The Energy News Digest: 02/01/10

Monday, February 1, 2010

Energy News Digest for February 1, 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.

To subscribe, email jmyer@masonpud3.org

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHTS (Details Below)

• Oregon - Boardman Coal-Burning Power Plant May Have a Future After All: Biomass

• February 17 - PUD 3 Commission to Hold SEPA Appeal Hearing

• Jefferson PUD Commissioner - Dana Roberts Remembered

• Enron Money to Cowlitz County - Settlement With Greedy to Warm the Needy

• California – Pacific Gas & Electric PG&E Spending Millions to Block Local Utilities

• Obama 2011 budget request: Energy Department

• Public Can Comment on Alternate Routes for SE Washington Power Line

• Montana - PSC Commissioner Questions Cost to Customers if Power Lines Go Through

• Montana - Intersecting Lines: Will new power projects harm Montana consumers

• Montana - Status Update on Proposed Power Projects

• Arizona - Electric Line Plan Stirs Anger: On 2 sides, a powerful argument

• Colorado Ranch Owner Cries Foul in Power Line Project

• Ruling Could Halt Nuclear Project

• Budget Will Eliminate Yucca Nuclear Waste Repository, Says Sen. Reid

• Challenges on the Rise for Wyoming Coal

• Copper Wire-Seeking Vandal Saws Power Pole

• Texas - Man Electrocuted in Atascosa County Copper Wire Theft

• Illinois ‘Clean Coal’ Plants Await Their Fate

• Oregon Weighs Legality of Ballot Title Proposing Gillnet Ban; Effects on Compact Unclear

• Expanded Salmon River Fishery in 2009 Recorded 3,519 Chinook Harvested

• Ellensburg Students See Salmon Slime, Blood, Guts

• Arrest Warrant Issued in Washington Zebra Mussel Case, State Seeks Federal Charges

• Mason County PUD 3 Commission to Discuss Water Line Extension Agreement Tuesday

• Port of Shelton to Discuss John’s Prairie Water Line Agreement Tuesday

• Upstate Nevada Wins Water War against South

• Biomass Power Plant - ADAGE Makes Presentation to Mason County Council of Governments

• Converting Coal Plants to Biomass

• Grays Harbor - Wind Farm Funds Come Through

• Oregon Fourth Among States for New Wind Capacity

• Proposed Cle Elum Solar Power Plant Tangled in Many Messy Questions

• Oregon - Warehouse’s Rooftop Solar Array Now Is Salem’s Largest

• Former DNR Commissioner - Sutherland Will Lead Renewable Energy Partnership

• In California, Quest for Cleaner Power Hits Tortoise-Sized Speed Bumps

• New Renewable Energy Mandate Will Likely Bypass Local Utilities

•

United Kingdom

- Government to Reward Renewable Energy Homes

•

China

Leading Global Race to Make Clean Energy

• Silicon Valley Makes Big Push into Solar & Smart-Grid Technologies

•

U.S.

Government Plans to Reduce Its Energy Use

• Pennsylvania - PPL has a “bright idea” to help consumers save on power

•

Scientist: Climate Docs Maybe Stolen by Spies

• Climate Change Leader ‘Knew About False Glacier Claims before Copenhagen’

•

China

Insists That Its Steps on Climate Be Voluntary

• Banking On Carbon - Oregon Forestland Owners

• In Portland, Going Green & Growing Vertical in a Bid for Energy Savings

• Feeling the Burn from ‘Green Friction’ With Your Partner Yet?

• Qwest Ready to Seek Broadband Stimulus Dollars

• Facebook Bets on Coal for New Oregon Data Center

• January’s Warm Temperatures May Set Record

• Pacific Ocean Threatens to Gobble Up Oregon Beach Towns

• Washington GOP Caucus Bans State Sen. Pam Roach, Tells Her to Get Anger Counseling

• Legislative Proposals Nearing Action Deadlines

• Hundreds of Quakes Are Rattling Yellowstone

• Swarm of Small Quakes in Past Year under Hanford

• NOAA Reviewing Plan to Move from Lake Union

• Toyota Issues Public Apology, Details Plan to Fix Pedals

• Obama Calls for End to NASA’s Moon Program

• Mary McBride - New Northwest HUD Director Named

WORD OF THE DAY

Primeval • \prime-EEVAL\ • noun – 1: of or relating to the earliest ages (as of the world or human history): ancient, primitive. Etymology: Latin primaevus, from primus first + aevum age.

