Energy News Digest for September 17, 2010

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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HOT SHOTS – TODAY’S TOP FIVE STORIES

La Niña Expected to Bring Wet, Gray Winter to Region - Increased chance of floods: Skiers, salmon fishers rejoice when Pacific cools

http://www.theolympian.com/2010/09/17/1372432/la-nina-expected-to-bring-wet.html

Oregon Public Utility Commission Approves PacifiCorp Surcharges for Klamath River Dam Removal – Could be up to $200 million (Oregonian, Portland)

http://www.oregonlive.com/environment/index.ssf/2010/09/oregon_public_utility_commissi.html

Mercury Emissions Too High During Spokane’s Waste-to-Energy Incinerator Test (Spokesman-Review, Spokane, WA)

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2010/sep/17/mercury-emissions-too-high-during-incinerator-test/

California - Pacific Gas & Electric PG&E Fined for Worker’s Electrocution (SF Chronicle)

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/09/16/BAM21FFAB1.DTL

Washington State Will Have to Pare $516 Million (News Tribune, Tacoma, WA)

http://www.thenewstribune.com/2010/09/17/1344830/state-will-have-to-pare-516-m.html

NEWS HIGHLIGHTS (Details Below)

• Oregon Public Utility Commission Approves PacifiCorp Surcharges for Klamath River Dam Removal
• Puget Sound Energy Seeks Rate Increase to Fund Energy Assistance Program
• Bonneville Power Administration Wants to Avoid Giving Power Away
• News Release - Congressman Hastings’ WAPA Bill Increases Transparency, Eliminates Taxpayer Bailouts
• California - Pacific Gas & Electric PG&E Fined for Worker’s Electrocution
• Pacific Gas & Electric - One-Quarter of High-Risk Lines Not Assessed
• San Bruno Scams: Officials Watch for ‘Human Vermin’
• Natural Gas Rises to Three-Week High on Gulf Storm Speculation
• Tennessee - Power bills to jump $7, says Tennessee Valley Authority
• Tennessee Valley Authority Releases Draft Energy Mix Plan with More Nuclear Power
• North Carolina - Shearon Harris Nuclear Plant Looks Less Likely
• News Release - FERC reaffirms NERC’s performance as the Nation’s Electric Reliability Organization
• Cowlitz Fishing Gets Boost
• Record Salmon Year, But Concerns Raised
• Congressman Dicks to Attend Sewer Meeting Monday in Shelton
• Go-Ahead Given to Use Lake Tapps for Drinking Water
• Saving the oaks of Portland’s Elk Rock Island
• Minnesota - Xcel Planning to Remove Large Dam; Upstream Water Users Say They’re Worried
• Texas, EPA Present Draft Plan to Fix Air Permits
• Snohomish PUD - Grants Helping Homeowners in County Make Switch to Solar
• Goldendale - Northwest Wind Power Blows Way South
• Portland General Electric Negotiating to Buy Gilliam County Wind Farm
• Promoting Wind Energy - The US Broadens Investments in Wind Energy
• Italy - Mafia ‘Wind-Leader’ Busted
• Mercury Emissions Too High During Spokane’s Waste-to-Energy Incinerator Test
• Lake Tahoe - Biomass Plant in Kings Beach: in or Out of the Basin?
• Energy Storage on Grid Heats Up
• Sell! Seven Perfect Ways to Pitch Renewable Energy
• Rural Star - US House OKs Loans for Rural Energy Efficiency
• California Braces for Showdown on Emissions
• You’re ‘So Coal’: Angling to Shame Facebook
• An Eye for an Eye as Facebook Attacks Greenpeace over Energy Use
• Climate Models Show Fairbanks Shifting to Saskatoon-Like Conditions by 2100
• Greening Access to Seattle’s Nearby National Parks
• How to Ensure a Warmer Winter by Seasoning Your Firewood – to fuel your own personal biomass incinerator
• Apps for Climate Change
• Olympia - Severed Cable Kills Phone, Web Service for Hundreds
• Frontier Downplays the Landline’s Demise
• Yahoo to Upgrade E-Mail, Search Results This Fall
• Carrier Pigeon Still Faster Than Broadband in Some Parts of Britain
• Washington State Will Have to Pare $516 Million
• Washington State Supreme Court Justice Awarded Four E-Mails in Disclosure Case
• La Niña Expected to Bring Wet, Gray Winter to Region
• Vancouver Acid ‘Victim’ Admits Injuring Herself
• The Gores Group Acquires Cosmopolis Mill from Weyerhaeuser
• Washington, Oregon, Idaho Get Millions from USDA for Ag Marketing
• Fighting over Fruit - Licensing Deal for Hot New Apple Comes Under Fire
• Report Says US West Coast Not Prepared for Tsunami
• Honey Theft Not So Sweet for Whidbey Bee Keeper
• Federal Stimulus Money Going Mostly to Richland
• A Feud Between Airbus & Boeing Has Given Neither Side a Clear Advantage
• Moses Lake Carbon Fiber Plant Seeking Annexation of 1,098 Acres
• Second Key Peninsula Firefighter Fired over Wenatchee Conference Incident
• Oregon Cities, Looking to Attract Development, Stall Out for Years in the State’s Land-Use System
• Seattle Storm Clinch Second WNBA Title
• Rider Records Bus Driver Reading Kindle on I-5

