Wednesday, September 22, 2021

The Energy News Digest for September 22, 2021

The Energy News Digest is sponsored by the Northwest Public Power Association. 

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LINKS & PAYWALL ADVISORY

Links in The Energy News Digest lead to current stories. Media organizations update their websites regularly, which may result in broken links. Media attribution includes information about possible paywall restrictions.

HOT SHOTS – TODAY’S TOP FIVE STORIES

After Ida Outages, Utility Proposals Include City of New Orleans Takeover of Its Grid (Associated Press)

https://apnews.com/article/hurricane-ida-environment-and-nature-louisiana-business-hurricanes-2737820cc6b661a59c9170782a1082dc

California Is Sued Over Its Rule on Solar Power Installers (NY Times)

https://goodtimes.sc/santa-cruz-news/california-is-sued-over-its-rule-on-solar-power-installers/

WA State: Report – Group of Douglas County Residents Rallying to Oppose Potential Purchase of Land for Solar Farms (iFiberOne News, Ephrata, WA)

https://www.ifiberone.com/columbia_basin/report-group-of-douglas-county-residents-rallying-to-oppose-potential-purchase-of-land-for-solar/article_e2e3557c-1b0e-11ec-bd1c-7723262f7e40.html

Montana: Initiative on Nuclear Facility Approvals OK’d for Signature-Gathering (Helena Independent-Record, MT)

https://helenair.com/news/state-and-regional/govt-and-politics/initiative-on-nuclear-facility-approvals-okd-for-signature-gathering/article_6e722965-998d-5113-88a4-126d5cf222a9.html

This Year’s Monsoon Has Been One of Arizona’s Wettest (Cronkite News, AZ)

https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org/2021/09/21/arizona-weather-2021-monsoon-season-among-wettest-ever/

NEWS HIGHLIGHTS (See Stories Below)

1.      After Ida Outages, Utility Proposals Include City of New Orleans Takeover of Its Grid

2.      Montana: Initiative on Nuclear Facility Approvals OK’d for Signature-Gathering

3.      A Hotter Climate Means Falling Trees — And More Power Outages

4.      Montana: NorthWestern Changes Laurel Power Plant Plans

5.      What One City’s Struggle to Ban Natural Gas Says About the Challenge of Electrifying Buildings

6.      City Council Votes to Have Los Angeles Department of Water & Power Help Bring Power to Navajo Families

7.      Molokai Has an Electricity Problem. This Co-Op Wants to Change That

8.      Chelan County PUD Names New Manager to Take Office in 2022

9.      California: Trinity PUD Pursues $9 Million Loan, Discusses Rate Hike

10.   New Research Charts the Impact of Covid-19 on U.S. Electricity Demand in 2020

11.   Guest Essay: Renewables Are Montana’s Energy Key

12.   Guest Essay: Infrastructure Bill Critical to Protect Salmon & a Way of Life

13.   California Is Sued Over Its Rule on Solar Power Installers

14.   WA State: Report – Group of Douglas County Residents Rallying to Oppose Potential Purchase of Land for Solar Farms

15.   Idaho: Proposed Wind Farm Raises Concerns Over Its Proximity to Minidoka Incarceration Site

16.   California: Ocotillo Wind Turbine Collapses—Again

17.   WA State: Snohomish PUD’s Arlington Microgrid Project Now Operational

18.   Solar Industry Demand Raises Temperature in Silicon Market

19.   All Major Bering Sea Crab Stocks Are Down Alarmingly This Season, Surveys Indicate

20.   British Columbia Fishermen Say Ottawa Has Cast Them Adrift

21.   Columbia River Basin Pikeminnow Sport Reward Fishery Extended Two Weeks

22.   Southern Resident Grandmother Orca Missing, Likely Dead

23.   This Year’s Monsoon Has Been One of Arizona’s Wettest

24.   A Dry Year: Irrigators in the Columbia Basin Were Saved by Snowpack, But Dryland Farmers Took a Hit

25.   Drought Continues to Strangle American West, With No Relief in Sight

26.   U.S. Can Meet Paris Climate Commitments, But Will Need to Rely Heavily on Electric Utilities: Report

27.   The FCC Has Pledged to Update Its ‘Broken’ Broadband Mapping Process. Some States Are Starting to Go It Alone

28.   Portland General Electric, Hillsboro Data Center Operator Seek Renewable Energy for Facebook

29.   Tracking Stolen Crypto Is a Booming Business: How Blockchain Sleuths Recover Digital Loot

WORD OF THE DAY

Inchoate \inn-COE-utt\ Adjective - Being only partly in existence or operation: incipient; especially: imperfectly formed or formulated: formless, incoherent.

