Energy News Digest for November 12, 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)

• Record-Low River Flows Sock Chelan PUD Revenues, Douglas PUD Also
• Seattle City Light Rates to Go Up - Considering Hikes of Up to 14 Percent
• Grant County PUD Proposes 15 Percent Rate Increase
• Power Outage Plunges Space Needle into Darkness
• Longview Man Awarded $51,000 in Suit against Cowlitz PUD
• Energized Central Lincoln PUD Unveils ‘New’ Toledo Substation
• Pacific Gas & Electric Sued over New Smart Meters, Soaring Bills
• Wisconsin Agency Says Electricity Transmission Project Jeopardizes Lizard
• Feeding Frenzy: Why Giants Are Fighting for Areva’s Power Transmission Business
• The Threat of Nuclear Meltdown - Airplane Hit or Frontal Assault Would Be Big Trouble
• Property Owner near Tennessee Valley Authority Ash Spill `Living in Hell’
• Blackout Raises Fears About Brazil Infrastructure
• NOAA Chief Lubchenco to Attend Salmon Hearing
• Mason County Fishing Fast, Furious At Kennedy Creek & Hoodsport Hatchery
• Kittitas County - Historic Run of Coho Salmon Re-Enter Taneum Creek
• Kayak on Kitsap Peninsula’s Miller Bay to Get Friendly with the Chum (Salmon)
• New Baby Orca Reported In J Pod; 87 in Salish Sea
• Gov’t Says Brown Pelicans Are No Longer Endangered
• Warming Drives off Cape Cod’s Namesake, Other Fish
• Department of Ecology/Chelan PUD Agreement to Study Water Level Approved
• Shouts, Shoves at California Hearing on Protecting Ocean
• California - $350M in Subsidies for Carlsbad Desalination Plant
• Michigan Lt. Governor to Travel to Mideast to Plug His State’s Water
• Afloat in the Ocean, Expanding Islands of Trash
• Editorial – Oregon Wind Project Concerns Must Be Addressed
• As Alternative Energy Grows, NIMBY Turns Green
• Putting Wind Power’s Effect on Birds in Perspective
• Yakima – Wind Power May Cause Impacts: Residents Urge County to Upgrade Busy Roads
• Utah Wind Farm Fans Green Hopes
• Seattle Steam’s Advanced Turbines to Generate Jobs
• NorthWestern Energy Buying 13 MW of Hydropower
• Idaho Landfill Eyes Power Production
• Plants Burning Garbage May Help Cut U.K. Power Prices
• A Greener & More Efficient Plum Creek - Conservation check from Flathead Electric, BPA
• Weak Florida Power Conservation Goals Rejected
• PNW Retailers Anticipate Consumer Demand for Energy-Efficient Electronics
• Editorial - The Energy-Efficient TVs You Want, But May Not Be Able to Buy
• Fresh Demands from ‘Front-Line States’ in Climate Fight
• Over Climate Position - US Sen. Lindsey Graham censured by SC county GOP
• EPA Tells Workers to Tone down YouTube Clip about Climate Bill
• Time to Take a Hard Look at Cost of Tax Incentives for Green Jobs
• Oregon - Boardman Data Center Put on Hold
• Gartner Group Says Cloud Computing Revenue to Grow 18% This Year
• Op/Ed - Frontier’s Focus on Broadband Key
• Hundreds of Facebook Groups Hijacked
• Foot of Snow Forecast for Cascades/Olympics Friday
• Army: Fort Hood Suspect Charged With Murder
• Seattle - Aggravated Murder Charge Filed Against Man Accused of Killing Police Officer
• Man Who Shot Washington Lt. Gov’s Son Dies
• Rep. Finn to Run Again for Statehouse, Sheldon Senate Rematch?
• Wash. Supreme Court Overturns School Salary Ruling
• ‘Balloon Boy’ Parents To Plead Guilty

WORD OF THE DAY

Gazpacho • \gaz-PATCH-oh\ • noun - A spicy soup that is usually made from chopped raw vegetables (as tomato, onion, pepper, & cucumber) & that is served cold

Vichyssoise • \VISH-ee-swaz\ • noun - A soup typically made of pureed leeks or onions and potatoes, cream, and chicken stock and usually served cold

“Soups like gazpacho and vichyssoise just leave me cold,” sniffed the snobbish chef to his minions.

