Energy News Digest for November 18, 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)

• Another Storm Heading for Washington
• Port Townsend Paper, BPA Agree to 14-Month Power Supply
• Clark Public Utilities Strives to Hold Rates Steady
• Puget Sound Energy May Get Smaller Rate Hike than Sought
• Oregon Governor Orders Review of State’s Energy Tax Credits
• Long-Awaited Pipeline Funnels Natural Gas across Eight States
• DOE’s Non-Performance on Nuclear Fuel Storage Costs Billions
• Sacramento Utility Accuses Banks of Rigging Sales of Municipal Derivatives
• Judge Raises Concerns over Columbia Salmon Plan
• Columbia River Spring Chinook Decision Process Explained
• Canada - Where have all the salmon gone?
• Idaho, Avista Trade Land - Swap will help restore bull trout, utility says
• Asotin County Public Hearings Address PUD Sewer Transfer, Transportation Plan
• Tacoma Water Will Cost More
• City of Portland Still Fighting EPA Over Bull Run Water
• Water Use Is Lower Than It Was 30 Years Ago
• State panels favors new wind farm near Ellensburg
• Comin’ to Boardman - Colorado Company Starts Work on Biofuel Facility
• Green Wave Energy Trying to Turn Wind Power Market on Its Axis
• Wind Farms 20 Pct of Australia New Power Projects
• Blown Away: Wind Power Keeps Growing in Texas
• Gore: US Has Lost Its Lead in Solar, Wind Technology
• US Energy Dept. Walks the Walk With Smart Building
• Earning a Profit by Ending Energy Waste
• Senate to Put off Climate Bill until Spring
• Al Gore Answers Questions about Climate Change
• Associated Press Poll Shows That Sometimes It Isn’t Easy Being Green
• Paying More for Flights Eases Guilt, Not Emissions
• Microsoft’s Cloud Computing System Is Growing Up
• Microsoft’s Bing Gets Close to 10% Market Share
• Utah - Own Your Own Fiber: Utopia Tinkers With A Slightly Different Model
• Frontier Fires Up Verizon Acquisition PR Campaign
• The End of the Broadband Buffet Is Nigh
• Verizon Again Hints At Metered Billing
• Highway 101 Now Open Near Lilliwaup
• Oregon Coast Recovering From Strong Storm
• North Cascades Highway Closes for Winter
• Wash. Unemployment Rate Up Slightly to 9.3 Percent
• Study redefines inland impacts of coastal megaquake
• Costco Nixes Coke Products over Pricing Dispute
• Study Says Washington Is Nation’s 11th-Healthiest State

WORD OF THE DAY

Boondoggle • \BOON-dog-gull\ • noun – 1: a braided cord worn by Boy Scouts as a neckerchief slide, hatband, or ornament 2: a wasteful or impractical project or activity often involving graft

The business auditor was intrigued by the seeming endless staple removal project being carried on by a sharp looking accountant near the Finance Officer’s suite. “We assigned the new guy to the boondoggle task of removing staples from documents bound for recycling,” explained the executive. “That was after we found that his accounting degree was from the ‘Maynard G. Krebs’ online university. He can do much less damage in his present position.”

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

Another Storm Heading for Washington (Associated Press)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2010295183_apwastorm.html?syndication=rss

Port Townsend Paper, BPA Agree to 14-Month Power Supply - By December 2010, county’s largest industry must make new plan (Port Townsend Leader, WA)
http://www.ptleader.com/main.asp?SectionID=36&SubSectionID=55&ArticleID=25658

Clark Public Utilities Strives to Hold Rates Steady - Board weighs $388 million electric budget (Columbian, Vancouver, WA)
http://columbian.com/article/20091118/NEWS02/711189952/

Puget Sound Energy May Get Smaller Rate Hike than Sought (News Tribune, Tacoma, WA)
http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/959096.html

Oregon Governor Orders Review of State’s Energy Tax Credits (Oregonian)
http://www.oregonlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2009/11/governor_orders_review_of_ener.html

Long-Awaited Pipeline Funnels Natural Gas across Eight States (Associated Press)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2010295167_apusrockiesexpress.html?syndication=rss

DOE’s Non-Performance on Nuclear Fuel Storage Costs Billions (Reuters)
http://www.reuters.com/article/mnEnergy/idUS248398660520091117

Sacramento Utility Accuses Banks of Rigging Sales of Municipal Derivatives (NY Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/18/business/18muni.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

FISH & WILDLIFE

Judge Raises Concerns over Columbia Salmon Plan (Associated Press)
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h5jFe2gWPiUHtkpljSSfJsFbe5KwD9C1CFS00

Columbia River Spring Chinook Decision Process Explained (Oregonian)
http://www.oregonlive.com/sports/oregonian/bill_monroe/index.ssf/2009/11/columbia_river_salmon_predicti.html

Canada - Where have all the salmon gone? The Humber River was teeming with this year’s run. But salmon populations are declining elsewhere in Canada, leading many to question whether that will always be the case (Global Post, Canada)
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/canada/091117/where-have-all-the-salmon-gone

Idaho, Avista Trade Land - Swap will help restore bull trout, utility says (Spokesman-Review, Spokane, WA)
http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2009/nov/18/idaho-avista-trade-land/

WATER & THE ENVIRONMENT

Asotin County Public Hearings Address PUD Sewer Transfer, Transportation Plan (KLEW-TV, Lewiston, ID)
http://www.klewtv.com/news/local/70241862.html