Brandy was certain that her detailed presentation on the origins of the Sith Lords was precise and well understood by her audience. Had she been sitting in the audience, she would have been keenly aware that her inchoate babblings were going right over the heads of the attendees. Her first mistake was mixing “Star Wars” imagery with “Star Trek” vocabulary; most notably, using the Klingon language in her wandering treatise.

ENERGY & UTILITY ISSUES

1.      After Ida Outages, Utility Proposals Include City of New Orleans Takeover of Its Grid (Associated Press)

https://apnews.com/article/hurricane-ida-environment-and-nature-louisiana-business-hurricanes-2737820cc6b661a59c9170782a1082dc

2.      Montana: Initiative on Nuclear Facility Approvals OK’d for Signature-Gathering (Helena Independent-Record, MT)

https://helenair.com/news/state-and-regional/govt-and-politics/initiative-on-nuclear-facility-approvals-okd-for-signature-gathering/article_6e722965-998d-5113-88a4-126d5cf222a9.html

3.      A Hotter Climate Means Falling Trees — And More Power Outages (National Public Radio)

https://www.npr.org/2021/09/20/1039108221/a-hotter-climate-means-falling-trees-and-more-power-outages

4.      Montana: NorthWestern Changes Laurel Power Plant Plans (Billings Gazette, MT – Paywall Advisory)

https://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/northwestern-changes-laurel-power-plant-plans/article_95e770e9-06fa-5445-b251-0ad401c9f728.html

5.      What One City’s Struggle to Ban Natural Gas Says About the Challenge of Electrifying Buildings (Grist Online)

https://grist.org/buildings/bellingham-washington-natural-gas-ban-building-electrification/

6.      City Council Votes to Have Los Angeles Department of Water & Power Help Bring Power to Navajo Families (Spectrum News)

https://spectrumnews1.com/ca/la-west/politics/2021/09/21/city-council-votes-to-have-ladwp-help-bring-power-to-navajo-families

7.      Molokai Has an Electricity Problem. This Co-Op Wants to Change That (Honolulu Civic Beat, HI)

https://www.civilbeat.org/2021/09/molokai-has-an-electricity-problem-this-co-op-wants-to-change-that/

8.      Chelan County PUD Names New Manager to Take Office in 2022 (NCW News, East Wenatchee, WA)

https://www.ncwlife.com/chelan-county-pud-names-new-manager-to-take-office-in-2022/

9.      California: Trinity PUD Pursues $9 Million Loan, Discusses Rate Hike (Trinity Journal, CA)

http://www.trinityjournal.com/news/local/article_93a1dce2-1b34-11ec-97bf-cb6e2555236f.html

10.   New Research Charts the Impact of Covid-19 on U.S. Electricity Demand in 2020 (PCI News)

https://blog.powercosts.com/2021/09/21/new-research-charts-the-impact-of-covid-19-on-u-s-electricity-demand-in-2020/

SOAPBOX SERENADE – VOX POPULI

11.   Guest Essay: Renewables Are Montana’s Energy Key (Montana Standard, Butte, MT)

https://mtstandard.com/opinion/columnists/guest-view-renewables-are-montanas-energy-key/article_21b3ef84-65f4-54ad-8fc6-a5a901060cde.html

12.   Guest Essay: Infrastructure Bill Critical to Protect Salmon & a Way of Life (Bellingham Herald, WA – Paywall Advisory)

https://www.bellinghamherald.com/opinion/op-ed/article254301183.html

RENEWABLE ENERGY & SELF STORAGE

13.   California Is Sued Over Its Rule on Solar Power Installers (NY Times)

https://goodtimes.sc/santa-cruz-news/california-is-sued-over-its-rule-on-solar-power-installers/

14.   WA State: Report – Group of Douglas County Residents Rallying to Oppose Potential Purchase of Land for Solar Farms (iFiberOne News, Ephrata, WA)

https://www.ifiberone.com/columbia_basin/report-group-of-douglas-county-residents-rallying-to-oppose-potential-purchase-of-land-for-solar/article_e2e3557c-1b0e-11ec-bd1c-7723262f7e40.html

15.   Idaho: Proposed Wind Farm Raises Concerns Over Its Proximity to Minidoka Incarceration Site (Boise State Public Radio, ID)

https://www.boisestatepublicradio.org/news/2021-09-20/proposed-wind-farm-raises-concerns-over-its-proximity-to-minidoka-incarceration-camp

