Energy News Digest for February 28, 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

Snow Forecast for Parts of Washington - A winter storm is bringing another shot of snow to parts of Washington (Associated Press)

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2017613800_apwasnow.html

Lean Energy: Clark Public Utilities Controls Costs - Rates under control in face of economy, weather, I-937 (Vancouver Columbian, WA)

http://www.columbian.com/news/2012/feb/26/lean-energy-clark-public-utilities-costs-energy/

Coal Export Opponents to Bring 40,000 Petition Signatures to Olympia (Longview Daily News, WA)

http://tdn.com/news/local/coal-export-opponents-to-bring-petition-signatures-to-olympia/article_eb8f8da8-61dc-11e1-bd35-0019bb2963f4.html

Biggest, Ugliest Clam in Town Earns State Protection - Survey shows geoduck poaching is hampering species' recovery (KCPQ-TV, Tacoma/Seattle – Before opening, make sure you have not just taken a sip of coffee, tea or other beverage…)

http://www.q13fox.com/news/kcpq-biggest-ugliest-clam-in-town-earns-state-protection-20120227,0,6579875.story

Big Prospects for Small Wind Turbines - Markets for turbines of less than 100 kW offer huge potential for growth if government incentives (subsidies) are set up (Renewable Energy World)

http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2012/02/big-prospects-for-small-wind-turbines?cmpid=rss

NEWS HIGHLIGHTS (Details Below)

• Lean Energy: Clark Public Utilities Controls Costs
• Coal Export Opponents to Bring 40,000 Petition Signatures to Olympia
• Plant Chief: Japan’s Fukushima Nuke Plant Still Vulnerable
• City of Prosser Alerts to Utility Shut-Off Typo
• Seattle - Dump Truck Snags Power Lines; Buses Affected
• Hawaii - Smart Meter Installation Rolls Out:  Some Residents Irked By Lack of Notice
• Stray Voltage Claims - Farmer Shocked at Cows' Drying Up
• Biggest, Ugliest Clam in Town Earns State Protection
• Oregon Legislature - Fish at Center of Debate Whether Health, Education Bills Advance
• Pacific Sea Otters’ Failure to Thrive Confounds Wildlife Sleuths
• Why Asian Carp Are Such a Threat
• The Atlantic Sturgeon’s Looming Endangered Listing
• Water Bills Expected to Triple In Some Parts of US
• Project aims to photograph every inch of Sacramento River
• Editorial - Congress Moves to Redistribute California's Water
• Big Prospects for Small Wind Turbines
• United Kingdom - Tall Order for Firefighters as Blaze Hits Fuel Store in Biomass Power Station
• A Case of Big Wind Bullying in Mexico?
• Spain Exits Renewables Top Ten after Curbing Subsidies
• Evergreen Public Schools Recognized for Energy Efficiency
• Comcast to Offer Smart Thermostat Service via EcoFactor
• Study: Less Arctic Ice Means More US Snow
• How Student-Built Solar Homes Can Help Solve US Housing & Energy Crisis
• North Carolina - Discovery Place Branches Out with New Solar Trees
• Chelan PUD Fiber Future Meeting
• Google Fiber Edging Device Could Help It Rapidly Connect Homes in Kansas City to 1-Gig Network
• Pot, Meet Kettle: Washington State Auditor Has Unused Phones, Too
• Audit Confirms Improper Charges by Port of Seattle Commissioners
• Snow Forecast for Parts of Washington - A winter storm is bringing another shot of snow to parts of Washington
• Winter Storm Watch for Hood Canal Area
• Gas Prices Leap another 12 Cents a Gallon in Past Week
• The $200 Million Seattle Tunnel Miscalculation
• Pacific Northwest - Water Views With a Hint of Daring and Danger
• Obama Approves Bill for Quileute Tribal Move
• No High School Basketball TV This Year

WORD OF THE DAY

Copious • \KOE-pee-yus\ • Adjective - 1a: yielding something abundantly b: plentiful in number 2: full of thought, information, or matter 3: lavish, abundant

Expensive shellfish

Ugly geoduck in danger

Copious no more

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

Lean Energy: Clark Public Utilities Controls Costs - Rates under control in face of economy, weather, I-937 (Vancouver Columbian, WA)

http://www.columbian.com/news/2012/feb/26/lean-energy-clark-public-utilities-costs-energy/

