Energy News Digest for August 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

Smoke from Wildfires Spreads Across State - Air Expected to Clear Later This Week (Associated Press)

http://www.theolympian.com/2010/08/03/1323870/smoke-from-wildfires-spreads-across.html

For Biomass Plant - ADAGE Option to Lease Tops Port of Shelton Commission Meeting Tuesday (KMAS Radio, Shelton, WA)

http://masoncountydailynews.net/news/2868-adage-option-to-lease-tops-port-of-shelton-commission-meeting-tuesday

Mason PUD 3 Signs Contract for Construction of Johns Prairie Operations Center (Mason County PUD No. 3)

http://www.masonpud3.org/Newsdisplay.aspx?NewsID=753

Pend Oreille PUD sets transmission line project - $1.5 million contract let for construction; poles, other items cost $1.9 million more (Spokane Journal of Business)

http://www.spokanejournal.com/article.php?id=6163

Scientists: Fishery Closures Needed for Sea Lions (Associated Press)

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2012516008_apakendangeredsealions.html

NEWS HIGHLIGHTS (Details Below)

·         BPA Offers Reward for Information Leading to Vandals on Central Oregon Coast

·         Mason PUD 3 Signs Contract for Construction of Johns Prairie Operations Center

·         Pend Oreille PUD sets transmission line project

·         Op/Ed - Washington State’s Clean-Energy-Strategy Panel Missing the ‘Clean’

·         Independent Power Advocacy Group Calls British Columbia Energy Export Figures “Misleading”

·         For Clean Power & Not-So, New Midwest Lines

·         Duke Energy Posts Second Quarter Loss After Charge

·         Kansas Department of Health & Environment Fires Up Coal Debate

·         New York - A Hot Month, & a Record for Power Demand

·         New York – Attorney General Candidate Urges Probe of Electric Rates

·         Scientists: Fishery Closures Needed for Sea Lions

·         Port Angeles Angler Pulls in Bull Trout Fine

·         Deadline Near in Push to Save Whidbey Forest

·         For Biomass Plant - ADAGE Option to Lease Tops Port of Shelton Commission Meeting Tuesday

·         Bonanza or Blight? Oregon’s Wind Debate

·         BNSF Rail Proposes Wind Energy Hub in Pasco

·         Northwest Looks to Europe for Ideas on Wind

·         Bellingham Wind Company Receives Grant for Community Wind Turbine

·         TransCanada to Test Legality of Massachusetts Cape Wind Pact

·         Canada - Wind Power Potential Only Possible With Upgrades

·         Congressman Jay Inslee Proposes Shared Fee on Electric Bills for Clean Energy

·         Bill Seeks to Cut Red Tape for Small Hydropower Projects

·         Akeida Capital Finances Biomass Plant in Lufkin, Texas - First Biomass Facility in Texas

·         Richland Gets Kudos for Adopting Green Building Code

·         Top Five Energy Savings Myths Debunked by Reliant’s Energy Expert

·         Study Claims Conventional Agriculture Limits Greenhouse Gas

·         What Makes Jobs ‘Green,’ & How Many Are There?

·         All’s Not Fair When it Comes to Energy Subsidies

·         Op/Ed – General Motor’s Electric Lemon

·         Facebook Doubles Size of Prineville Data Center

·         Facebook Doubles Size of Data Center Before It’s Even Built

·         American Tower Posts Jump in Second Quarter Earnings

·         Chattanooga’s Fiber Network (EFB) Gets Faster

·         Twitter: 20 Billion Tweets & Counting

·         Facebook, Games Eat Up Third of US Web Time

·         Allyn Fire District Asks Voters to Approve Annexing Shelton

·         Mason County to Cut $400,000 from Current Budget; Looking at More Cuts Next Year

·         No Quick Fix for State Budget

·         Second Washington State Agency Shutdown Set for Friday

·         Washington State Employment Security Commissioner Leaving Gregoire Administration

·         Smoke from Wildfires Spreads Across State - Air Expected to Clear Later This Week

·         Northwest Fire Season Means Poor Air Quality

·         After Hours Opportunity to Look at Maps Showing Street Light to be Turned off in Shelton

·         Olympia Breaks Ground on $3.9 Million Fire Training Center

·         Five Washington Small Businesses Split Nearly $5 Million in DOE Grants

·         Foreign Issues Help State Farmers

WORD OF THE DAY

Synchronicity • \sin-kron-IS-it-tee\ • noun - 1: the quality or fact of being synchronous 2: the coincidental occurrence of events and especially psychic events that seem related but are not explained by conventional mechanisms of causality

The ice skaters began their routines at separate ends of the ice rink. The pair was hoping that their sharply differing skating styles would jolt the judges into sitting up and taking notices of their dissonance, the lazy loops and jumps were quite soothing in their odd synchronicity. So much so that at least two-thirds of the judges slipped off to sleep, their snoring creating an odd, harmonious background to the performance music.