The further down the two grave robbers dug, the more difficult the task became. What they didn’t realize, until they had reached the primeval ooze that squished around the ankles at the 20 foot mark, was that they had been digging at the foot of Howard Hughes’s cenotaph. IN other words, the cupboard was bare…

A past word of the day: Cenotaph • \SENN-uh-taff\ • noun – A tomb or a monument erected in honor of a person or group of persons whose remains are elsewhere

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

Oregon - Boardman Coal-Burning Power Plant May Have a Future After All: Biomass (The Oregonian, Portland)

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2010/01/coal-burning_power_plant_in_bo.html

February 17 - PUD 3 Commission to Hold SEPA Appeal Hearing (Mason County PUD No. 3)

http://www.masonpud3.org/Newsdisplay.aspx?NewsID=672

Jefferson PUD Commissioner - Dana Roberts Remembered: Widow, friends tell of his enthusiasms, long conversations (Peninsula Daily News, Port Angeles, WA)

http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/article/20100131/news/301319989

Enron Money to Cowlitz County - Settlement With Greedy to Warm the Needy (The Daily News, Longview, WA)

http://www.tdn.com/news/local/article_b2d8fe66-0e2f-11df-ba4b-001cc4c002e0.html

California – Pacific Gas & Electric PG&E Spending Millions to Block Local Utilities (San Jose Mercury News, CA)

http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_14296650

Obama 2011 budget request: Energy Department (Washington Post)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/01/AR2010020101794.html

Public Can Comment on Alternate Routes for SE Washington Power Line (Yakima Herald Republic, WA)

http://www.yakima-herald.com/stories/2010/01/30/01-30-10-powerlines

Montana - PSC Commissioner Questions Cost to Customers if Power Lines Go Through (The Missoulian, MT)

http://www.missoulian.com/news/state-and-regional/article_23868ac0-0e30-11df-9d1f-001cc4c002e0.html

Montana - Intersecting Lines: Will new power projects harm Montana consumers? Many indicators say no (The Montana Standard)

http://montanastandard.com/articles/2010/01/31/area/hjijjigijhgfje.txt

Montana - Status Update on Proposed Power Projects (The Montana Standard)

http://mtstandard.com/articles/2010/01/31/state/hjijjigijhgffg.txt

Arizona - Electric Line Plan Stirs Anger: On 2 sides, a powerful argument (The Herald Review, Sierra Vista, AZ)

http://www.svherald.com/content/news/2010/01/31/electric-line-plan-stirs-anger

Colorado Ranch Owner Cries Foul in Power Line Project (BusinessWeek)

http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9DHGHBG0.htm

Ruling Could Halt Nuclear Project (NY Times)

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/30/business/energy-environment/30reactor.html

Budget Will Eliminate Yucca Nuclear Waste Repository, Says Sen. Reid (NY Times)

http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2010/02/01/01greenwire-budget-will-eliminate-yucca-nuclear-waste-repos-9897.html

Challenges on the Rise for Wyoming Coal (Billings Gazette, MT)

http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/wyoming/article_49d6ff34-0bce-11df-ba48-001cc4c002e0.html

Copper Wire-Seeking Vandal Saws Power Pole (SF Chronicle)

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/01/29/BAU21BPLS2.DTL

Texas - Man Electrocuted in Atascosa County Copper Wire Theft (San Antonio Express-News, TX)

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/83079447.html

Illinois ‘Clean Coal’ Plants Await Their Fate (St. Louis Post-Dispatch, MO)

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/business/stories.nsf/0/0833AFF22D277D5A862576BB001136C7?OpenDocument

FISH & WILDLIFE

Oregon Weighs Legality of Ballot Title Proposing Gillnet Ban; Effects on Compact Unclear (Columbia Basin Bulletin)

http://www.cbbulletin.com/374819.aspx

Expanded Salmon River Fishery in 2009 Recorded 3,519 Chinook Harvested (Columbia Basin Bulletin)

http://www.cbbulletin.com/374810.aspx

Ellensburg Students See Salmon Slime, Blood, Guts (Ellensburg Daily Record, WA)

http://www.theolympian.com/northwest/story/1119830.html

Arrest Warrant Issued in Washington Zebra Mussel Case, State Seeks Federal Charges (Columbia Basin Bulletin)

http://www.cbbulletin.com/374815.aspx

WATER & THE ENVIRONMENT

Mason County PUD 3 Commission to Discuss Water Line Extension Agreement Tuesday (KMAS Radio, Shelton, WA)

http://masoncountydailynews.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1232:pud-3-commission-to-discuss-water-line-extension-agreement-again-tuesday&catid=1:latest-news&Itemid=50

