Energy News Digest for May 3, 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

HOT SHOTS – TODAY’S TOP FIVE STORIES

Storm brings high winds, outages to Western Washington (KING-TV, Seattle)

http://www.king5.com/news/local/Spring-storm-brings-strong-winds-to-Western-Wash-92665469.html

Jefferson PUD May Make Milestone Decision on Electricity Monday (Peninsula Daily News, Port Angeles, WA)

http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/article/20100502/news/305029989

Moody’s Investor Service Upgrades Mason County PUD No. 3 Bond Rating by Two Classification Levels (Mason County PUD No. 3)

http://www.masonpud3.org/Newsdisplay.aspx?NewsID=719

Next Two Weeks Key in Determining if Upriver Spring Chinook Run a Record Maker (Columbia Basin Bulletin)

http://www.cbbulletin.com/384727.aspx

Mason County Biomass Project Generating Controversy - Critics ask – If plant pollutes the air, how can it be green? (Olympian, WA)

http://www.theolympian.com/2010/05/02/1225448/mason-biomass-project-generating.html

NEWS HIGHLIGHTS (Details Below)

·         Jefferson PUD May Make Milestone Decision on Electricity Monday

·         Moody’s Investor Service Upgrades Mason County PUD No. 3 Bond Rating by Two Classification Levels

·         Site Selected for New Oregon Trail Electric Cooperative’s La Grande Facility

·         Oregon - 13 year old Sandy Boy Accused of Arson, Cutting Power Poles & Felling Trees onto US 26

·         Cowlitz County - CAP Funds Available for Help with Utility Bills

·         Congdon Announces Re-Election Bid for PUD Seat

·         Morse to Vie for Chelan PUD Board

·         ission: Those Smart Meters Are Fine. Really

·         Southwest Power Pool - A New Cost-Sharing Plan for Transmitting More Renewable Energy

·         Germany - Man Steals Electricity With Meat Hook

·         Next Two Weeks Key in Determining if Upriver Spring Chinook Run a Record Maker

·         2010 Sea Lion Salmon Predation Breaking Records; Large Number of Newcomers

·         Portland General Electric, Warm Springs Tribes’ Deschutes Salmon Passage Project Finalist for Electric Industry’s Top Honor

·         A Murky Picture as Seafood Industry Eyes Gulf Coast Oil Slick

·         At Nearly 30 Pounds, Montana Pike Could be World Record

·         Sewage Fix Hard on City of Snohomish

·         California - April Rain Pushes Snowpack to 143% of Normal

·         Mason County Biomass Project Generating Controversy

·         Wisconsin Biomass Plant - Critics Call Paper Gift ‘A Bribe’

·         Wood-Fueled Boiler - Vermont College Installs 4000-Ton Biomass Plant

·         Canada - Burning Questions About Vancouver’s New Garbage Incinerator

·         Ode to a Wood Stove “…But other than hydroelectric, it’s the ultimate renewable fuel, yes?”

·         Pentagon Drops Opposition to Big Oregon Wind Farm

• Too Much Wind Power?
• Blown Away: Residents, Officials Look at North Dakota’s Wind Industry
• War against a Wind-Rich Super Grid
• Atop the Ocean, a Sea of Untapped Energy
• Where Wind Power Is Blowing Away Profits - A surplus in Germany forces utilities to pay customers to use it
• California - The Conversation: State in Retreat on Green Energy?
• Save Water, Energy, Money
• Canada - Watchdog Zaps Ontario’s Conservation Efforts
• App Can Help Fine-Tune Your Electricity Usage
• 1950s Home Is Remodeled to Need No Grid Electricity
• Twelve Experts to Review UN Climate Panel’s Work
• The Lure of Carbon Capture
• Lacey Grand Prix Racers Are All Charged Up About Energy Fair
• Environmental Certification Becoming Increasingly Crowded & Contested Field
• Incentives Help With New Ecoroofs in Portland
• Green Graduation: Gowns Now Recycle or Biodegrade
• CenturyTel Deal with Qwest Could Hit Charities, Telecoms
• FCC Chairman Expected to Leave Broadband Services Deregulated
• Seattle Times Op/Ed - FCC Should Focus on Spurring Investment, Not More Regulation
• Shelton City Commission (Expected) to Make a Decision on Fire Service Tonight
• Storm brings high winds, outages to Western Washington
• North of Shelton - Missing Lake Roesiger Man’s Plane Finally Found in Mason County
• Oregon - Hunters Seeing Red over Being Told to Wear Orange
• Warning: Don’t Press 90# on Your Phone

WORD OF THE DAY

Schmiergeld • \SHMEER-geld\ • noun - Bribe; payola; bribe money; secret commission

The small mount of gold coins lay on the rough-hewn table, the glow of the precious offering casting a ghastly yellow light over the face of the corpulent, small-town mayor. The messenger shifted nervously back and forth on his ill-shod shoes, wondering if the shmiergeld being callously offered to the local official would allow his employer to build the new-fangled flaming moat around the crumbling, walled town.

