Dec 21, 2009 - News Update - BPA & Alcoa Sign Power Contracts

Breaking News: Alcoa, BPA Reach Power Deal to Keep Intalco Open (Bellingham Herald, WA)

http://www.bellinghamherald.com/255/story/1213324.html

News Release - BPA Signs Power Sales Contract with Alcoa: Agreement saves jobs, benefits region and meets court mandates (Bonneville Power Administration)

http://www.piersystem.com/go/doc/1582/432783/

Gregoire, BPA Boss to Visit Intalco Monday; Good News Coming? (Good News for Whom? Bellingham Herald, WA)

http://www.bellinghamherald.com/477/story/1210222.html

Energy News Digest for December 21, 2009

NOTE: Still trying to get the Windows 7 upgrade to allow normal posting of the news digest ehre on the blog. Hopefully I'll work it out soon. In the meantime, enjoy this wonderfully funky formatting.

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)

• Gregoire, BPA Boss to Visit Intalco Monday; Good News Coming?

• New Refinery - Alcoa, Saudi Arabia to Invest $11B in Venture

• Decision Due on Montana’s Half-Billion Tons of Coal

• Mason County PUD 3 to Discuss Johns Prairie Operations Center SEPA Appeal

• $2.3 Million in State Money Could Go to Flood Authority

• Oregon Objects to Federal OK of Coos Bay Gas Terminal

• Sierra Club Challenges Wyoming Power Plant

• City of Keizer Seeks Assurances on Power Plant

• Florida - Tampa’s Seminole Electric Cooperative cancels plan for new coal plant

• Report Finds Power Plants Cost Decline Is Slowing

• Grant PUD Recognized by Soldiers - Employees Provide Gifts for Soldiers’ Children

• Los Angeles Electricity Ratepayers to Benefit from Overcharge Settlement

• A Year Later, TVA Chief Says Ash Spill `Painful’

• EPA, USDA push farmers to use coal waste on fields

• Utility Bill Is One More Casualty of Recession

• Tracking Trout - A survey of the upper Rogue River will help develop the habitat, & the fishing possibilities

• What Is the Most Abundant Fish in Puget Sound?

• Alleged Drunk Driver Causes Friday Sewage Spill in Port Angeles

• Editorial - Cleaner Spokane River worth the Cost

• British Columbia Urged to Slow Green Power Development

• Massachusetts Biomass Brouhaha – Group Says Governor’s Stance Will Halt NRG Energy’s Somerset Plant

• Iowa - Biomass Generation Plant Planned for Rock Falls

• Idaho Utilities Commission OKs Sale of Wind Power

• Plans Progress for Wyoming Coal-to-Gasoline Plant

• North Mason School District Getting Energy Grant

• Massachusetts Pushing Whole Energy Efficient Neighborhoods

• Many Take Dim View of New-Fangled Christmas Lights

• Does Heating Homes Take Up More Energy Than Needed?

• Climate Conference in Copenhagen Ends With Statement of Intent

• What did the Copenhagen climate summit achieve?

• AP Poll Shows Most See Climate Change as Serious

• Northwest Scientists Keeping an Eye on Carbon

• If Humans Didn’t Cause Past Global Warming & Cooling, Are They Now?

• The Festive Side of Carbon Dioxide

• Hard Questions for the Broadband Stimulus Program

• Exploring Which Projects Got Broadband Stimulus Funds

• Rackspace Data Center Outage Has Limited Impact

• Norm Dicks Says Ethics Panel Inquiry Over, No Further Action Expected

• When no News is News - No Holiday Display Ruckus This Year in Olympia

• Pesky Frogs Hide in Christmas Trees

• Polish Police Recover Auschwitz Gate Sign, Damaged

WORD OF THE DAY

Antinomian • \ant-tin-NOME-ee-un\ • noun – 1: one who holds that under the gospel dispensation of grace the moral law is of no use or obligation because faith alone is necessary to salvation 2: one who rejects a socially established morality.

Unused to the niceties of attending regular church services, the city’s new waste management official sauntered into the gracefully arched sanctuary exuding the very essence of his antinomian past. “Yep,” he uttered before his gravelly voice was drowned out by the organ, “I guessed that I should join y’all for singin’ and prayin’ at least once a year.”