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

BPA Offers Reward for Information Leading to Vandals on Central Oregon Coast (Oregonian, Portland)

http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/2010/07/bpa_offers_reward_for_information_leading_to_vandals_on_central_oregon_coast.html

Mason PUD 3 Signs Contract for Construction of Johns Prairie Operations Center (Mason County PUD No. 3)

http://www.masonpud3.org/Newsdisplay.aspx?NewsID=753

Pend Oreille PUD sets transmission line project - $1.5 million contract let for construction; poles, other items cost $1.9 million more (Spokane Journal of Business)

http://www.spokanejournal.com/article.php?id=6163

Op/Ed - Washington State’s Clean-Energy-Strategy Panel Missing the ‘Clean’ (Seattle Times)

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2012484824_guest30plaza.html

Independent Power Advocacy Group Calls British Columbia Energy Export Figures “Misleading” “…lumping the U.S.-generated electricity the province is entitled to under the Columbia River Treaty & calling it an export..” (BIV Business Today)

http://www.bivinteractive.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2847&Itemid=32

For Clean Power & Not-So, New Midwest Lines (NY Times)

http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/02/for-clean-power-and-not-so-new-midwest-lines/

Duke Energy Posts Second Quarter Loss After Charge (Associated Press)

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2012517547_apusearnsdukeenergy.html

Kansas Department of Health & Environment Fires Up Coal Debate (Topeka Capitol-Journal, KS)

http://cjonline.com/news/2010-08-02/kdhe_fires_up_coal_debate

New York - A Hot Month, & a Record for Power Demand (NY Times)

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/02/a-hot-month-but-no-record-for-power-demand/

New York – Attorney General Candidate Urges Probe of Electric Rates; says it costs consumers $2.2 billion a year too much (Associated Press)

http://www.lohud.com/article/20100802/NEWS02/8020352/-1/newsfront/AG-candidate-Brodsky-urges-probe-of-electric-rates

FISH & WILDLIFE

Scientists: Fishery Closures Needed for Sea Lions (Associated Press)

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2012516008_apakendangeredsealions.html

Port Angeles Angler Pulls in Bull Trout Fine (Associated Press)

http://www.kndu.com/global/story.asp?s=12911644

WATER & THE ENVIRONMENT

Deadline Near in Push to Save Whidbey Forest (Seattle Times)

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2012516656_whidbey03m.html?syndication=rss

RENEWABLE/ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

For Biomass Plant - ADAGE Option to Lease Tops Port of Shelton Commission Meeting Tuesday (KMAS Radio, Shelton, WA)

http://masoncountydailynews.net/news/2868-adage-option-to-lease-tops-port-of-shelton-commission-meeting-tuesday

Bonanza or Blight? Oregon’s Wind Debate (NY Times)

http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/02/bonanza-or-blight-oregons-wind-debate/

BNSF Rail Proposes Wind Energy Hub in Pasco (Tri-City Herald, WA)

http://www.tri-cityherald.com/2010/08/01/1114360/bnsf-proposes-wind-energy-hub.html

Northwest Looks to Europe for Ideas on Wind (Sustainable Business Oregon)

http://sustainablebusinessoregon.com/articles/2010/08/northwest_looks_to_europe_for_ideas_on_wind.html

Bellingham Wind Company Receives Grant for Community Wind Turbine (Bellingham Herald, WA)

http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2010/07/29/1547754/bellingham-wind-company-receives.html

TransCanada to Test Legality of Massachusetts Cape Wind Pact (Boston Herald, MA

http://bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1271103&position=0

Canada - Wind Power Potential Only Possible With Upgrades (New Brunswick Business Journal)

http://nbbusinessjournal.canadaeast.com/journal/article/1160403

Congressman Jay Inslee Proposes Shared Fee on Electric Bills for Clean Energy (Solve Climate)

http://solveclimate.com/blog/20100729/rep-inslee-proposes-shared-fee-electric-bills-clean-energy

Bill Seeks to Cut Red Tape for Small Hydropower Projects (Brighter Energy)

http://www.brighterenergy.org/14427/news/marine-hydro/bill-seeks-to-cut-red-tape-for-small-conduit-hydropower-projects/

Akeida Capital Finances Biomass Plant in Lufkin, Texas - First Biomass Facility in Texas (Yahoo! Finance)

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Akeida-Capital-Finances-bw-1100236062.html?x=0&.v=1

CONSERVATION & EFFICIENCY

Richland Gets Kudos for Adopting Green Building Code (Tri-City Herald, WA)

http://www.tri-cityherald.com/2010/08/02/1115650/environment-richland-gets-kudos.html

Top Five Energy Savings Myths Debunked by Reliant’s Energy Expert (Market Watch – Let the flame wars begin!)

