Energy News Digest for July 14, 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

Idaho Falls Mayor: Stable, Long Term Electric Rates Could Soon Be Gone (Local News 8, Idaho Falls, ID)

http://www.localnews8.com/news/24242310/detail.html

Standard and Poor’s Upgrades Mason PUD 3 Bond Rating by Two Classification Levels (Mason County PUD No. 3)

http://www.masonpud3.org/Newsdisplay.aspx?NewsID=748

Clark Public Utilities - Local Utilities Agency Earns Top Marks in Study (Vancouver Columbian, WA)

http://www.columbian.com/news/2010/jul/14/local-utilities-agency-earns-top-marks-study/

Shellfish at Risk: Puget Sound & Hood Canal Becoming Acidified (Seattle Times)

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2012338264_acidification13m.html

Mason County EDC Comes Out In Support of ADAGE Project (KMAS Radio, Shelton, WA)

http://masoncountydailynews.net/news/2701-edc-comes-out-in-support-of-adage-project

NEWS HIGHLIGHTS (Details Below)

·         Idaho Falls Mayor: Stable, Long Term Electric Rates Could Soon Be Gone

·         Idaho Falls Power Needs You to Vote for Keeping Its Rates Low

·         BPA Considers Easterly Route for High-Voltage Line

·         Standard and Poor’s Upgrades Mason PUD 3 Bond Rating by Two Classification Levels

·         Clark Public Utilities - Local Utilities Agency Earns Top Marks in Study

·         Overall Satisfaction among Residential Electric Utility Customers Increases

·         Canada - BC Hydro Faces Severe Drought on Peace River

·         Mason PUD 3 Commission Cancels July 20 Meeting, Rescheduled For July 21

·         $3 Billion Gas Pipeline from Wyoming to Oregon Gets Feds' OK

·         Foes Tell (Ask) Nuclear Regulator to Shutter Vermont Plant

·         Utah Firm Nixes Plan to Import Italian Nuke Waste

·         Top Vermont Utility Lawyer Accused of Plagiarism

·         Alcoa Profit Exceeds Expectations

·         $200 Million for Smart Grid Ideas

·         Federal Energy Bill to Debut as Shadow of Itself

·         Illinois - Vandals Use Chain Saws To Down Power Poles

·         Op/Ed - The Seafood Watch Ratings: Taking a Closer Look at Columbia Salmon

·         Wanted: Salmon, Dead and Wanted: Salmon, Dead and Alive

·         Canada - Fraser River Sockeye Certified Sustainable

·         Dead Carp Washing Up At Spokane-Area Lake

·         Shellfish at Risk: Puget Sound & Hood Canal Becoming Acidified

·         Hoquiam City Council Listens To Pitch from Opponents of Plan for Chehalis River Dams

·         Mason County EDC Comes Out In Support of ADAGE Project

·         Group of Residents Voice Support of ADAGE Project

·         Op/Ed - Biomass Plants Aren't in the Business of Clearing Forests

·         Oregon Wind Project Faces Environmental Scrutiny

·         Vestas Plans to Add 1,000 Workers to Colorado Factories by End of 2011

·         Massachusetts - Wind Power Bill Debated: Would make it easier for wind projects to receive permits

·         Spain Said to Save $1.5 Billion on Wind Power Subsidy Cuts

·         Solar-Powered Wells Displacing Windmills on Western Range

·         Global Geothermal Power Capacity to Exceed 18.4 GigaWatts by 2015

·         Two Kitsap School Districts Get Energy Grants

·         US Agencies Try to Restore Faith in Energy Star Appliance Testing

·         Grants to Promote More Earth-Friendly Air Conditioning

·         Compact Fluorescent Lamps Save Energy but Need to be Disposed of Properly

·         Big Chunk of Greenland Glacier Breaks Off

·         Senate Eyes Bush Plan on Carbon Dioxide

·         Boulder to Invest $12M to Cut Carbon Emissions by 15 Percent

·         Selling a Home with Wood Heat? Oregon Wants Your Old Wood Stove Destroyed