WORD OF THE DAY

Farrago • \fuh-RAH-go\ • noun - A confused mixture: hodgepodge

“Your paper was an interesting farrago of truth, speculation, innuendo and conspiracy theories,” intoned the Bhudda-like professor to his liberal arts student. “Unfortunately, when you began your thesis statement with ‘I may be wrong, but’ you turned out to be right.”

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

Oregon Public Utility Commission Approves PacifiCorp Surcharges for Klamath River Dam Removal – Could be up to $200 million (Oregonian, Portland)

http://www.oregonlive.com/environment/index.ssf/2010/09/oregon_public_utility_commissi.html

Puget Sound Energy Seeks Rate Increase to Fund Energy Assistance Program (Federal Way Mirror, WA)

http://www.pnwlocalnews.com/south_king/fwm/business/103097874.html

Bonneville Power Administration Wants to Avoid Giving Power Away (Oregon Public Broadcasting)

http://news.opb.org/article/13340-bpa-wants-avoid-giving-power-away/

News Release - Congressman Hastings’ WAPA Bill Increases Transparency, Eliminates Taxpayer Bailouts (Congressman Doc Hastings)

http://republicans.resourcescommittee.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=206846

California - Pacific Gas & Electric PG&E Fined for Worker’s Electrocution (SF Chronicle)

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/09/16/BAM21FFAB1.DTL

Pacific Gas & Electric - One-Quarter of High-Risk Lines Not Assessed (Associated Press)

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2012919731_apuspipelineexplosioninspections.html

San Bruno Scams: Officials Watch for ‘Vermin’ - Two Women Charged With Attempting to Impersonate Victims of Last Week’s Deadly Pipeline Blast (SF Chronicle)

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/09/16/BA321FF1J9.DTL

Natural Gas Rises to Three-Week High on Gulf Storm Speculation (Bloomberg News)

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-09-16/natural-gas-drops-after-u-s-report-shows-supply-rose-more-than-predicted.html

Tennessee - Power bills to jump $7, says Tennessee Valley Authority - largest monthly fuel cost adjustment ever by the TVA (The Tennessean, Nashville, TN)

http://www.tennessean.com/article/20100916/NEWS01/100916003/Power+bills+to+jump++7++says+TVA

Tennessee Valley Authority Releases Draft Energy Mix Plan with More Nuclear Power (The Tennessean, Nashville)

http://www.tennessean.com/article/20100916/NEWS01/100916045/TVA-releases-draft-energy-mix-plan-with-more-nuclear-power

North Carolina - Shearon Harris Nuclear Plant Looks Less Likely (Raleigh News & Observer, NC)

http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/09/16/683890/nuclear-plant-looks-less-likely.html

News Release - FERC reaffirms NERC’s performance as the Nation’s Electric Reliability Organization (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission)

http://www.ferc.gov/media/news-releases/2010/2010-3/09-16-10-E-2.asp

FISH & WILDLIFE

Cowlitz Fishing Gets Boost (KELA Radio, Centralia, WA)

http://www.kelaam.com/pages/localnews?Cowlitz-fishing-gets-boost-=1&blockID=312896&feedID=410

Record Salmon Year, But Concerns Raised - Environmentalists worried hatchery fish will have negative impact on wild salmon (South County Spotlight, Portland, OR)

http://www.spotlightnews.net/news/story.php?story_id=128467103579997000

WATER & THE ENVIRONMENT

Congressman Dicks to Attend Sewer Meeting Monday in Shelton (KMAS Radio, Shelton, WA)

http://masoncountydailynews.net/news/3273-congressman-dicks-to-attend-sewer-meeting-monday-in-shelton

