The Energy News Digest: Energy News Digest for December 5, 2012

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Energy News Digest for December 5, 2012

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

Eugene Water & Electric Board Increases Rates - At A Public Hearing, Board Members Approve Raising The Average Monthly Bill For Customers by $8.75 (Eugene Register-Guard, OR)

http://www.registerguard.com/web/updates/29133969-55/eweb-percent-rate-increases-utility.html.csp

Power Line Opponents Speak Out at Bonneville Power Administration Informal Meeting (Longview Daily News, WA)

http://tdn.com/news/local/power-line-opponents-speak-out-at-informal-meeting/article_3af0a7a6-3eaa-11e2-afa2-001a4bcf887a.html

Editorial - Idaho Salmon: The $9,000 Sockeye? There Is a Better Answer (Idaho Statesman, Boise)

http://www.idahostatesman.com/2012/12/05/2369572/the-9000-sockeye-there-is-a-better.html

Home LEDs Starting to Look More Normal (GigaOM)

http://gigaom.com/cleantech/home-leds-starting-to-look-more-normal/

Mystery: How Much Will Californians Pay for Renewable Energy? (Renewable Energy World)

http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2012/12/mystery-how-much-will-californians-pay-for-renewable-energy?cmpid=rss

NEWS HIGHLIGHTS (Details Below)

Eugene Water & Electric Board Increases Rates - At A Public Hearing, Board Members Approve Raising The Average Monthly Bill For Customers by $8.75
Power Line Opponents Speak Out at Bonneville Power Administration Informal Meeting
Idaho - Black Canyon Dam Project Begins - Adding New Hydroelectric Unit
2013 Budget Forecasts Stronger Bottom Line for Chelan PUD & No Electric Rate Increase
Seagull into Power Line Causes Ballard Power Outage
With a Little Help from Grant PUD - Soap Lake Adorns Town Center With 83-Year-Old Tree
Hundreds Attend Spokane Hearing on Coal Exports
Environmental Group Seeks to Curb Emissions from Existing Power Plants
Could Wood Biomass Help Clean Up Coal-Fired Power Plants?
Mystery Man Pays Georgia Power Bills for More Than a Dozen Customers
Editorial - Idaho Salmon: The $9,000 Sockeye? There Is a Better Answer
Yakima Nation Contests White Salmon River Gas Pipeline Construction in Washington State
Sediment, Debris Clog Equipment at Elwha River Water Treatment Plant
Mystery: How Much Will Californians Pay for Renewable Energy?
Seven Myths about the Wind Production Tax Credit
Can Reforming the Department of Energy Reinvigorate Clean Energy in Obama’s 2nd Term?
Home LEDs Starting to Look More Normal
Final Days for Snohomish PUD Deals on Clothes Washers & Fridge Recycling
New Group Opposes Oregon’s Clean Fuels Plan
Seattle’s Electric Vehicle Paradox
Amazon May Have Big Plans for DuPont
Google Fiber Considers, But Drops Plans to Include Phone Service
Seattle City Attorney Nixes Plan to Give ‘Allowance’ to Gay Employees
Obama Administration’s Fiscal Cliff Proposal Would Limit Tax Value of Municipal Bonds
Wild Olympics Backers Call Clallam Jobs Study ‘Flawed’
New Water Main being Constructed in Shelton
Guilty Plea in McCleary Utility Theft
Five Years After the Grays Harbor Storm - Are We Better Prepared

WORD OF THE DAY

Dundrearies • \DUNN-dreer-eeze\ • Noun - Long flowing sideburns

Bartholomew Hunting-Dance-The-Thames was well known in the upper crust circles as a leader in fashion and grooming for the “Bohemian” set. It wasn’t until after he had died (tragically in a freak cricket match involving the bale somehow getting stuck in his throat, years before the Heimlich maneuver had been invented) that the secret to his impressive dundrearies was discovered. He had tattooed various parts of his face, outlining the intricate shaving necessary for the grooming of beard & sideburns. The discovery was too late for the mortician, who after an impressive shaving job of his own on the dead noble, had no way of covering up the map-like lines in time for the open-casket ceremony in Saint Johns in London.