·         Editorial - Timing Is Right to Build Car-Charging Stations along I-5

·         Will ‘Solar Trees’ Sprout in Parking Lots

·         Portland Mayor Sam Adams Says City, Too, Will Ban Plastic Grocery Bags

·         Enviro Groups' Memo Outlines Corporate Welfare Attack on Oil Industry

·         A Green Retreat - Why the Environment Is No Longer a Surefire Political Winner

·         Trying to Stop Cattle Burps from Heating up Planet

·         Qwest Sets Meeting on CenturyLink Deal

·         North Carolina - Municipal Broadband Haters In Dealt a Blow

·         Microsoft Grounds its Azure Cloud With an Enterprise Appliance

·         Google Begins Using Its Planned Fiber Network to Flog Internet Service Providers

·         Hello Chelan! Two Northwest Lake Towns among America's Best

·         Montana - Man Convicted Of Stealing Polson House

·         Mayor Proposes Staggering Bar Closing Times to Cut Nightlife Violence

·         It’s Dangerous, Man - California May Drop Its Official State Rock

·         Inventors of Game - Bid for Trophy Becomes a Test of Iroquois Identity

WORD OF THE DAY

Penultimate • \pih-NULL-tih-met\ • adjective - 1: next to the last 2: of or relating to a penult

The drama that is the turning of dirt for the new Mason County PUD No. 3 operations center is nearing its penultimate stage with today’s bid opening. I can see you shiver with antici……pation.

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

Idaho Falls Mayor: Stable, Long Term Electric Rates Could Soon Be Gone (Local News 8, Idaho Falls, ID)

http://www.localnews8.com/news/24242310/detail.html

Idaho Falls Power Needs You to Vote for Keeping Its Rates Low (KIDK-TV, Idaho Falls, ID)

http://www.kidk.com/news/local/98391154.html

BPA Considers Easterly Route for High-Voltage Line (Vancouver Columbian, WA)

http://www.columbian.com/news/2010/jul/13/bpa-considers-easterly-route-for-high-voltage-line/

Standard and Poor’s Upgrades Mason PUD 3 Bond Rating by Two Classification Levels (Mason County PUD No. 3)

http://www.masonpud3.org/Newsdisplay.aspx?NewsID=748

Clark Public Utilities - Local Utilities Agency Earns Top Marks in Study (Vancouver Columbian, WA)

http://www.columbian.com/news/2010/jul/14/local-utilities-agency-earns-top-marks-study/

Overall Satisfaction among Residential Electric Utility Customers Increases - Clark Public Utilities, Tacoma Power, SMUD score big (Marketwatch)

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/jd-power-and-associates-reports-overall-satisfaction-among-residential-electric-utility-customers-increases-due-to-perceptions-of-fewer-outages-and-lower-bill-amounts-2010-07-14?reflink=MW_news_stmp

Canada - BC Hydro Faces Severe Drought on Peace River: Dry June blamed for $220-million purchase of imported power (Vancouver Sun, BC)

http://www.vancouversun.com/Hydro+faces+severe+drought+Peace+River/3274186/story.html

Mason PUD 3 Commission Cancels July 20 Meeting, Rescheduled For July 21 (Mason County PUD No. 3)

http://www.masonpud3.org/Newsdisplay.aspx?NewsID=747

$3 Billion Gas Pipeline from Wyoming to Oregon Gets Feds' OK (Associated Press)

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2012348016_apwygaspipeline.html

Foes Tell (Ask) Nuclear Regulator to Shutter Vermont Plant (Associated Press)

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2012354089_apusvermontyankeenrc.html

Utah Firm Nixes Plan to Import Italian Nuke Waste (Seattle Times)

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2012353665_apusforeignnuclearwaste.html

Top Vermont Utility Lawyer Accused of Plagiarism (Associated Press)

http://www.boston.com/news/local/vermont/articles/2010/07/13/top_vt_utility_lawyer_accused_of_plagiarism/

Alcoa Profit Exceeds Expectations - Alcoa has cut its work force by 37,000 since late 2008, using a combination of layoffs and divestitures to combat the recession (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA)

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10194/1072321-28.stm

$200 Million for Smart Grid Ideas (NY Times)

http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/13/200-million-for-smart-grid-ideas/

