The Energy News Digest: 03/31/11

Thursday, March 31, 2011

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

Heavy Rain Causing Western Washington Flooding Concerns (KING-TV, Seattle)

http://www.king5.com/news/local/Heavy-rain--118983289.html

Lewis County PUD’s Cowlitz Falls Dam Repairs Near Completion (KELA Radio, Centralia, WA)

http://www.kelaam.com/pages/localnews?Cowlitz-Falls-Dam-repairs-near-completio=1&blockID=494554&feedID=410

Chelan, Douglas, Grant PUDs - Feds Award Local Agencies for Salmon Conservation (Wenatchee World, WA)

http://www.wenatcheeworld.com/news/2011/mar/30/feds-award-local-agencies-for-salmon-conservation/

Japan: PNNL Employees Helping with Nuclear Crisis (Tri-City Herald, Wa)

http://www.tri-cityherald.com/2011/03/30/1429748/japan-pnnl-employees-helping-with.html

Google High-Speed Internet Coming to Kansas City. Missouri? No, Kansas! (Christian Science Monitor)

http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/new-economy/2011/0330/Google-high-speed-Internet-coming-to-Kansas-City.-Missouri-No-Kansas

NEWS HIGHLIGHTS (Details Below)

· Lewis County PUD’s Cowlitz Falls Dam Repairs Near Completion (

· Bonneville Power Administration Chief Outlines Rate Hike That Would Boost Oregon Trail Electric Cooperative Bills

· Mason County PUD 3 Authorizes Senior Option to Purchase

· State of Oregon Tells Coos County Reconsider Liquefied Natural Gas Pipeline

· Natural Gas Prices Rise on Obama, Colder Weather

· Owner: No Buyer for Vermont Yankee Nuclear Plant

· Kansas - Judge Throws Hitch at Sunflower Coal-Fired Power Plant, Groups Say

· Overall Compensation of Pacific Gas & Electric Execs Declines Following a Lousy Year

· Japan: PNNL Employees Helping with Nuclear Crisis

· State Health Department Assures Milk is Safe after Radiation Detected

· Nuclear Regulatory Commission - Three US Nuclear Plants Need Closer Review

· As Nuclear Waste Sits Idle, Federal Payouts to Exelon Mount

· Chelan, Douglas, Grant PUDs - Feds Award Local Agencies for Salmon Conservation

· Over Proposed Alaska Mine - Chefs Fight for Salmon in Washington DC

· Hooking Up to New Belfair Sewer Will Cost at Least $10,000

· Oregon’s Snowpack Makes Impressive Six-Week Gain, Boosting Water Supply Outlook

· Tidal Power: Another Blessing from Puget Sound?

· Geothermal Power Growing Despite Economic Chill

· Arteries of Power: How Solar Energy Could Reshape the West

· Smaller, Cheaper, Faster: Does Moore’s Law Apply to Solar Cells?

· See the Snohomish PUD Solar Express

· Google’s $5 Billion Wind-Power Bid Draws Opposition on Return Guarantee

· Flicker of Hope for the Wind Turbine Victims - The misery of shadow flicker

· Nebraska Public Power District Evaluating Biomass

· Vermont Governor Touts Incentives to Get Residents to Switch from Oil to Wood Pellet Heat

· Efficiency Gets Lift from Political Efforts in Oregon

· Puget Sound Energy Providing Free Home Energy Evaluations

· Clark Public Utilities Energy Adviser: Pros, Cons of ‘Tankless’ Gas Water Heaters

· Tapping the Earth for Energy Savings Year-Round

· Diet May Reduce Farm Flatulence

· Clean Energy Investment Hit Record $243 Million in 2010

· Got Green Makes Stimulus Work

· Paul Allen Goes Public with Hard Feelings towards Bill Gates

· Microsoft to File Antitrust Complaint against Google

· Cell Tower Opponent Declares End to Palo Alto’s Free Internet Connection

· Google High-Speed Internet Coming to Kansas City. Missouri? No, Kansas!

· Sorry Spokane, Google Chooses Kansas City

· Google Passes over Portland (And 1,100 Others), Picks Kansas City, Kansas, for Its Fiber-to-the-Home Project

· Parsing the Announcement - What Google’s Fiber Optic Decision Means for Topeka

· Now THIS is PR Spin - Utah Cities Welcome Kansas City to Benefits of Fiber Optic Broadband

· Heavy Rain Causing Western Washington Flooding Concerns

· Japan’s Tsunami Debris Headed for West Coast

· Drivers Start to Change Habits with $4 per Gallon Gas

· Lawsuit Filed over Olympia Brewery

· Seattle Third Most Miserable City in US

· Portland is America’s #2 Miserable City, So Says a Recent Ranking

WORD OF THE DAY

Osculate • \OSS-kyuh-late\ • Verb – Kiss

Here’s a tip, folks: never ask if someone will osculate on the first date.