Port of Shelton to Discuss John’s Prairie Water Line Agreement Tuesday (KMAS Radio, Shelton, WA)

http://masoncountydailynews.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1231:port-of-shelton-to-discuss-johns-prairie-water-line-agreement-tuesday&catid=1:latest-news&Itemid=50

Upstate Nevada Wins Water War against South (Courthouse News Service)

http://www.courthousenews.com/2010/01/29/24214.htm

RENEWABLE/ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

Biomass Power Plant - ADAGE Makes Presentation to Mason County Council of Governments (KMAS Radio, Shelton, WA)

http://masoncountydailynews.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1235:adage-makes-presentation-to-council-of-governments&catid=1:latest-news&Itemid=50

Converting Coal Plants to Biomass (NY Times)

http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/01/converting-coal-plants-to-biomass/

Grays Harbor - Wind Farm Funds Come Through (The Daily World, Aberdeen, WA)

http://www.thedailyworld.com/articles/2010/01/29/local_news/doc4b632f1a00330147458480.txt

Oregon Fourth Among States for New Wind Capacity (The Oregonian, Portland)

http://www.oregonlive.com/environment/index.ssf/2010/01/oregon_fourth_among_states_for.html

Proposed Cle Elum Solar Power Plant Tangled in Many Messy Questions (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)

http://www.seattlepi.com/local/414684_solar1.html

Oregon - Warehouse’s Rooftop Solar Array Now Is Salem’s Largest (Salem Statesman-Journal, OR)

http://www.statesmanjournal.com/article/20100201/NEWS/2010320/1001/news

Former DNR Commissioner - Sutherland Will Lead Renewable Energy Partnership (Yakima Herald Republic, WA)

http://www.yakima-herald.com/stories/2010/01/30/sutherland-will-lead-renewable-energy-partnership

In California, Quest for Cleaner Power Hits Tortoise-Sized Speed Bumps (Christian Science Monitor)

http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/2010/0129/In-California-quest-for-cleaner-power-hits-tortoise-sized-speed-bumps

New Renewable Energy Mandate Will Likely Bypass Local Utilities (Aspen Times, CO)

http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20100201/NEWS/100139970/1077&ParentProfile=1058

United Kingdom

- Government to Reward Renewable Energy Homes With Higher Feed-In Tariffs (The Guardian,

)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/feb/01/government-renewables-feed-in-tariff

China

Leading Global Race to Make Clean Energy (NY Times)

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/31/business/energy-environment/31renew.html

CONSERVATION & EFFICIENCY

Silicon Valley Makes Big Push into Solar & Smart-Grid Technologies (San Jose Mercury News, CA)

http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_14241380

U.S.

Government Plans to Reduce Its Energy Use (NY Times)

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/30/science/earth/30efficient.html

Pennsylvania - PPL has a bright idea to help consumers save on power: Utility company partners with retailers to offer discounts on energy-efficient light bulbs (The Morning Call, Allentown, PA – Great; a 30% rate increase and all I got was this CFL!)

http://www.mcall.com/business/all-5ppl.7163351jan30,0,7641042.story

CLIMATE CHANGE SEQUESTRATION VAULT

Scientist: Climate Docs Maybe Stolen by Spies (Washington Post)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/01/AR2010020100497.html

Climate Change Leader ‘Knew About False Glacier Claims before Copenhagen’ (The Telegraph,

)

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/climatechange/7107873/Climate-change-leader-knew-about-false-glacier-claims-before-Copenhagen.html

China

Insists That Its Steps on Climate Be Voluntary (NY Times)

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/30/world/asia/30china.html

Banking on Carbon - Oregon forestland owners can use their properties as carbon storage banks & trade carbon credits (Medford Mail Tribune, OR)

http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F20100131%2FNEWS%2F1310314%2F-1%2Frss01&utm_source=AllTodaysNewsRSS