Coal Export Opponents to Bring 40,000 Petition Signatures to Olympia (Longview Daily News, WA)

http://tdn.com/news/local/coal-export-opponents-to-bring-petition-signatures-to-olympia/article_eb8f8da8-61dc-11e1-bd35-0019bb2963f4.html

Plant Chief: Japan’s Fukushima Nuke Plant Still Vulnerable (Associated Press)

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2017613700_apasjapannuclear.html

City of Prosser Alerts to Utility Shut-Off Typo (Yakima Herald-Republic, WA)

http://www.yakima-herald.com/stories/2012/02/27/prosser-alerts-to-utility-shut-off-typo

Seattle - Dump Truck Snags Power Lines; Buses Affected (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)

http://blog.seattlepi.com/seattle911/2012/02/27/dump-truck-snags-power-lines-on-capitol-hill-road-closed/

Hawaii - Smart Meter Installation Rolls Out:  Some Residents Irked By Lack of Notice (The Garden Island, Lihue, HI)

http://thegardenisland.com/news/local/smart-meter-installation-rolls-out/article_9511b07c-61dd-11e1-abcc-0019bb2963f4.html

Stray Voltage Claims - Farmer Shocked at Cows' Drying Up (Courthouse News Service)

http://www.courthousenews.com/2012/02/28/44226.htm

FISH & WILDLIFE

Biggest, Ugliest Clam in Town Earns State Protection - Survey shows geoduck poaching is hampering species' recovery (KCPQ-TV, Tacoma/Seattle – Before opening, make sure you have not just taken a sip of coffee, tea or other beverage…)

http://www.q13fox.com/news/kcpq-biggest-ugliest-clam-in-town-earns-state-protection-20120227,0,6579875.story

Oregon Legislature - Fish at Center of Debate Whether Health, Education Bills Advance (KATU-TV, Portland, OR)

http://www.katu.com/politics/Fish-at-center-of-debate-whether-health-education-bills-advance-140672103.html

Pacific Sea Otters’ Failure to Thrive Confounds Wildlife Sleuths (NY Times)

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/28/science/sea-otters-failure-to-thrive-confounds-researchers.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

Why Asian Carp Are Such a Threat (Christian Science Monitor)

http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2012/0227/Why-Asian-carp-are-such-a-threat

The Atlantic Sturgeon’s Looming Endangered Listing (NY Times)

http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/28/the-sturgeons-looming-endangered-listing/?partner=rss&emc=rss

WATER & THE ENVIRONMENT

Water Bills Expected to Triple In Some Parts of US (Cable News Network)

http://money.cnn.com/2012/02/27/pf/water_bills/index.htm?iid=HP_LN

Project aims to photograph every inch of Sacramento River (Sacramento Bee, CA)

http://www.sacbee.com/2012/02/28/4295964/project-aims-to-photograph-every.html

Editorial - Congress Moves to Redistribute California's Water (SF Chronicle)

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/02/28/EDO11ND256.DTL

RENEWABLE/ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

Big Prospects for Small Wind Turbines - Markets for turbines of less than 100 kW offer huge potential for growth if government incentives (subsidies) are set up (Renewable Energy World)

http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2012/02/big-prospects-for-small-wind-turbines?cmpid=rss

United Kingdom - Tall Order for Firefighters as Blaze Hits Fuel Store in Biomass Power Station (Yorkshire Post, UK)
http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/at-a-glance/main-section/tall_order_for_firefighters_as_blaze_hits_fuel_store_in_biomass_power_station_1_4291688

A Case of Big Wind Bullying in Mexico? (Christian Science Monitor)

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Americas/Latin-America-Monitor/2012/0228/A-case-of-Big-Wind-bullying-in-Mexico

Spain Exits Renewables Top Ten after Curbing Subsidies (Bloomberg BusinessWeek)

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-02-28/spain-exits-renewables-top-10-after-curbing-subsidies-e-y-says.html

CONSERVATION & EFFICIENCY

Evergreen Public Schools Recognized for Energy Efficiency (Vancouver Columbian, WA)

http://www.columbian.com/news/2012/feb/28/evergreen-recognized-energy-efficiency/

Comcast to Offer Smart Thermostat Service via EcoFactor (GigaOM)

http://gigaom.com/cleantech/comcast-to-offer-smart-thermostat-service-via-ecofactor/