Go-Ahead Given to Use Lake Tapps for Drinking Water (News Tribune, Tacoma, WA)

http://www.thenewstribune.com/2010/09/17/1344841/ecology-oks-tapps-water-deal.html

Saving the oaks of Portland’s Elk Rock Island (Oregonian, Portland)

http://www.oregonlive.com/environment/index.ssf/2010/09/saving_the_oaks_of_portlands_e.html

Minnesota - Xcel Planning to Remove Large Dam; Upstream Water Users Say They’re Worried (West Central Tribune, Willmar, MN)

http://www.wctrib.com/event/article/id/72225/

Texas, EPA Present Draft Plan to Fix Air Permits (Associated Press)

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2012919938_aptxepavstexas.html

RENEWABLE/ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

Snohomish PUD - Grants Helping Homeowners in County Make Switch to Solar (Everett Herald, WA)

http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20100916/NEWS01/709169921/-1/rss02

Goldendale - Northwest Wind Power Blows Way South (Earth Techling)

http://www.earthtechling.com/2010/09/northwest-wind-power-blows-way-south/

Portland General Electric Negotiating to Buy Gilliam County Wind Farm (Portland Business Journal)

http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2010/09/13/daily35.html

Promoting Wind Energy - The US Broadens Investments in Wind Energy on its Path Toward Becoming a Clean Energy Economy (Voice of America)

http://www.voanews.com/policy/editorials/Promoting-Wind-Energy-102957629.html

Italy - Mafia ‘Wind-Leader’ Busted (Renewable Energy World)

http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2010/09/mafia-wind-leader-busted

Mercury Emissions Too High During Spokane’s Waste-to-Energy Incinerator Test (Spokesman-Review, Spokane, WA)

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2010/sep/17/mercury-emissions-too-high-during-incinerator-test/

Lake Tahoe - Biomass Plant in Kings Beach: in or Out of the Basin? (Sierra Sun, Truckee, CA)

http://www.sierrasun.com/article/20100916/NEWS/100919939/1066&ParentProfile=1051

Energy Storage on Grid Heats Up (CNET News)

http://news.cnet.com/2300-11128_3-10004869.html

Sell! Seven Perfect Ways to Pitch Renewable Energy (Renewable Energy World)

http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/blog/post/2010/09/sell-seven-perfect-ways-to-pitch-renewable-energy

CONSERVATION & EFFICIENCY

Rural Star - US House OKs Loans for Rural Energy Efficiency (Associated Press)

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2012915034_apusruralenergy.html

CLIMATE CHANGE SEQUESTRATION VAULT

California Braces for Showdown on Emissions (NY Times)

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/17/us/17pollute.html

You’re ‘So Coal’: Angling to Shame Facebook (NY Times)

http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/17/youre-so-coal-trying-to-shame-facebook/

An Eye for an Eye as Facebook Attacks Greenpeace over Energy Use (Data Center Dynamics)

http://www.datacenterdynamics.com/ME2/dirmod.asp?sid=&nm=&type=news&mod=News&mid=9A02E3B96F2A415ABC72CB5F516B4C10&tier=3&nid=7E202DF40CB445C88ED9F658C8D410C7

Climate Models Show Fairbanks Shifting to Saskatoon-Like Conditions by 2100 (Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, AK)

http://newsminer.com/view/full_story/9553971/article-Climate-models-show-Fairbanks-shifting-to-Saskatoon-like-conditions-by-2100?instance=home_news_window_left_top_2

BARREL O’ GREEN POTPOURRI

Greening Access to Seattle’s Nearby National Parks - We live in a beautiful place surrounded by gorgeous parks, but our wilderness, including national parks, are mostly accessible only by car (Crosscut Seattle)

http://crosscut.com/2010/09/17/mossback/20162/Greening-access-to-Seattle-s-nearby-national-parks/

How to Ensure a Warmer Winter by Seasoning Your Firewood – to fuel your own personal biomass incinerator (Ecologist Magazine)

http://www.theecologist.org/green_green_living/out_and_about/590909/how_to_ensure_a_warmer_winter_by_seasoning_your_firewood.html

Apps for Climate Change (Vancouver Sun, BC)

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/business/story.html?id=7fbc8541-37bc-44e6-8fe8-27fd6970f203&k=13766

TECHNOLOGY & TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Olympia - Severed Cable Kills Phone, Web Service for Hundreds (Olympian, WA)

http://www.theolympian.com/2010/09/16/1372220/severed-cable-kills-phone-web.html

Frontier Downplays the Landline’s Demise - Executive doesn’t think you need FiOS-level speeds anyway (Broadband Reports)

http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Frontier-Downplays-The-Landlines-Demise-110414