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

Record-Low River Flows Sock Chelan PUD Revenues, Douglas PUD Also (Wenatchee World, WA)
http://www.wenatcheeworld.com/news/2009/nov/10/record-low-river-flows-sock-chelan-pud-revenues/

Seattle City Light Rates to Go Up - City Council considering hikes of up to 14 percent as utility faces deficit (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
http://www.seattlepi.com/local/412102_rates12.html?source=rss

Grant County PUD Proposes 15 Percent Rate Increase (Columbia Basin Herald, Moses Lake, WA)
http://www.columbiabasinherald.com/articles/2009/11/10/news/doc4af9ef9ceb926327845847.txt

Power Outage Plunges Space Needle into Darkness (KIRO-TV, Seattle)
http://www.kirotv.com/news/21593345/detail.html

Longview Man Awarded $51,000 in Suit against Cowlitz PUD (Daily News, Longview, WA)
http://www.tdn.com/articles/2009/11/10/area_news/doc4af9f8e714e47052223914.txt

Energized Central Lincoln PUD unveils ‘new’ Toledo substation (Newport News Times, OR)
http://www.newportnewstimes.com/v2_news_articles.php?heading=0&story_id=21749&page=72

Pacific Gas & Electric Sued over New Smart Meters, Soaring Bills (SF Chronicle)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/11/10/BU851AHKGA.DTL&feed=rss.news

Wisconsin Agency Says Electricity Transmission Project Jeopardizes Lizard (Associated Press)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/11/11/financial/f081911S00.DTL&feed=rss.business

Feeding Frenzy: Why Giants Are Fighting for Areva’s Power Transmission Business (Wall Street Journal)
http://blogs.wsj.com/environmentalcapital/2009/11/11/feeding-frenzy-why-giants-are-fighting-for-arevas-power-business/

The Threat Of Nuclear Meltdown - The government says nuclear power is safe, but others say an airplane hit or frontal assault would be big trouble (CNN Money)
http://money.cnn.com/2009/11/12/news/economy/nuclear_security/index.htm?section=money_latest

Property Owner near Tennessee Valley Authority Ash Spill `Living In Hell’ (Associated Press)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/11/11/financial/f051727S38.DTL&feed=rss.business

Blackout Raises Fears About Brazil Infrastructure (Associated Press)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2010254695_apltbrazilblackouts.html?syndication=rss

FISH & WILDLIFE

NOAA Chief Lubchenco to Attend Salmon Hearing (Associated Press)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2010245144_aporlubchencosalmon1stldwritethru.html

Mason County Fishing Fast, Furious At Kennedy Creek & Hoodsport Hatchery (Olympian, WA)
http://www.theolympian.com/outdoors/story/1033654.html

Kittitas County - Historic Run of Coho Salmon Re-Enter Taneum Creek: Dam removal gives migratory fish access to waterway for first time in 100 years (Yakima Herald Republic, WA)
http://www.yakima-herald.com/stories/2009/11/11/historic-run-coho-re-enter-taneum-creek

Kayak on Kitsap Peninsula’s Miller Bay to Get Friendly With the Chum (Salmon) (Seattle Times)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/outdoors/2010252543_nwwsalmonkayak12.html

New Baby Orca Reported In J Pod; 87 in Salish Sea (Associated Press)
http://www.theolympian.com/northwest/story/1034056.html

Gov’t Says Brown Pelicans Are No Longer Endangered (Associated Press)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politics/2010251065_apusbrownpelicansback.html?syndication=rss

Warming Drives off Cape Cod’s Namesake, Other Fish (Associated Press)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2010254710_apusfishonthemove.html?syndication=rss

WATER & THE ENVIRONMENT

Department of Ecology/Chelan PUD Agreement to Study Water Level Approved (Wenatchee World, WA)
http://www.wenatcheeworld.com/news/2009/nov/10/agreement-to-study-water-level-approved/

Shouts, Shoves at California Hearing on Protecting Ocean (Associated Press)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/11/11/BAV01AIDND.DTL&feed=rss.bayarea

California - $350M in Subsidies for Carlsbad Desalination Plant (Examiner.com)
http://www.examiner.com/a-2314437~_350M_in_subsidies_for_Carlsbad_desalination_plant.html?cid=rss-California_Headlines

Michigan Lt. Governor to Travel to Mideast to Plug His State’s Water (Associated Press)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/11/11/financial/f091116S24.DTL&feed=rss.business

Afloat in the Ocean, Expanding Islands of Trash (NY Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/10/science/10patch.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

RENEWABLE/ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

Observer Editorial – Oregon Wind Project Concerns Must Be Addressed
http://www.lagrandeobserver.com/Opinion/Editorials/Wind-project-concerns-must-be-addressed

As Alternative Energy Grows, NIMBY Turns Green (C/NET News)
http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-10392309-54.html

Putting Wind Power’s Effect on Birds in Perspective (American Wind Energy Association)
http://www.awea.org/faq/sagrillo/swbirds.html

Yakima – Wind Power May Cause Impacts: Residents Urge County to Upgrade Busy Roads (Yakima Herald Republic, WA)
http://www.yakima-herald.com/stories/2009/11/11/residents-urge-county-to-upgrade-busy-roads