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

Lewis County PUD’s Cowlitz Falls Dam Repairs Near Completion (KELA Radio, Centralia, WA)

http://www.kelaam.com/pages/localnews?Cowlitz-Falls-Dam-repairs-near-completio=1&blockID=494554&feedID=410

Bonneville Power Administration Chief Outlines Rate Hike That Would Boost Oregon Trail Electric Cooperative Bills (Baker City Herald, OR)

http://www.bakercityherald.com/Local-News/BPA-chief-outlines-rate-hike-that-would-boost-OTEC-billsBPA-chief-outlines-rate-hike-that-would-boos

Mason County PUD 3 Authorizes Senior Option to Purchase (KMAS Radio, Shelton, WA)

http://www.masoncountydailynews.com/news/news-page/3624-pud-3-authorizes-senior-option-to-purchase

State of Oregon Tells Coos County Reconsider Liquefied Natural Gas Pipeline (Associated Press)

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2011/03/30/state/n111259D20.DTL

Natural Gas Prices Rise on Obama, Colder Weather (Associated Press)

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2011/03/30/financial/f134607D69.DTL

Owner: No Buyer for Vermont Yankee Nuclear Plant (Associated Press)

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2014642119_apusvermontyankee.html

Kansas - Judge Throws Hitch at Sunflower Coal-Fired Power Plant, Groups Say (Kansas City Star, MO)

http://www.kansascity.com/2011/03/31/2765835/judge-throws-hitch-at-sunflower.html

Overall Compensation of Pacific Gas & Electric Execs Declines Following a Lousy Year (San Jose Mercury News, CA)

http://www.mercurynews.com/rss/ci_17739831

NUCLEAR SCIENCE READING ROOM

Japan: PNNL Employees Helping with Nuclear Crisis (Tri-City Herald, Wa)

http://www.tri-cityherald.com/2011/03/30/1429748/japan-pnnl-employees-helping-with.html

State Health Department Assures Milk is Safe after Radiation Detected (KING-TV, Seattle)

http://www.king5.com/news/local/Sec-of-Health-assures-public-WA-milk-is-safe-after-radiation--118965269.html

Nuclear Regulatory Commission - Three US Nuclear Plants Need Closer Review (Associated Press)

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2014647910_apusnuclearplantssafety.html

As Nuclear Waste Sits Idle, Federal Payouts to Exelon Mount - Government has paid out tens of millions of dollars after not living up to promise to store spent fuel (Chicago Tribune, IL)

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-0331-nuclear-fees-20110330,0,7856218.story

FISH & WILDLIFE

Chelan, Douglas, Grant PUDs - Feds Award Local Agencies for Salmon Conservation (Wenatchee World, WA)

http://www.wenatcheeworld.com/news/2011/mar/30/feds-award-local-agencies-for-salmon-conservation/

Over Proposed Alaska Mine - Chefs Fight for Salmon in Washington DC (KIRO-TV, Seattle)

http://www.mynorthwest.com/?nid=11&sid=454686

WATER & THE ENVIRONMENT

Hooking Up to New Belfair Sewer Will Cost at Least $10,000 (Kitsap Sun, Bremerton, WA)

http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2011/mar/30/hooking-up-to-new-belfair-sewer-will-cost-at/

Oregon’s Snowpack Makes Impressive Six-Week Gain, Boosting Water Supply Outlook (Oregonian, Portland)

http://www.oregonlive.com/weather/index.ssf/2011/03/oregons_snowpack_makes_impress.html

RENEWABLE/ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

Tidal Power: Another Blessing from Puget Sound? (Crosscut Seattle)

http://crosscut.com/2011/03/31/energy-utilities/20695/Tidal-power:-another-blessing-from-Puget-Sound-/

Geothermal Power Growing Despite Economic Chill (Oregon Public Radio)

http://news.opb.org/article/94384-geothermal-power-growing-despite-economic-chill/

Arteries of Power: How Solar Energy Could Reshape the West “…Trade-offs will have to be made…” (The Atlantic)

http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2011/03/arteries-of-power-how-solar-energy-could-reshape-the-west/73218/

Smaller, Cheaper, Faster: Does Moore’s Law Apply to Solar Cells? (Scientific American)

http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=smaller-cheaper-faster-does-moores-2011-03-15

See the Snohomish PUD Solar Express (Edmonds Beacon, WA)

http://www.edmondsbeacon.com/news/article.exm/2011-03-31_see_the_pud_solar_express

Google’s $5 Billion Wind-Power Bid Draws Opposition on Return Guarantee (Bloomberg News)