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

Jefferson PUD May Make Milestone Decision on Electricity Monday (Peninsula Daily News, Port Angeles, WA)

http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/article/20100502/news/305029989

Moody’s Investor Service Upgrades Mason County PUD No. 3 Bond Rating by Two Classification Levels (Mason County PUD No. 3)

http://www.masonpud3.org/Newsdisplay.aspx?NewsID=719

Site Selected for New Oregon Trail Electric Cooperative’s La Grande Facility (Electric Energy Online)

http://www.electricenergyonline.com/?page=show_news&rss=1&id=132811

Oregon - 13 year old Sandy Boy Accused of Arson, Cutting Power Poles & Felling Trees onto US 26 (The Oregonian, Portland)

http://www.oregonlive.com/clackamascounty/index.ssf/2010/04/sandy_boy_13_accused_of_arson.html

Cowlitz County - CAP Funds Available for Help with Utility Bills (Longview Daily News, WA)

http://www.tdn.com/news/local/article_15fa3d70-54b2-11df-a551-001cc4c002e0.html

Congdon Announces Re-Election Bid for PUD Seat (Wenatchee World, WA)

http://www.wenatcheeworld.com/news/2010/apr/30/congdon-announces-re-election-bid-for-pud-seat/

Morse to Vie for Chelan PUD Board (Wenatchee World, WA)

http://www.wenatcheeworld.com/news/2010/may/01/morse-to-vie-for-chelan-pud-board/

Former California Power Authority manager sent to prison (Central Valley Business Times, CA)

http://www.centralvalleybusinesstimes.com/stories/001/?ID=15075

Regulating Small Hydro - New incentives have led to a number of proposals to build small hydropower projects in the US (Renewable Energy World)

http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2010/04/regulating-small-hydro?cmpid=rss

Texas Public Utility Commission: Those Smart Meters Are Fine. Really. (Dallas Morning News, TX)

http://energyandenvironmentblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2010/04/puc-those-smart-meters-are-fin.html

Southwest Power Pool - A New Cost-Sharing Plan for Transmitting More Renewable Energy (NY Times)

http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2010/05/03/03climatewire-a-new-cost-sharing-plan-for-transmitting-mor-90961.html

Germany - Man Steals Electricity With Meat Hook (Reuters)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100427/od_nm/us_germany_meathook_odd

FISH & WILDLIFE

Next Two Weeks Key in Determining if Upriver Spring Chinook Run a Record Maker (Columbia Basin Bulletin)

http://www.cbbulletin.com/384727.aspx

2010 Sea Lion Salmon Predation Breaking Records; Large Number of Newcomers (Columbia Basin Bulletin)

http://www.cbbulletin.com/384730.aspx

Portland General Electric, Warm Springs Tribes’ Deschutes Salmon Passage Project Finalist for Electric Industry’s Top Honor (Columbia Basin Bulletin)

http://www.cbbulletin.com/384728.aspx

A Murky Picture as Seafood Industry Eyes Gulf Coast Oil Slick (Associated Press)

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2011767293_apusoilspillseafood.html?syndication=rss

At Nearly 30 Pounds, Montana Pike Could be World Record (Spokesman-Review, Spokane, WA)

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2010/may/01/montana-pike-could-be-world-record/

WATER & THE ENVIRONMENT

Sewage Fix Hard on City of Snohomish - The city’s treatment plant isn’t meeting standards, but the options for fixes are complicated & costly (Everett Herald, WA)

http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20100502/NEWS01/705029867/0/news01

California - April Rain Pushes Snowpack to 143% of Normal (SF Chronicle)

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/05/01/MNIR1D7N12.DTL&feed=rss.news

RENEWABLE/ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

Mason County Biomass Project Generating Controversy - Critics ask – If plant pollutes the air, how can it be green? (Olympian, WA)

http://www.theolympian.com/2010/05/02/1225448/mason-biomass-project-generating.html

Wisconsin Biomass Plant - Critics Call Paper Gift ‘A Bribe’ (Wausau Daily Herald, WI)

http://www.wausaudailyherald.com/article/20100503/CWS03/305030124/-1/WDH03/Critics-call-paper-gift-a-bribe

Wood-Fueled Boiler - Vermont College Installs 4000-Ton Biomass Plant (Renewable Energy World)

http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2010/05/vermont-college-installs-4000-ton-biomass-plant

Canada - Burning Questions About Vancouver’s New Garbage Incinerator (Abbotsford News, BC)

http://www.bclocalnews.com/news/92552384.html

Ode to a Wood Stove “…But other than hydroelectric, it’s the ultimate renewable fuel, yes?” (Crosscut Seattle)

http://crosscut.com/blog/crosscut/19129/Ode-to-a-wood-stove/

Pentagon Drops Opposition to Big Oregon Wind Farm (The Oregonian, Portland)

http://www.oregonlive.com/environment/index.ssf/2010/04/air_forces_drops_opposition_to.html