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

Gregoire, BPA Boss to Visit Intalco Monday; Good News Coming? (Good News for Whom? Bellingham Herald, WA)

http://www.bellinghamherald.com/477/story/1210222.html

New Refinery - Alcoa, Saudi Arabia to Invest $11B in Venture (Associated Press)

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2010560503_apusalcoasaudiarabia.html?syndication=rss

Decision Due on Montana’s Half-Billion Tons of Coal (Associated Press)

http://www.examiner.com/a-2380099~Decision_due_on_Mont__s_half_billion_tons_of_coal.html?cid=rss-Montana_Headlines

Mason County PUD 3 to Discuss Johns Prairie Operations Center SEPA Appeal (KMAS Radio, Shelton, WA)

http://masoncountydailynews.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=907:pud-3-to-discuss-johns-prairie-operations-center-sepa-appeal&catid=1:latest-news&Itemid=50

$2.3 Million in State Money Could Go to Flood Authority – Some funds had previously gone to study Lewis PUD dam proposals (News Tribune, Tacoma, WA)

http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/northwest/story/999753.html

Oregon Objects to Federal OK of Coos Bay Gas Terminal (Oregonian)

http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2009/12/post_34.html

Sierra Club Challenges Wyoming Power Plant (Courthouse News Service)

http://www.courthousenews.com/2009/12/21/Sierra_Club_Challenges_Wyoming_Power_Plant.htm

City of Keizer Seeks Assurances on Power Plant (Keizer Times, OR)

http://www.keizertimes.com/news/story.cfm?story_no=12142

Florida - Tampa’s Seminole Electric Cooperative cancels plan for new coal plant (St Petersburg Times, FL)

http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/article1059847.ece

Report Finds Power Plants Cost Decline Is Slowing (Power Engineering)

http://pepei.pennnet.com/Articles/Article_Display.cfm?Section=ONART&PUBLICATION_ID=6&ARTICLE_ID=371988&C=INDUS&dcmp=rss

Grant PUD Recognized by Soldiers - Employees Provide Gifts for Soldiers’ Children (Columbia Basin Herald)

http://www.columbiabasinherald.com/articles/2009/12/18/news/doc4b2c1157d5075391778880.txt

Los Angeles Electricity Ratepayers to Benefit from Overcharge Settlement (Los Angeles Times, CA)

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-refunds19-2009dec19,0,4030963.story

A Year Later, TVA Chief Says Ash Spill `Painful’ (Associated Press)

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2010544220_apuscoalashspilltennessee.html?syndication=rss

EPA, USDA push farmers to use coal waste on fields (Associated Press)

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2010558349_apusfarmscenecoalwaste.html?syndication=rss

Utility Bill Is One More Casualty of Recession (NY Times)

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/20/us/20utility.html

FISH & WILDLIFE

Tracking Trout - A survey of the upper Rogue River will help develop the habitat, & the fishing possibilities

http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091220/NEWS/912200334

What Is the Most Abundant Fish in Puget Sound? (Seattle Post Intelligencer)

http://blog.seattlepi.com/thebigblog/archives/188667.asp?source=pimail

WATER & THE ENVIRONMENT

Alleged Drunk Driver Causes Friday Sewage Spill in Port Angeles (Seattle Times)

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/theblotter/2010554566_another_raw-sewage_this_one_in.html?syndication=rss

Spokesman Review Editorial - Cleaner Spokane River worth the Cost

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2009/dec/20/cleaner-river-worth-the-cost/

RENEWABLE/ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

British Columbia Urged to Slow Green Power Development (Vancouver Sun, BC)

http://www.vancouversun.com/health/urged+slow+green+power+development/2352063/story.html

Massachusetts Biomass Brouhaha – Group Says Governor’s Stance Will Halt NRG Energy’s Somerset Plant (Fall River Herald News, MA)

http://www.heraldnews.com/news/x1145293945/Group-Patricks-stance-will-halt-NRG-Energys-Somerset-plant

