010079939_guest18stelle.html?syndication=rss

East Oregonian Op/Ed - Obama Disappoints On Salmon
http://eastoregonian.com/main.asp?SectionID=14&SubSectionID=50&ArticleID=99125

Oregon - Restoration Attempts to Help Salmon: Landowners donated land to project on North Santiam (Salem Statesman-Journal, OR)
http://www.statesmanjournal.com/article/20091019/GREEN/910190329/1001

California Water - It’s Fish vs. Lawns, Not North vs. South (NY Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/18/science/earth/18sfpolitics.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

WATER & THE ENVIRONMENT

NOAA's 2009 Winter Outlook Has Pacific Northwest Drier Than Average Due to El Nino (Columbia Basin Bulletin)
http://www.cbbulletin.com/361275.aspx

California Water War Spreads to Congress (Seattle Times)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politics/2010072957_apuscaliforniawaterwoes.html?syndication=rss

Help for Puget Sound Water Management - Department of Ecology grant money will assist in updating plans for managing creek, lake & Puget Sound shorelines (Everett Herald, WA)
http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20091019/NEWS01/710199805/-1/RSS02

Roslyn Gets New Water Deal (Associated Press)
http://www.theolympian.com/northwest/story/1005511.html

RENEWABLE/ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

Bassett will try again with Cosmopolis Pulp Mill – union rep hopes Bassett is able to “cut a deal” with the Grays Harbor PUD to do something with the Cosi Mill’s power house (Daily World, Aberdeen, WA)
http://www.thedailyworld.com/articles/2009/10/16/local_news/doc4ad8b5b16824b324528709.txt

California & Texas: Renewable Energy’s Odd Couple (NY Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/18/weekinreview/18galbraith.html

Small Wind Goes Big (Wichita Eagle, KS)
http://www.kansas.com/business/story/1016741.html

Canada - Controversy Heats Up As Cities Look To Incinerators: Groups argue over whether benefits of green technology outweigh the possible health effects associated with burning garbage (Vancouver Sun, BC)
http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Controversy%20heats%20cities%20look%20incinerators/2113736/story.html

CONSERVATION & EFFICIENCY

Energy Star Appliances May Not All Be Efficient, Audit Finds (NY Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/19/business/energy-environment/19star.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

Energy-Efficient Appliance Rebate Program Still Lacks Catchy Name (Consumerist – Note: comment section may contain PG-13 language)
http://consumerist.com/5382656/energy+efficient-appliance-rebate-program-still-lacks-catchy-name

Oregonian Op/Ed - There's Real Power in Energy Conservation
http://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2009/10/theres_real_power_in_energy_co.html

Kitsap Community Resources Taking Applications for Weatherization Program (Kitsap Sun, Bremerton, WA)
http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2009/oct/15/kitsap-community-resources-taking-applications/?partner=RSS

Graser Hired For New WSU/PUD Energy Program in Ferry County (Omak Chronicle, WA)
http://www.omakchronicle.com/nws/n091018a.shtml

New Lighting Technology Gaining Ground (San Jose Mercury News, CA)
http://www.mercurynews.com/greenenergy/ci_13568681

CLIMATE CHANGE SEQUESTRATION VAULT

Energy Firms Are Split on Bill to Battle Climate Change (NY Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/19/business/energy-environment/19fuel.html?hp

US Hunters, Anglers Lobby For Climate Bill (Reuters)
http://www.reuters.com/article/sarahPalin/idUSTRE59H0VY20091018

Private Capital Looks to Cash in On Carbon Trading (CNBC)
http://www.cnbc.com/id/33347684

BARREL O’ GREEN POTPOURRI

Puget Sound Cars About To Get Plugged In - Federal project aims to build electric charging corridor (Olympian, WA)
http://www.theolympian.com/southsound/story/1007256.html

Looking Under the Hype - Residents of Transit-Oriented Oregon Community Still Driving Cars to Work (Oregonian)
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/10/despite_urban_design_most_oren.html

Spokesman Review Editorial - Time to Drop Ethanol Credit
http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2009/oct/19/time-to-drop-ethanol-credit/

Colorado - Climate Concerns Turn City's Smell into Cash Cow (Associated Press)
http://www.theolympian.com/nationworld/story/1005895.html

TECHNOLOGY & TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Hurdles Remain As FCC Ponders Net Neutrality Rules (Associated Press)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2010089712_apustecinternetrules.html

Broadband Now! So Why Don’t Some Use It? (NY Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/18/business/18digi.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

Canadians Take Heed of Harvard Broadband Study - Mirror U.S. policy, get same mediocre results (Broadband Reports)
http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Canadians-Take-Heed-Of-Harvard-Broadband-Study-105036

Comcast to Raise Rates Nearly 3% in January (Columbian, Vancouver, WA)
http://columbian.com/article/20091017/BIZ/910179997/-1/BIZ

Firms Wonder If They Should Use Twitter (Olympian, WA)
http://www.theolympian.com/northwest/story/1007329.html

Symantec Says Fake Security Software in Millions of Computers (Washington Post)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/19/AR2009101900096.html?wprss=rss_technology

GENERAL NEWS

US Supreme Court Asked To Hear R-71 Case (Associated Press)
http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2009/oct/19/us-supreme-court-asked-hear-r-71-case/

Balloon Scare Was a 'Hoax'; Felony Counts Deemed Likely (Associated Press)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2010091154_balloonboy19.html

Welco to Close Naples Lumber Mill (Associated Press)
http://www.theolympian.com/northwest/story/1005421.html

Stimulus Good for Washington - Part of It, Anyway - Most of the money allocated for Hanford (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
http://www.seattlepi.com/local/411212_stimulus16.html?source=rss

Northwest Tribal Leaders to Meet With the President (Oregon Public Broadcasting)
http://news.opb.org/article/6048-tribal-leaders-meet-president/

States, US Treasury in Spat over WWII Bonds - More than $16 billion unclaimed (Associated Press)
http://www.theolympian.com/business/story/1007258.html

ALLIGATORS IN THE SEWER - DIVERSIONS

Longview’s “Hound of the Baskervilles” - Mystery Roaming Mastiff Claimed By Owner
http://www.tdn.com/articles/2009/10/16//area_news/doc4ad6445b5e7e2392595381.txt

Two-Year Sentence for Coin-Machine Thefts
http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20091016/NEWS01/710169807/-1/RSS02

Police Stop Driver for 15 Violations in 11 Minutes
http://www.kirotv.com/automotive/21335140/detail.html

Man Finds A Rocket Launcher On His Property – Displays it in Living Room
http://www.kirotv.com/news/21307607/detail.html

Arizona County to Workers: Stay Home Or Risk Firing
http://www.kirotv.com/health/21309819/detail.html

SONG OF THE DAY

Bad Company- Live for the Music
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Gx5nWKXOjw