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/top-five-energy-savings-myths-debunked-by-reliants-energy-expert-2010-07-30

CLIMATE CHANGE SEQUESTRATION VAULT

Study Claims Conventional Agriculture Limits Greenhouse Gas (Associated Press)

http://www.tri-cityherald.com/2010/08/02/1115123/study-claims-conventional-ag-limits.html

BARREL O’ GREEN POTPOURRI

What Makes Jobs ‘Green,’ & How Many Are There? (WCCO-TV, Minneapolis, MN)

http://wcco.com/local/green.jobs.energy.2.1839003.html

All’s Not Fair When it Comes to Energy Subsidies (NY Times)

http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/02/alls-not-fair-when-it-comes-to-energy-subsidies/

Op/Ed – General Motor’s Electric Lemon (NY Times)

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/30/opinion/30neidermeyer.html

TECHNOLOGY & TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Facebook Doubles Size of Prineville Data Center (Portland Business Journal)

http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2010/08/02/daily5.html

Facebook Doubles Size of Data Center Before It’s Even Built (GigaOM)

http://gigaom.com/2010/08/02/facebook-doubles-size-of-data-center-before-its-even-built/

American Tower Posts Jump in Second Quarter Earnings (Associated Press)

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/08/03/financial/f080904D92.DTL

Chattanooga’s Fiber Network (EFB) Gets Faster - Now offering 30, 50, 100 & soon 150 Mbps symmetrical tiers (Broadband Reports)

http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Chattanoogas-Fiber-Network-EFB-Gets-Faster-109696

Twitter: 20 Billion Tweets & Counting (Christian Science Monitor)

http://www.csmonitor.com/Innovation/Horizons/2010/0802/Twitter-20-billion-tweets-and-counting

Facebook, Games Eat Up Third of US Web Time (Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal)

http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/stories/2010/08/02/daily2.html

POLITICS & GOVERNANCE

Allyn Fire District Asks Voters to Approve Annexing Shelton (Kitsap Sun, Bremerton, WA)

http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2010/aug/02/allyn-fire-district-asks-voters-to-approve/

Mason County to Cut $400,000 from Current Budget; Looking at More Cuts Next Year (KMAS Radio, Shelton, WA)

http://masoncountydailynews.net/news/2872-mason-county-to-cut-400000-from-current-budget-looking-at-more-cuts-next-year

No Quick Fix for State Budget (News Tribune, Tacoma, WA)

http://www.thenewstribune.com/2010/08/03/1287328/no-quick-fix-for-state-budget.html

Second Washington State Agency Shutdown Set for Friday (Associated Press)

http://www.kndu.com/global/story.asp?s=12914168

Washington State Employment Security Commissioner Leaving Gregoire Administration (Associated Press)

http://www.mynorthwest.com/?nid=11&sid=349970

GENERAL NEWS

Smoke from Wildfires Spreads Across State - Air Expected to Clear Later This Week (Associated Press)

http://www.theolympian.com/2010/08/03/1323870/smoke-from-wildfires-spreads-across.html

Northwest Fire Season Means Poor Air Quality (NW Public Radio)

http://www.nwpr.org/07/HomepageArticles/Article.aspx?n=7613

After Hours Opportunity to Look at Maps Showing Street Light to be Turned off in Shelton (KMAS Radio, Shelton, WA)

http://masoncountydailynews.net/news/2871-after-hours-opportunity-to-look-at-maps-showing-street-light-to-be-turned-off-in-shelton

Olympia Breaks Ground on $3.9 Million Fire Training Center (Olympian, WA)

http://www.theolympian.com/2010/07/30/1320181/city-breaks-ground-on-fire-training.html

Five Washington Small Businesses Split Nearly $5 Million in DOE Grants (Puget Sound Business Journal)

http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2010/08/02/daily10.html

Foreign Issues Help State Farmers (News Tribune, Tacoma, WA)

http://www.thenewstribune.com/2010/08/03/1287365/foreign-issues-help-state-farmers.html

DIVERSIONS

Mitch Miller, Music Executive & TV Host, Dies

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/03/arts/music/03miller.html

Awww, Shoot! Sequim Doesn’t Mean ‘Quiet Waters,’ but Good Hunting Grounds, Klallam Language Expert Says

http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/article/20100803/news/308039990/awww-shoot-sequim-doesnt-mean-quiet-waters-but-good-hunting

Fish Trucks Dump Load 3 Times in Same Yard

http://www.kirotv.com/news/24470557/detail.html

Paintball Course Attracts Unwanted Guests: Bears

http://www.kirotv.com/news/24463838/detail.html

SONG OF THE DAY

The Who - Pinball Wizard

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFrDpx7zLtA