Iowa - Biomass Generation Plant Planned for Rock Falls (KWQC-TV, Davenport, IA)

http://www.kwqc.com/Global/story.asp?S=11688737

Idaho Utilities Commission OKs Sale of Wind Power (Associated Press)

http://www.theolympian.com/northwest/story/1077266.html

Plans Progress for Wyoming Coal-to-Gasoline Plant (Associated Press)

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2010544556_apuscoaltogasolineplant.html?syndication=rss

CONSERVATION & EFFICIENCY

North Mason School District Getting Energy Grant (KMAS Radio, Shelton, WA)

http://masoncountydailynews.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=892:north-mason-school-district-getting-energy-grant&catid=1:latest-news&Itemid=50

Massachusetts Pushing Whole Energy Efficient Neighborhoods (Associated Press)

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2010560460_apusenergyefficientneighborhoodsmassachusetts.html?syndication=rss

Many Take Dim View of New-Fangled Christmas Lights (Associated Press)

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2010560243_apusvintagelights.html?syndication=rss

Does Heating Homes Take Up More Energy Than Needed? (Seattle Post Intelligencer)

http://www.seattlepi.com/local/413403_power17.html?source=rss

CLIMATE CHANGE SEQUESTRATION VAULT

Climate Conference in Copenhagen Ends With Statement of Intent (Seattle Times)

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2010551342_climate20.html

What did the Copenhagen climate summit achieve? (BBC, UK)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8424522.stm

AP Poll Shows Most See Climate Change as Serious (Associated Press)

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2010548723_apclimateappoll.html?syndication=rss

Northwest Scientists Keeping an Eye on Carbon (Oregon Public Broadcasting)

http://news.opb.org/article/6425-northwest-scientists-keeping-eye-carbon/

If Humans Didn’t Cause Global Warming & Cooling in the Past, Is That Evidence They Also Aren’t Now? (Christian Science Monitor)

http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/Bright-Green/2009/1220/If-humans-didn-t-cause-global-warming-and-cooling-in-the-past-is-that-evidence-they-also-aren-t-now

BARREL O’ GREEN POTPOURRI

The Festive Side of Carbon Dioxide - Scientists Uncork Champagne’s Complexity & the Wondrous Micro-Mechanics of Bubbles (Wall Street Journal)

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB126108284326695963.html

TECHNOLOGY & TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Hard Questions for the Broadband Stimulus Program (GigaOM)

http://gigaom.com/2009/12/18/hard-questions-for-the-broadband-stimulus-program/

Exploring Which Projects Got Broadband Stimulus Funds - Middle mile, single state telco & private-public plans dominate (Broadband Reports)

http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Exploring-Which-Projects-Got-Broadband-Stimulus-Funds-106080

Rackspace Data Center Outage Has Limited Impact (PC World)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/pcworld/20091219/tc_pcworld/rackspaceoutagehaslimitedimpact

GENERAL NEWS

Norm Dicks Says Ethics Panel Inquiry Over, No Further Action Expected (Seattle Times)

http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/999772.html

When no News is News - No Holiday Display Ruckus This Year in Olympia

http://www.nwpr.org/07/HomepageArticles/Article.aspx?n=6563

Pesky Frogs Hide in Christmas Trees

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2010552201_frogs20m.html?syndication=rss

Polish Police Recover Auschwitz Gate Sign, Damaged (Associated Press)

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2010558357_apeupolandauschwitzsign.html?syndication=rss

ALLIGATORS IN THE SEWER - DIVERSIONS

The Origins of Christmas (Finding Dulcinea)

http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/history/2009/Origins-of-Christmas.html

Silent Night’ Flap Ends on High Note

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2010552205_silentnight20m.html

Stolen 1965 VW bus brings in nearly $30,000 at auction

http://blog.thenewstribune.com/crime/2009/12/21/stolen-1965-vw-bus-brings-in-nearly-30000-at-auction/

Japanese man takes video game character as wife

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE5BJ1XX20091220?feedType=RSS&feedName=oddlyEnoughNews

Idaho Pharmacist Who Tackled Armed Robber Fired

http://www.examiner.com/a-2381235~Idaho_pharmacist_who_tackled_armed_robber_fired.html?cid=rss-Idaho_Headlines

SONG OF THE DAY

David Bowie & Bing Crosby - Little Drummer Boy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zMhSjDqvRs&feature=related