Federal Energy Bill to Debut as Shadow of Itself (USA Today)

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2010-07-13-energy-bill_N.htm

Illinois - Vandals Use Chain Saws To Down Power Poles (The Southern, Carbondale, IL)

http://thesouthern.com/news/local/article_94c97ce8-8ddc-11df-8463-001cc4c03286.html

FISH & WILDLIFE

Op/Ed - The Seafood Watch Ratings: Taking a Closer Look at Columbia Salmon (Oregonian, Portland)

http://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2010/07/the_seafood_watch_ratings_taki.html

Wanted: Salmon, Dead and Wanted: Salmon, Dead and Alive (Idaho State Journal, Pocatello, ID)

http://www.idahostatejournal.com/news/online/article_a45d24f6-8eb9-11df-a3f7-001cc4c03286.html

Canada - Fraser River Sockeye Certified Sustainable: Decision follows objections from local environmental groups (Globe & Mail, Canada)

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/fraser-river-sockeye-certified-sustainable/article1637363/

Dead Carp Washing Up At Spokane-Area Lake (Seattle Times)

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2012341675_deadcarp13.html

WATER & THE ENVIRONMENT

Shellfish at Risk: Puget Sound & Hood Canal Becoming Acidified (Seattle Times)

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2012338264_acidification13m.html

Hoquiam City Council Listens To Pitch from Opponents of Plan for Chehalis River Dams (Aberdeen Daily World, WA)

http://www.thedailyworld.com/articles/2010/07/13/local_news/doc4c3ca8eba7b52890117830.txt

RENEWABLE/ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

Mason County EDC Comes Out In Support of ADAGE Project (KMAS Radio, Shelton, WA)

http://masoncountydailynews.net/news/2701-edc-comes-out-in-support-of-adage-project

Group of Residents Voice Support of ADAGE Project (KMAS Radio, Shelton, WA)

http://masoncountydailynews.net/news/2700-group-of-residents-voice-support-of-adage-project

Op/Ed - Biomass Plants Aren't in the Business of Clearing Forests (Washington Post)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/13/AR2010071306246.html

Oregon Wind Project Faces Environmental Scrutiny (Daily Journal of Commerce, OR)

http://djcoregon.com/news/2010/07/13/oregon-wind-project-faces-environmental-scrutiny/

Vestas Plans to Add 1,000 Workers to Colorado Factories by End of 2011 (Denver Post, CO)
http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_15509008

Massachusetts - Wind Power Bill Debated: Would make it easier for wind projects to receive permits and overcome local opposition (Springfield Republican, MA)

http://www.masslive.com/springfield/republican/index.ssf?/base/news-29/1279092072218080.xml&coll=1

Spain Said to Save $1.5 Billion on Wind Power Subsidy Cuts (Bloomberg BusinessWeek)

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-07-09/spain-said-to-save-1-5-billion-on-wind-power-cuts.html

Solar-Powered Wells Displacing Windmills on Western Range (Associated Press)

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gj4MWwW6R15_E-sQqIvMCNllEb4gD9GUMFGG1

Global Geothermal Power Capacity to Exceed 18.4 GigaWatts by 2015 (Just Don’t Break the Planet – REVE)

http://www.evwind.es/noticias.php?id_not=6475

CONSERVATION & EFFICIENCY

Two Kitsap School Districts Get Energy Grants (Kitsap Sun, Bremerton, WA)

http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2010/jul/12/two-kitsap-school-districts-get-energy-grants/

US Agencies Try to Restore Faith in Energy Star Appliance Testing (Washington Post)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/08/AR2010070806804.html

Grants to Promote More Earth-Friendly Air Conditioning (News Tribune, Tacoma, WA)

http://www.thenewstribune.com/2010/07/13/1261881/grants-to-prmote-more-earth-friendly.html

Compact Fluorescent Lamps Save Energy but Need to be Disposed of Properly (San Jose Mercury News, CA)

http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_15499538

CLIMATE CHANGE SEQUESTRATION VAULT

Big Chunk of Greenland Glacier Breaks Off (USA Today)