CLIMATE CHANGE SEQUESTRATION VAULT

Study: Less Arctic Ice Means More US Snow (USA Today)

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/sciencefair/post/2012/02/arctic-sea-ice-winter-snow-usa-blizzard-climate-change/1?csp=34news

BARREL O’ GREEN POTPOURRI

How Student-Built Solar Homes Can Help Solve US Housing & Energy Crisis (Christian Science Monitor)

http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/Opinion/2012/0228/How-student-built-solar-homes-can-help-solve-US-housing-and-energy-crisis

North Carolina - Discovery Place Branches Out with New Solar Trees (EcoSeed)

http://www.ecoseed.org/press-releases/article/98-press-releases/12551-discovery-place-branches-out-with-new-solar-trees

TECHNOLOGY & TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Chelan PUD Fiber Future Meeting (KPQ Radio, Wenatchee, WA)

http://www.kpq.com/02-27-12-PUD-Fiber-Future-Meeting-more-/12389979

Google Fiber Edging Device Could Help It Rapidly Connect Homes in Kansas City to 1-Gig Network (Fierce Cable)

http://www.fiercecable.com/story/google-develops-technology-could-help-it-rapidly-connect-homes-1-gig-networ/2012-02-27

POLITICS & GOVERNANCE

Pot, Meet Kettle: Washington State Auditor Has Unused Phones, Too (Associated Press)

http://www.komonews.com/news/local/Wash-auditor-has-unused-phones-too--140592493.html

Audit Confirms Improper Charges by Port of Seattle Commissioners (Seattle Times)

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politicsnorthwest/2017610076_audit_confirms_improper_port_c.html

GENERAL NEWS

Snow Forecast for Parts of Washington - A winter storm is bringing another shot of snow to parts of Washington (Associated Press)

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2017613800_apwasnow.html

Winter Storm Watch for Hood Canal Area (National Weather Service, Seattle)

http://alerts.weather.gov/cap/wwacapget.php?x=WA124C9B0CC688.WinterStormWatch.124C9B0DFE40WA.SEWWSWSEW.a98a7b5a968db8b4fbc9a9f9b020c7d4

Sixth Person Arrested in Slaying of Trooper - Courts: Drugs ‘common thread’ (Associated Press)

http://www.theolympian.com/2012/02/28/2008315/6th-person-arrested-in-slaying.html

Gas Prices Leap another 12 Cents a Gallon in Past Week (USA Today)

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/driveon/post/2012/02/gas-prices-leap-another-12-cents-a-gallon-in-past-week/1?csp=34money

The $200 Million Seattle Tunnel Miscalculation (KING-TV, Seattle)

http://www.king5.com/news/local/The-200-million-tunnel-miscalculation-140671673.html

Pacific Northwest - Water Views With a Hint of Daring and Danger (NY Times)

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/28/us/in-western-washington-state-mudslides-pose-hint-of-danger.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss

Obama Approves Bill for Quileute Tribal Move (KOMO-TV, Seattle)

http://www.komonews.com/news/local/Obama-approves-bill-for-Quileute-tribal-move-140631603.html

No High School Basketball TV This Year - Root Sports Open To Broadcasting Future Basketball Title Games (Olympian, WA)

http://www.theolympian.com/2012/02/28/2008339/root-sports-open-to-broadcasting.html

DIVERSIONS

Wyoming House Advances Doomsday Bill “…its own military draft, raise a standing army, and acquire strike aircraft and an aircraft carrier…”

http://m.trib.com/news/state-and-regional/govt-and-politics/wyoming-house-advances-doomsday-bill/article_af6e1b2b-0ca4-553f-85e9-92c0f58c00bd.html

Couple Wants Answers after Lavatory Leak from Overhead Plane

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2012/02/26/l-i-couple-wants-answers-after-lavatory-leak-from-overhead-plane/

Chicken Slaughter Art Project Ruffles Feathers - Officials have banned an artist from publicly slaughtering chickens in eastern Kansas, saying the proposed art installation would amount to animal cruelty

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/entertainment/2017616224_apuschickenslaughterart.html

Lexicon of Regionalisms to Live on After Final Printing

http://www.usatoday.com/news/offbeat/story/2012-02-27/dictionary-regionalisms-lexicon/53274960/1?csp=34news

SONG OF THE DAY

Barry McGuire - Eve of Destruction

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwYNWYaS3bI