Tacoma Water Will Cost More (News Tribune, Tacoma, WA)
http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/959129.html

City of Portland Still Fighting EPA Over Bull Run Water (Oregon Public Broadcasting)
http://news.opb.org/article/6235-city-still-fighting-epa-over-bull-run-water/

Water Use Is Lower Than It Was 30 Years Ago (Nat’l Public Radio)
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=120527440&ft=1&f=3

RENEWABLE/ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

State panels favors new wind farm near Ellensburg (Yakima Herald Tribune, WA)
http://www.yakima-herald.com/stories/2009/11/17/state-panels-favors-new-wind-farm

Comin’ to Boardman - Colorado Company Starts Work on Biofuel Facility (Associated Press)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2010295283_apuscellulosicethanol.html?syndication=rss

Green Wave Energy Trying to Turn Wind Power Market on Its Axis (Los Angeles Times, CA)
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-smallbiz-greenwave17-2009nov17,0,7969097.story

Wind Farms 20 Pct of Australia New Power Projects (Reuters)
http://www.reuters.com/article/GCA-GreenBusiness/idUSTRE5AH2QN20091118

Blown Away: Wind Power Keeps Growing in Texas (Wall Street Journal)
http://blogs.wsj.com/environmentalcapital/2009/11/17/blown-away-wind-power-keeps-growing-in-texas/

Gore: US Has Lost Its Lead in Solar, Wind Technology (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
http://www.seattlepi.com/connelly/412396_JOELNOV18.html?source=rss

CONSERVATION & EFFICIENCY

US Energy Dept. Walks the Walk With Smart Building – Now, about those other DOE facilities (Associated Press)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2010286906_apusonesmartbuilding.html?syndication=rss

Earning a Profit by Ending Energy Waste (NY Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/18/realestate/commercial/18retrofit.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

CLIMATE CHANGE SEQUESTRATION VAULT

Senate to Put off Climate Bill until Spring (Wall Street Journal)
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125850693443052993.html?mod=rss_whats_news_us

Al Gore Answers Questions about Climate Change (Seattle Times)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2010291286_webgore17m.html?syndication=rss

BARREL O’ GREEN POTPOURRI

Associated Press Poll Shows That Sometimes It Isn’t Easy Being Green (Associated Press)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2010287491_apusappollenvironment.html?syndication=rss

Paying More for Flights Eases Guilt, Not Emissions (NY Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/18/science/earth/18offset.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss

TECHNOLOGY & TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Microsoft’s Cloud Computing System Is Growing Up (Associated Press)
http://www.mynorthwest.com/?nid=11&sid=242681

Microsoft’s Bing Gets Close to 10% Market Share (Puget Sound Business Journal)
http://seattle.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2009/11/16/daily17.html

Utah - Own Your Own Fiber: Utopia Tinkers With A Slightly Different Model (Broadband Reports)
http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Own-Your-Own-Fiber-105545

Frontier Fires Up Verizon Acquisition PR Campaign - Promising rural users ‘next generation’ upgrades (Broadband Reports)
http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Frontier-Fires-Up-Verizon-Acquisition-PR-Campaign-105538

The End of the Broadband Buffet Is Nigh (GigaOM)
http://gigaom.com/2009/11/17/the-end-of-the-broadband-buffet-is-nigh/

Verizon Again Hints At Metered Billing - And again tries to suggest that ‘it’s only fair’ (Broadband Reports)
http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Verizon-Again-Hints-At-Metered-Billing-105548

GENERAL NEWS

Highway 101 Now Open Near Lilliwaup (Port Townsend Leader, WA)
http://www.ptleader.com/Main.asp?SectionID=4&SubSectionID=4&ArticleID=25656

Oregon Coast Recovering From Strong Storm (Associated Press)
http://www.kndu.com/global/story.asp?s=11525917

North Cascades Highway Closes for Winter (Associated Press)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2010291150_apwanorthcascadescloses.html?syndication=rss

Wash. Unemployment Rate Up Slightly to 9.3 Percent (Seattle Times)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2010287746_apwawashjobless2ndldwritethru.html?syndication=rss

Study redefines inland impacts of coastal megaquake (KOMO-TV, Seattle)
http://www.komonews.com/news/local/70335122.html

Costco Nixes Coke Products over Pricing Dispute (Associated Press)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2010290439_apuscostcocoke3rdldwritethru.html?syndication=rss

Study Says Washington Is Nation’s 11th-Healthiest State (Puget Sound Business Journal)
http://seattle.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2009/11/16/daily16.html

ALLIGATORS IN THE SEWER - DIVERSIONS

Woman Sues RR for Injuries While Taking Pictures
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2010286817_apusrailroadlawsuit.html?syndication=rss

Zoo’s ‘Female’ Tortoise Turns Out to Be Male
http://www.kirotv.com/family/21649722/detail.html

‘Captain America’ Wins Rock-Paper-Scissors Title
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091118/ap_on_fe_st/odd_rock_paper_scissors_champion;_ylt=AmOwMKnINd8CAhs9nfLhB2ntiBIF;_ylu=X3oDMTMxNXB1NHJwBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMDkxMTE4L29kZF9yb2NrX3BhcGVyX3NjaXNzb3JzX2NoYW1waW9uBGNwb3MDMgRwb3MDNARzZWMDeW5fdG9wX3N0b3J5BHNsawNjYXB0YWluYW1lcmk-

SONG OF THE DAY

Lena Horne - Stormy Weather
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCG3kJtQBKo