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/sciencefair/post/2010/07/big-chunk-of-greeland-glacier-breaks-off/

Senate Eyes Bush Plan on Carbon Dioxide (NY Times)

http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/14/senate-eyes-bush-plan-on-co2/

Boulder to Invest $12M to Cut Carbon Emissions by 15 Percent (Daily Camera, Boulder, CO)

http://www.dailycamera.com/boulder-county-news/ci_15500016

BARREL O’ GREEN POTPOURRI

Selling a Home with Wood Heat? Oregon Wants Your Old Wood Stove Destroyed (Examiner.com)

http://www.examiner.com/x-39974-Eugene-Headlines-Examiner~y2010m7d13-Selling-a-home-with-wood-heat-Oregon-DEQ-wants-your-old-wood-stove-destroyed-after-August1-2010

Editorial - Timing Is Right to Build Car-Charging Stations along I-5 (Longview Daily News, WA)

http://tdn.com/news/opinion/article_08d3d382-8edb-11df-994c-001cc4c002e0.html

Will ‘Solar Trees’ Sprout in Parking Lots? (NY Times)

http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/14/will-solar-trees-sprout-in-parking-lots/

Portland Mayor Sam Adams Says City, Too, Will Ban Plastic Grocery Bags (Oregonian, Portland)

http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2010/07/portland_mayor_sam_adams_says.html

Enviro Groups' Memo Outlines Corporate Welfare Attack on Oil Industry (NY Times)

http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2010/07/12/12greenwire-enviro-groups-memo-outlines-corporate-welfare-41134.html

A Green Retreat - Why the Environment Is No Longer a Surefire Political Winner (Newsweek)

http://www.newsweek-interactive.com/2010/07/12/a-green-retreat.html

Trying to Stop Cattle Burps from Heating up Planet (NY Times)

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/14/science/earth/14australia.html

TECHNOLOGY & TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Qwest Sets Meeting on CenturyLink Deal (Business First of Columbus)

http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2010/07/12/daily11.html

North Carolina - Municipal Broadband Haters In Dealt a Blow (Ars Technica)

http://arstechnica.com/telecom/news/2010/07/north-carolina-kills-moratorium-on-muni-broadband.ars

Microsoft Grounds its Azure Cloud With an Enterprise Appliance (GigaOM)

http://gigaom.com/2010/07/12/microsoft-azure-appliance/

Google Begins Using Its Planned Fiber Network to Flog Internet Service Providers (GigaOM)

http://gigaom.com/2010/07/13/google-begins-using-its-fiber-to-flog-isps/

GENERAL NEWS

Hello Chelan! Two Northwest Lake Towns among America's Best, Says Travel Magazine (KING-TV, Seattle)

http://www.king5.com/news/local/2-Northwest-lake-towns-among-Americas-best-says-travel-magazine-98274509.html

Montana - Man Convicted Of Stealing Polson House (Associated Press)

http://www.examiner.com/a-2724872~Man_convicted_of_stealing_Polson_house.html

Mayor Proposes Staggering Bar Closing Times to Cut Nightlife Violence (KIRO-TV, Seattle – I LOVE this headline…wonder if it was intentional)

http://www.kirotv.com/news/24252886/detail.html

It’s Dangerous, Man - California May Drop Its Official State Rock (NY Times)

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/14/us/14rock.html

Inventors of Game - Bid for Trophy Becomes a Test of Iroquois Identity (NY Times)

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/13/us/13lacrosse.html

DIVERSIONS

Dog Left in Hot Car Honks for Help

http://www.kirotv.com/news/24208310/detail.html

Woman Jailed For Making Threats ... To Herself

http://www.ocregister.com/news/sister-257108-law-manunga.html

Choking on Pork Rinds Lead to Blaine Crash

http://www.kirotv.com/news/24243598/detail.html

Idaho Cops Catch Up With Alleged Condiment Vandal

http://www.examiner.com/a-2724930~Idaho_cops_catch_up_with_alleged_condiment_vandal.html?cid=rss-Idaho_Headlines

SONG OF THE DAY

Kenny Loggins - This Is It

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7-e6Yhu5SU