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

Eugene Water & Electric Board Increases Rates - At A Public Hearing, Board Members Approve Raising The Average Monthly Bill For Customers by $8.75 (Eugene Register-Guard, OR)

http://www.registerguard.com/web/updates/29133969-55/eweb-percent-rate-increases-utility.html.csp

Power Line Opponents Speak Out at Bonneville Power Administration Informal Meeting (Longview Daily News, WA)

http://tdn.com/news/local/power-line-opponents-speak-out-at-informal-meeting/article_3af0a7a6-3eaa-11e2-afa2-001a4bcf887a.html

Idaho - Black Canyon Dam Project Begins - Adding New Hydroelectric Unit (Emmett Messenger-Index, ID)

http://www.messenger-index.com/news/article_3b64d5a6-3e3f-11e2-8a90-001a4bcf887a.html

2013 Budget Forecasts Stronger Bottom Line for Chelan PUD & No Electric Rate Increase (North Central Washington TV)

http://www.ncwtv.com/2013-budget-forecasts-stronger-bottom-line-for-chelan-pud-and-no-electric-rate-increase-5826/

Seagull into Power Line Causes Ballard Power Outage (KING-TV, Seattle)

http://www.king5.com/news/local/More-than-5000-without-power-in-Ballard-182079681.html

With a Little Help from Grant PUD - Soap Lake Adorns Town Center With 83-Year-Old Tree (iFiber One News, Ephrata, WA)

http://www.ifiberone.com/news/grantcounty/soaplake/article_852f817c-3e71-11e2-b103-0019bb30f31a.html

Hundreds Attend Spokane Hearing on Coal Exports (Associated Press)

http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2019831462_apwanorthwestcoalexports.html

Environmental Group Seeks to Curb Emissions from Existing Power Plants (Washington Post)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/environmental-group-seeks-to-curb-emissions-from-existing-power-plants/2012/12/04/c727ce02-3e2d-11e2-ae43-cf491b837f7b_story.html?wprss=rss_national

Could Wood Biomass Help Clean Up Coal-Fired Power Plants? (Midwest Energy News)

http://www.midwestenergynews.com/2012/12/05/using-wood-to-clean-up-coal-emissions-metal-smelting/

Mystery Man Pays Georgia Power Bills for More Than a Dozen Customers (Atlanta Business Journal, GA)

http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/morning_call/2012/12/mystery-man-pays-georgia-power-bills.html

FISH & WILDLIFE

Editorial - Idaho Salmon: The $9,000 Sockeye? There Is a Better Answer (Idaho Statesman, Boise)

http://www.idahostatesman.com/2012/12/05/2369572/the-9000-sockeye-there-is-a-better.html

WATER & THE ENVIRONMENT

Yakima Nation Contests White Salmon River Gas Pipeline Construction In Washington State (Associated Press)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/04/yakima-nation-white-salmon-river_n_2237508.html

Sediment, Debris Clog Equipment at Elwha River Water Treatment Plant (Peninsula Daily News, Port Angeles, WA)

http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/article/20121205/NEWS/312059984/sediment-debris-clog-equipment-at-elwha-treatment-plant

RENEWABLE/ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

Mystery: How Much Will Californians Pay for Renewable Energy? (Renewable Energy World)

http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2012/12/mystery-how-much-will-californians-pay-for-renewable-energy?cmpid=rss

Seven Myths about the Wind Production Tax Credit (The Heritage Foundation)

http://blog.heritage.org/2012/12/04/7-myths-about-the-wind-production-tax-credit/

Can Reforming the Department of Energy Reinvigorate Clean Energy in Obama’s 2nd Term? (The Energy Collective)

http://theenergycollective.com/mstepp/151526/reshaping-department-energy-obama-s-second-term-institutional-reform-goals

CONSERVATION & EFFICIENCY

Home LEDs Starting to Look More Normal (GigaOM)

http://gigaom.com/cleantech/home-leds-starting-to-look-more-normal/

Final Days for Snohomish PUD Deals on Clothes Washers & Fridge Recycling (South Everett Beacon, WA)

http://south-everett.villagesoup.com/p/final-days-for-pud-deals-on-clothes-washers-and-fridge-recycling/933158

BARREL O’ GREEN POTPOURRI

New Group Opposes Oregon’s Clean Fuels Plan (Oregon Public Broadcasting)

http://ecotrope.opb.org/2012/12/new-group-opposes-oregons-clean-fuels-plan

Seattle’s Electric Vehicle Paradox - Seattle is among the nation’s hottest places for electric or hybrid vehicles, but is this really the right time to own an all-electric car? (Crosscut Seattle)

http://crosscut.com/2012/12/04/transportation/111702/seattles-ev-paradox/

TECHNOLOGY & TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Amazon May Have Big Plans for DuPont (Olympian, WA)

http://www.theolympian.com/2012/12/05/2342215/amazon-may-have-big-plans-for.html

Google Fiber Considers, But Drops Plans to Include Phone Service (Kansas City Business Journal, MO)

http://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/blog/2012/12/google-considers-drops-phone-service.html

POLITICS & GOVERNANCE

Seattle City Attorney Nixes Plan to Give ‘Allowance’ to Gay Employees (KIRO-TV, Seattle)

http://mynorthwest.com/?nid=11&sid=2144794

Obama Administration’s Fiscal Cliff Proposal Would Limit Tax Value of Municipal Bonds (American Public Power Association)

http://www.naylornetwork.com/app-ppd/articles/index-v2.asp?aid=198756&issueID=26902

GENERAL NEWS