Too Much Wind Power? (Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal)

http://kpbj.com/business_weekly/2010-05-03/too_much_wind_power

Blown Away: Residents, Officials Look at North Dakota’s Wind Industry (Bismarck Tribune, ND)

http://www.bismarcktribune.com/news/the-changing-landscape/article_166c8668-5661-11df-97d1-001cc4c03286.html

War against a Wind-Rich Super Grid (NY Times)

http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/30/alliance-against-a-wind-rich-grid-2/?partner=rss&emc=rss

Atop the Ocean, a Sea of Untapped Energy (NY Times)

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/02/nyregion/02about.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

Where Wind Power Is Blowing Away Profits - A surplus in Germany forces utilities to pay customers to use it (Bloomberg News)

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/10_19/b4177022147138.htm

California - The Conversation: State in Retreat on Green Energy? (Sacramento Bee, CA)

http://www.sacbee.com/2010/05/02/2719016/the-conversation-state-in-retreat.html

CONSERVATION & EFFICIENCY

Save Water, Energy, Money (Wenatchee World, WA)

http://www.wenatcheeworld.com/news/2010/may/03/save-water-energy-money/

Canada - Watchdog Zaps Ontario’s Conservation Efforts: says preoccupation with saving electricity is undermining other energy conservation efforts (Toronto Star, Ontario)

http://www.thestar.com/news/sciencetech/environment/article/803712--watchdog-zaps-ontario-s-conservation-efforts

App Can Help Fine-Tune Your Electricity Usage (Boston Globe, MA)

http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2010/05/03/app_can_help_fine_tune_your_electricity_usage/

1950s Home Is Remodeled to Need No Grid Electricity (USA Today)

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/greenhouse/post/2010/04/1950s-los-angeles-home-is-remodeled-so-it-requires-no-grid-power/1

CLIMATE CHANGE SEQUESTRATION VAULT

Twelve Experts to Review UN Climate Panel’s Work (NY Times)

http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/03/12-experts-to-review-u-n-climate-panels-work/?partner=rss&emc=rss

The Lure of Carbon Capture (NY Times)

http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/30/the-lure-of-carbon-capture/?partner=rss&emc=rss

BARREL O’ GREEN POTPOURRI

Lacey Grand Prix Racers Are All Charged Up About Energy Fair (Seattle Times)

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2011764594_grandprixlacey03m.html?syndication=rss

Environmental Certification Becoming Increasingly Crowded & Contested Field (Washington Post)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/02/AR2010050203005.html?wprss=rss_business

Incentives Help With New Ecoroofs in Portland (The Oregonian, Portland)

http://blog.oregonlive.com/pdxgreen/2010/04/incentives_help_with_new_ecoro.html

Green Graduation: Gowns Now Recycle or Biodegrade (Associated Press)

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2011761218_apusgreengraduationgowns.html?syndication=rss

TECHNOLOGY & TELECOMMUNICATIONS

CenturyTel Deal with Qwest Could Hit Charities, Telecoms (Phoenix Business Journal)

http://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/stories/2010/05/03/story10.html

FCC Chairman Expected to Leave Broadband Services Deregulated (Seattle Times)

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2011764187_broadband03.html?syndication=rss

Seattle Times Op/Ed - FCC Should Focus on Spurring Investment, Not More Regulation

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2011748847_guest03haney.html?syndication=rss

POLITICS & GOVERNANCE

Shelton City Commission (Expected) to Make a Decision on Fire Service Tonight (KMAS Radio, Shelton, WA)

http://masoncountydailynews.net/news/2019-shelton-city-commission-to-make-a-decision-on-fire-service-tonight

GENERAL NEWS

Storm brings high winds, outages to Western Washington (KING-TV, Seattle)

http://www.king5.com/news/local/Spring-storm-brings-strong-winds-to-Western-Wash-92665469.html

North of Shelton - Missing Lake Roesiger Man’s Plane Finally Found in Mason County (Everett Herald, WA)

http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20100502/NEWS01/705029873/-1/rss02

Oregon - Hunters Seeing Red over Being Told to Wear Orange (Oregon Public Broadcasting)

http://news.opb.org/article/7241-hunters-seeing-red-over-being-told-wear-orange/

Warning: Don’t Press 90# on Your Phone (KONP Radio, Port Angeles)

http://www.konp.com/local/5737

DIVERSIONS

Parents Going High Tech to Avoid Kid Ears

http://www.kirotv.com/family/23321238/detail.html

British Tabloid Finds Life on Mars. NASA Disagrees.

http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2010/0502/British-tabloid-finds-life-on-Mars.-NASA-disagrees

Buzz off! Thousands of bees cling to Michigan SUV

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100430/ap_on_fe_st/us_odd_clingy_bees

Cleaners Paint over Priceless Graffiti Art

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100428/od_nm/us_australia_banksy

SONG OF THE DAY

David Bowie - Life on Mars?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v--IqqusnNQ