Utah Wind Farm Fans Green Hopes - Project could expand to five or six more phases (Salt Lake Tribune, UT)
http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_13758356

Seattle Steam’s Advanced Turbines to Generate Jobs (Seattle Tmes)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2010245779_combinedpower11.html

NorthWestern Energy Buying 13 MW of Hydropower (Hydro World)
http://www.hydroworld.com/index/display/article-display/9022537906/articles/hrhrw/News-2/2009/11/northwestern-energy.html

Idaho Landfill Eyes Power Production - Trash pile’s methane would fuel generators (Associated Press)
http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2009/nov/11/idaho-landfill-eyes-power-production/

Plants Burning Garbage May Help Cut U.K. Power Prices (Bloomberg News)
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=a.RirXRltMDI&pos=15

CONSERVATION & EFFICIENCY

A Greener & More Efficient Plum Creek - Timber company receives energy conservation rebate check from Flathead Electric, BPA (Flathead Beacon, Kalispell, MT)
http://www.flatheadbeacon.com/articles/article/a_greener_and_more_efficient_plum_creek/14083/

Weak Florida Power Conservation Goals Rejected (Associated Press)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/11/10/financial/f150858S42.DTL&feed=rss.business

Pacific Northwest Retailers Anticipate Consumer Demand for Energy-Efficient Electronics (Yahoo! Finance)
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Northwest-Retailers-bw-1726132418.html?x=0&.v=1

Los Angeles Times Editorial - The Energy-Efficient TVs You Want, But May Not Be Able to Buy
http://opinion.latimes.com/opinionla/2009/11/big-screen-tv-california-ban.html

CLIMATE CHANGE SEQUESTRATION VAULT

Fresh Demands from ‘Front-Line States’ in Climate Fight (NY Times)
http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/10/fresh-demands-from-front-line-states-in-climate-fight/?partner=rss&emc=rss

Over Climate Position - US Sen. Lindsey Graham censured by SC county GOP (Associated Press)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/11/11/national/a074813S38.DTL&feed=rss.news

EPA Tells Workers to Tone down YouTube Clip about Climate Bill (Washington Post)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/10/AR2009111011231.html

BARREL O’ GREEN POTPOURRI

Time to Take a Hard Look at Cost of Tax Incentives for Green Jobs (Daily News, Longview, WA)
http://www.tdn.com/articles/2009/11/11/editorial/doc4af9e0888bcd3269333011.txt

TECHNOLOGY & TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Oregon - Boardman Data Center Put on Hold (KEPR-TV, Tri-Cities, WA)
http://www.keprtv.com/news/local/69720107.html

Gartner Group Says Cloud Computing Revenue to Grow 18% This Year (Seattle Post Intelligencer)
http://blog.seattlepi.com/microsoft/archives/184727.asp?source=pimail

Everett Herald Op/Ed - Frontier’s Focus on Broadband Key
http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20091112/OPINION02/711129989/-1/RSS05

Hundreds of Facebook Groups Hijacked (C/NET News)
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10394058-2.html?tag=nl.e703

GENERAL NEWS

Foot of Snow Forecast for Cascades/Olympics Friday (Associated Press)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2010258494_apwastorm.html?syndication=rss

Army: Fort Hood Suspect Charged With Murder (Associated Press)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politics/2010258691_apusforthoodshootingcharges.html?syndication=rss

Seattle - Aggravated Murder Charge Filed Against Man Accused of Killing Police Officer (Seattle Times)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2010258892_webmonfort12m.html?syndication=rss

Man Who Shot Washington Lt. Gov’s Son Dies (Associated Press)
http://www.theolympian.com/northwest/story/1033509.html

Rep. Finn to Run Again for Statehouse, Sheldon Senate Rematch? (Olympian, WA)
http://www.theolympian.com/southsound/story/1033595.html

Wash. Supreme Court Overturns School Salary Ruling (Associated Press)
http://www.theolympian.com/northwest/story/1034081.html

‘Balloon Boy’ Parents To Plead Guilty - Lawyer Says Threat of Deportation Resulted In Plea (KIRO-TV, Seattle)
http://www.kirotv.com/news/21593277/detail.html

ALLIGATORS IN THE SEWER - DIVERSIONS

Gymnastic Coach’s Complaint Costs Team State Title
http://highschool.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1014473

Ghost Hunters Say Voice Led Them to Bones behind Historic Mansion Wall
http://www.kirotv.com/news/21581001/detail.html

Man Freaks Out Over Lettuce on Burger
http://www.kirotv.com/news/21585440/detail.html

Bank Accidentally Sells Couple’s Home
http://www.kirotv.com/money/21582296/detail.html

SONG OF THE DAY

Jimmy Buffett - Cheeseburger in Paradise
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJpDMug1YMA