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-30/google-s-5-billion-wind-power-bid-draws-opposition-on-return-guarantee.html

Flicker of Hope for the Wind Turbine Victims - The misery of shadow flicker, which blights the lives of people living near some wind turbines, could soon be over. (The Telegraph, UK)

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/8385809/Flicker-of-hope-for-the-wind-turbine-victims.html

Nebraska Public Power District Evaluating Biomass (Biomass Magazine)

http://biomassmagazine.com/articles/5398/nebraska-public-power-district-evaluating-biomass/

Vermont Governor Touts Incentives to Get Residents to Switch from Oil to Wood Pellet Heat (Associated Press)

http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/e3a0aa5262a548f89a34dbee73934baf/VT--Switching-From-Oil/

CONSERVATION & EFFICIENCY

Efficiency Gets Lift from Political Efforts in Oregon (Sustainable Business Oregon)

http://sustainablebusinessoregon.com/articles/2011/03/efficiency-gets-lift-from-political.html

Puget Sound Energy Providing Free Home Energy Evaluations (Renew Grid)

http://www.renewgridmag.com/e107_plugins/content/content.php?content.6552

Clark Public Utilities Energy Adviser: Pros, Cons of ‘Tankless’ Gas Water Heaters (Vancouver Columbian, WA)

http://www.columbian.com/news/2011/mar/31/pros-cons-of-tankless-gas-water-heaters/

Tapping the Earth for Energy Savings Year-Round (National Public Radio)

http://www.npr.org/2011/03/30/134602533/tapping-the-earth-for-energy-savings-year-round?ft=1&f=2

CLIMATE CHANGE SEQUESTRATION VAULT

Diet May Reduce Farm Flatulence (Newmarket Journal, UK)

http://www.newmarketjournal.co.uk/news/national/diet_may_reduce_farm_flatulence_1_2545718

BARREL O’ GREEN POTPOURRI

Clean Energy Investment Hit Record $243 Million in 2010 (Denver Business Journal)

http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/news/2011/03/29/clean-energy-investment-hit-record.html

Got Green Makes Stimulus Work (Real Change News)

http://www.realchangenews.org/index.php/site/archives/5442/

TECHNOLOGY & TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Paul Allen Goes Public with Hard Feelings towards Bill Gates (Seattle Times)

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2014643290_paulallen31.html

Microsoft to File Antitrust Complaint against Google (CNET News)

http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-20049062-75.html?tag=nl.e498

Cell Tower Opponent Declares End to Palo Alto’s Free Internet Connection (San Jose Mercury News, CA)

http://www.mercurynews.com/rss/ci_17740552

GAGGLE O’ GOOGLE STORIES

Google High-Speed Internet Coming to Kansas City. Missouri? No, Kansas! (Christian Science Monitor)

http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/new-economy/2011/0330/Google-high-speed-Internet-coming-to-Kansas-City.-Missouri-No-Kansas

Sorry Spokane, Google Chooses Kansas City (Spokesman Review, Spokane, WA)

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2011/mar/30/sorry-spokane-google-chooses-kansas-city/

Google Passes over Portland (And 1,100 Others), Picks Kansas City, Kansas, for Its Fiber-to-the-Home Project (Associated Press)

http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2011/03/google_passes_over_portland_pi.html

Parsing the Announcement - What Google’s Fiber Optic Decision Means Ffr Topeka (KTKA-TV, Topeka, KS)

http://www.ktka.com/news/2011/mar/30/what-googles-fiber-optic-decision-means-topeka/

Now THIS is PR Spin - Utah Cities Welcome Kansas City to Benefits of Fiber Optic Broadband: UTOPIA Statement on Google Investment in Kansas City Fiber Network (Sys-Con Media)

http://www.sys-con.com/node/1774530

GENERAL NEWS

Heavy Rain Causing Western Washington Flooding Concerns (KING-TV, Seattle)

http://www.king5.com/news/local/Heavy-rain--118983289.html

Japan’s Tsunami Debris Headed for West Coast (Associated Press)

http://www.theolympian.com/2011/03/29/1596614/japans-tsunami-debris-headed-for.html

Drivers Start to Change Habits with $4 per Gallon Gas (KING-TV, Seattle)

http://www.king5.com/news/local/4-dollar-Gas--118883774.html

Lawsuit Filed over Olympia Brewery - Brewhouse Owner Wants Out of Additional Purchase (Olympian, WA)

http://www.theolympian.com/2011/03/30/1598596/brewhouse-owner-sues-claiming.html

Seattle Third Most Miserable City in US (KIRO-TV, Seattle)

http://www.mynorthwest.com/?nid=11&sid=454392