Yahoo to Upgrade E-Mail, Search Results This Fall (Associated Press)

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/09/16/state/n124757D61.DTL

Carrier Pigeon Still Faster Than Broadband in Some Parts of Britain (Broadband Genie, UK)

http://www.broadbandgenie.co.uk/news/20100916-carrier-pigeon-still-faster-than-broadband-some-parts-britain

POLITICS & GOVERNANCE

Washington State Will Have to Pare $516 Million (News Tribune, Tacoma, WA)

http://www.thenewstribune.com/2010/09/17/1344830/state-will-have-to-pare-516-m.html

Washington State Supreme Court Justice Awarded Four E-Mails in Disclosure Case (Associated Press)

http://www.kndu.com/global/story.asp?s=13166485

GENERAL NEWS

La Niña Expected to Bring Wet, Gray Winter to Region - Increased chance of floods: Skiers, salmon fishers rejoice when Pacific cools

http://www.theolympian.com/2010/09/17/1372432/la-nina-expected-to-bring-wet.html

Vancouver Acid ‘Victim’ Admits Injuring Herself (Vancouver Columbian, WA)

http://www.columbian.com/news/2010/sep/16/vancouver-police-say-acid-attack-hoax-source-says/

The Gores Group Acquires Cosmopolis Mill from Weyerhaeuser - Mill will operate under the name of Cosmo Specialty Fibers (MarketWatch)

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-gores-group-acquires-cosmopolis-mill-from-weyerhaeuser-2010-09-16?reflink=MW_news_stmp

Washington, Oregon, Idaho Get Millions from USDA for Ag Marketing (Associated Press)

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2012924889_apwafarmgrants.html

Fighting over Fruit - Licensing Deal for Hot New Apple Comes Under Fire (Associated Press)

http://www.kndu.com/global/story.asp?s=13170558

Report Says US West Coast Not Prepared for Tsunami (Associated Press)

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2012924978_apwatsunamiprep.html

Honey Theft Not So Sweet for Whidbey Bee Keeper (KING-TV, Seattle)

http://www.king5.com/news/local/HONEY-THEFT-NOT-SO-SWEET-FOR-WHIDBEY-BEE-KEEPER-103076154.html

Federal Stimulus Money Going Mostly to Richland (KNDU-TV, Tri-Cities, WA)

http://www.kndu.com/global/story.asp?s=13169617

A Feud Between Airbus & Boeing Has Given Neither Side a Clear Advantage (NY Times)

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/17/business/17arms.html

Moses Lake Carbon Fiber Plant Seeking Annexation of 1,098 Acres – Nearly Two Square Miles (Columbia Basin Herald, Moses Lake, WA)

http://www.columbiabasinherald.com/news/article_999c8592-c1e1-11df-894b-001cc4c002e0.html

Second Key Peninsula Firefighter Fired over Wenatchee Conference Incident (Associated Press)

http://www.theolympian.com/2010/09/16/1371655/second-key-peninsula-firefighter.html

Oregon Cities, Looking to Attract Development, Stall Out for Years in the State’s Land-Use System (Oregonian, Portland)

http://www.oregonlive.com/environment/index.ssf/2010/09/oregon_cities_looking_to_attra.html

Seattle Storm Clinch Second WNBA Title (KIRO-TV, Seattle)

http://www.kirotv.com/news/25045181/detail.html

Rider Records Bus Driver Reading Kindle on I-5 (KING-TV, Seattle)

http://www.king5.com/news/local/Rider-records-bus-driver-reading-Kindle-on-I-5-103108794.html

DIVERSIONS

Teenager’s Nose Ring More Than Fashion, It’s Faith: Church of Body Modification

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/09/16/us/AP-US-REL-Piercing-Church.html

I Bet the Printer LOVED This: NY GOP Governor Hopeful Sends Trash-Scented Flier

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politics/2012914608_apusnygovernorsracepaladino.html

Greeks Find Human Skulls in Luggage of US Tourists

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE68F4PG20100916

Woman Stabs Man After “Smelly” Feet Insult, Prosecutors Allege

http://www.nwcn.com/news/Woman-stabs-man-after-smelly-feet-insult-prosecutors-allege-103132679.html

SONG OF THE DAY

Sabazios - Dies Irae (Day of Wrath: formerly part of the Mass of the Dead and the Office of the Dead)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gykmaTByTc