The Energy News Digest: 03/26/09

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Energy News Digest for March 26, 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 Official Says Power Grid Needs to Become More Flexible

· Economy May Be Putting Wire Thieves Out of Business

· Poor Economy Means Seattle Streetlamps Taking Longer To Repair

· Montana - City of Great Falls May Hire Firm to Vet Energy Future

· State of Texas aims to avoid repeat of Ike-like outages

· Yucca Mountain Flattened

· Cushman Project Increases Streamflow for Skokomish River

· Baker City Herald Editorial - Salmon Sensibility

· Gill Net Bills in Salem!

· Wenatchee World Editorial - Salmon Are Coming, They Say

· Idaho - Fish & Game Sets Chinook Seasons

· Looking for a river open to fishing? Head to the Cowlitz

· Spirit Lake’s No-Fishing Sign Still Up

· Gray Whales Making Pit Stop in Puget Sound

· Centralia Supports Lewis County Dam Idea

· Mike Sharar, Former Director of LOTT, Dies At Age 61

· California - Plan to restore San Joaquin River approved

· Initiative 937 Has Needed Legislative Fixing Since the Day It Hit the Books

· Shine Is Off the Solar Power Industry

· Sarasota, FL Herald Tribune Op/Ed - Subsidies help lower solar costs

· Leaving PCs on Overnight Costs Companies $2.8B a Year

· Canada - Smart Meters Banned in Ontario Apartments

· Obama Makes Bold Climate Bill Prediction: 'We'll Get It Done'

· Coke to Darken Signs for ‘Earth Hour’

· City Of Richland Considers Using Fiber Optics

· Heartland Institute: What Broadband Problem?

· Keep Connected Nation Far Away From Stimulus Money

· Medical Journal Calls into Question Plan for Digital Health Records

· Old Computer System May Contribute To State Budget Woes

WORD OF THE DAY

Dross • \DRAHSS\ • noun - 1: the scum that forms on the surface of molten metal 2: waste or foreign matter: impurity 3: something that is base, trivial, or inferior

Norbert emerged from his bath feeling more soiled than when he went in. As the youngest of four children, he had the last shot at the murky bathwater on Saturday’s “bath day.” He was especially unhappy about the floating dross left over from his brother Ike, who earlier in the day had an unfortunate encounter with the manure lagoon behind the large, red barn.

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

BPA Official Tells Community Leaders Power Grid Needs to Become More Flexible (The Daily News, Longview, WA)

http://www.tdn.com/articles/2009/03/26//area_news/doc49cb158ae68a2434479414.txt

Economy May Be Putting Wire Thieves Out of Business (KING-TV, Seattle)

http://www.king5.com/localnews/stories/NW_032509WAB-copper-thefts-down-TP.6dd698f0.html?rss

Poor Economy Means Seattle Streetlamps Taking Longer To Repair (KING-TV, Seattle)

http://www.king5.com/localnews/stories/NW_032509WAB-street-lights-seattle-KC.70046506.html?rss

Montana - City of Great Falls May Hire Firm to Vet Energy Future (Great Falls Tribune, MT)

http://www.greatfallstribune.com/article/20090326/NEWS01/903260308/1002/news01

State of Texas aims to avoid repeat of Ike-like outages - state utility regulators get the power to nudge electric companies into hardening their delivery systems against widespread power outages (Houston Chronicle, TX)
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6342650.html

Yucca Mountain Flattened (EnergyBiz Insider)

http://www.scoop.com/remote/article/include/81238532/53616c7465645f5f2f13c7bcd6ce1767a6a11ae4666a9e1bbfbca66ab008f50c

FISH & WILDLIFE

Let It Flow, Let It Flow, Let It Flow - Cushman Project Increases Streamflow for Skokomish River for improved salmon habitat (The News Tribune, Tacoma, WA)

http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/688597.html

Baker City Herald Editorial - Salmon Sensibility

http://www.bakercityherald.com/Editorials/Salmon-sensibility

Gill Net Bills in Salem! The Oregon Legislature is paying more than lip service to altering the way salmon are harvested on the Columbia River (The Oregonian, Portland)

http://www.oregonlive.com/sports/oregonian/bill_monroe/index.ssf/2009/03/gill_net_bills_in_salem.html

Wenatchee World Editorial - Salmon Are Coming, They Say

http://wenatcheeworld.com/article/20090325/OP02/703259907/-1/OP

Idaho - Fish & Game Sets Chinook Seasons - Department will set rules for the upper Salmon River in May (Idaho Mountain Express, Sun Valley)

http://www.mtexpress.com/vu_breaking_story.php?bid=6945

Looking for a river open to fishing? Head to the Cowlitz (The News Tribune, Tacoma, WA)

http://www.theolympian.com/outdoorshighlight/story/799085.html

Spirit Lake’s No-Fishing Sign Still Up (The Olympian, Olympia, WA)

http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/688598.html

Gray Whales Making Pit Stop In Puget Sound (KING-TV, Seattle)

http://www.king5.com/localnews/stories/NW_032509WAB-gray-whales-KS.6d8a9814.html?rss

WATER & THE ENVIRONMENT

Centralia Supports Lewis County Dam Idea (The Chronicle, Centralia, WA)

http://www.outdoorslc.com/story.php?subaction=showfull&id=1238002188&archive=&start_from=&ucat=5&

Mike Sharar, Former Director of LOTT, Dies At Age 61 (The Olympian, Olympia, WA)

http://www.theolympian.com/southsound/story/799073.html

California - Plan to restore San Joaquin River approved (San Francisco Chronicle, CA)

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/03/26/MNTD16N3QD.DTL

RENEWABLE/ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

News Tribune Editorial - Initiative 937 Has Needed Legislative Fixing Since The Day It Hit The Books

http://www.thenewstribune.com/opinion/story/688640.html

Shine Is Off the Solar Power Industry - Falling energy prices undermined willingness to invest (The Victoria Times Colonist, BC)

http://www.timescolonist.com/business/story.html?id=1421533

Sarasota, FL Herald Tribune Op/Ed - Subsidies help lower solar costs “…Our factory in Oregon uses hydroelectric power…”

http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20090326/COLUMNIST/903261018/2127?Title=Subsidies-help-lower-solar-costs

CONSERVATION & EFFICIENCY

Leaving PCs on Overnight Costs Companies $2.8B a Year (USA Today)

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/environment/2009-03-25-pc-power-company-costs_N.htm?csp=34

Canada - Smart Meters Banned in Ontario Apartments: Energy board bars use in rentals after tenants complained of landlords off-loading hydro costs (Toronto Star, Ontario)

http://www.thestar.com/article/607832

CLIMATE CHANGE SEQUESTRATION VAULT

Obama Makes Bold Climate Bill Prediction: 'We'll Get It Done' (NY Times)

http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2009/03/25/25climatewire-obama-makes-bold-capandtrade-prediction-well-10277.html

Coke to Darken Signs for ‘Earth Hour’ (Atlanta Business Chronicle)

http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/stories/2009/03/23/daily66.html?ana=from_rss

TECHNOLOGY & TELECOMMUNICATIONS

City Of Richland Considers Using Fiber Optics (The News Tribune, Tacoma, WA)

http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/northwest/story/687780.html

Heartland Institute: What Broadband Problem? PR junk science firm returns with five year old argument using discredited FCC stats (Broadband Reports)

http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Heartland-Institute-What-Broadband-Problem-101564

Keep Connected Nation Far Away From Stimulus Money - Consumer advocates warn group is a con, but is anybody listening? (Broadband Reports)