16.   California: Ocotillo Wind Turbine Collapses—Again (East County Magazine, CA)

https://www.eastcountymagazine.org/ocotillo-wind-turbine-collapses-again

17.   WA State: Snohomish PUD’s Arlington Microgrid Project Now Operational (North County Outlook, Marysville, WA)

https://www.northcountyoutlook.com/news/puds-arlington-microgrid-project-now-operational/article_dc8b3446-1af6-11ec-ac89-5bec01ef2cfe.html

18.   Solar Industry Demand Raises Temperature in Silicon Market (Reuters)

https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/solar-industry-demand-raises-temperature-silicon-market-2021-09-21/

FISH & WILDLIFE

19.   All Major Bering Sea Crab Stocks Are Down Alarmingly This Season, Surveys Indicate (Anchorage Daily News, AK)

https://www.adn.com/business-economy/2021/09/13/all-major-bering-sea-crab-stocks-are-down-substantially-this-season-survey-results-show/

20.   British Columbia Fishermen Say Ottawa Has Cast Them Adrift (Victoria Times-Colonist, BC)

https://www.timescolonist.com/business/b-c-fishermen-say-ottawa-has-cast-them-adrift-1.24359610

21.   Columbia River Basin Pikeminnow Sport Reward Fishery Extended Two Weeks (Bonneville Power Administration)

https://www.bpa.gov/news/newsroom/Pages/Pikeminnow-sport-reward-fishery-extended-two-weeks.aspx

22.   Southern Resident Grandmother Orca Missing, Likely Dead (Associated Press)

https://apnews.com/article/canada-science-environment-and-nature-washington-puget-sound-65b7adf7c6cd872b79d1fedaa5a27aba

WATER, WATER, ANYWHERE?

23.   This Year’s Monsoon Has Been One of Arizona’s Wettest (Cronkite News, AZ)

https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org/2021/09/21/arizona-weather-2021-monsoon-season-among-wettest-ever/

24.   A Dry Year: Irrigators in the Columbia Basin Were Saved by Snowpack, But Dryland Farmers Took a Hit (Columbia Basin Herald, Moses Lake, WA)

https://columbiabasinherald.com/news/2021/sep/22/dry-year-irrigators-columbia-basin-were-saved-snow/

25.   Drought Continues to Strangle American West, With No Relief in Sight (Courthouse News Service)

https://www.courthousenews.com/drought-grips-american-west-with-no-relief-in-sight/

CLIMATE CHANGE SEQUESTRATION VAULT

26.   U.S. Can Meet Paris Climate Commitments, But Will Need to Rely Heavily on Electric Utilities: Report (Utility Dive)

https://www.utilitydive.com/news/us-can-meet-paris-climate-commitments-but-will-need-to-rely-heavily-on-elec/606883/

TELECOMMUNICATIONS

27.   The FCC Has Pledged to Update Its ‘Broken’ Broadband Mapping Process. Some States Are Starting to Go It Alone (Morning Consult)

https://morningconsult.com/2021/09/20/state-level-broadband-mapping-fcc-data/

THE WIZARDING WORLD OF TECHNOLOGY

28.   Portland General Electric, Hillsboro Data Center Operator Seek Renewable Energy for Facebook (Portland Business Journal, OR – Paywall Advisory)

https://www.bizjournals.com/portland/news/2021/09/21/pge-qts-facebook-hillsboro.html

29.   Tracking Stolen Crypto Is a Booming Business: How Blockchain Sleuths Recover Digital Loot (Washington Post)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/09/22/stolen-crypto/

ALLIGATORS IN THE SEWER – DIVERSIONS

The ‘Devious Licks’ TikTok Trend Is Getting Teens Arrested

https://gizmodo.com/the-devious-licks-tiktok-trend-is-getting-teens-arreste-1847723234

In Pictures: Where Elephants Help Make Paper

https://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/2021/0921/In-Pictures-Where-elephants-help-make-paper?icid=rss

Florida Woman’s Lost Dog Turns Up on Facebook Nearly a Year Later

https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2021/09/20/lost-dog-reunited-nearly-one-year-Lisa-Raulerson-West-Palm-Beach-Florida-Sparky/3201632172454/

Colorado Town Pleads for Return of Stolen Phone Booth

https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2021/09/17/phone-booth-Cope-Colorado-stolen/6201631912735/

SONG OF THE DAY

The Clash – I Fought the Law

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhcreVY_qLI