Wednesday, March 22, 2023

The Energy News Digest for March 22, 2023

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

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ITEMS OF NOTE FROM HISTORY LINK

Electric Generators at Grand Coulee Dam Go Online for the First Time on March 22, 1941

https://www.historylink.org/File/9798

HOTSHOTS – TODAY’S TOP FIVE STORIES

Bay Area Storm Kills at Least Two, Knocks Out Power, Brings Traffic to a Stop (KTVU-TV, Oakland, CA)

https://www.ktvu.com/news/bay-area-storm-kills-at-least-2-knocks-out-power-brings-traffic-to-a-stop

Biden Commits to Salmon Recovery – President Says He’ll Work with Tribal & Political Leaders to Recover Endangered Fish Runs (Lewiston Morning Tribune, ID – Paywall Advisory)

https://www.lmtribune.com/local/biden-commits-to-salmon-recovery/article_181cbb61-2878-5273-91e4-2ac0ce99afce.html

Idaho Power’s New High Voltage Transmission Line Cleared by Oregon Supreme Court (Boise State Public Radio, ID)

https://www.boisestatepublicradio.org/news/2023-03-20/idaho-power-high-voltage-transmission-line-cleared-oregon-supreme-court

Idaho: Advisory Group Recommends Denial of Lava Ridge Energy Project (Idaho Mountain Express, Ketchum, ID)

https://www.mtexpress.com/news/environment/advisory-group-recommends-denial-of-lava-ridge-energy-project/article_a098f312-c81d-11ed-803d-93cd93ccb020.html

A Quarter of World Population Lacks Safe Drinking Water: UN (Associated Press)

https://apnews.com/article/un-water-sanitation-conference-7a3671dc74f788e36adff9ef9879ed91

NEWS HIGHLIGHTS (See Stories Below)

1.      Idaho Power’s New High Voltage Transmission Line Cleared by Oregon Supreme Court

2.      Oregon: Douglas Electric Cooperative Receives Millions to Boost Wildfire Prevention

3.      California: Palo Alto Set to Receive $24 Million Over Utilities Litigation

4.      Seattle Utilities Consider Massive Efforts That Could Help Green Our Grid

5.      WA State: Chelan PUD Working on $86 Million Substation for Microsoft

6.      Oregon Lawmakers Take Up Contentious Data Center Clean Energy Bill

7.      Nevada to Add Natural Gas Plant as Drought Threatens Power Grids

8.      Biden’s Budget Cuts Funding for Nuclear Energy at a Pivotal Moment

9.      ‘Horrible Loss of Incredible Potential’: Family Mourns British Columbia Man Who Died in Peru After Stepping on Live Wire

10.   Presidents & Fish: Can’t We All Get Along?

11.   Guest Essay: NuScale Power, the Canary in the Small Modular Reactor Market

12.   Idaho: Advisory Group Recommends Denial of Lava Ridge Energy Project

13.   Orange County Power Authority Seeks Improvement After Audits

14.   Waste-to-Energy Plants Are a Small But Stable Source of Electricity in the United States

15.   Biden Commits to Salmon Recovery – President Says He’ll Work with Tribal & Political Leaders to Recover Endangered Fish Runs

16.   President Biden Says He’ll Work with Rep. Simpson & Others to Help Salmon in Northwest; Reps. McMorris Rodgers Highlights President’s River Mix-Up

17.   A Quarter of World Population Lacks Safe Drinking Water: UN

18.   Google Opens Access to Bard Artificial Intelligence Chatbot, Racing to Catch Up to OpenAI

19.   Businessman Proposing Data Center on Banks of Columbia River Has History of Troubled Deals

20.   TikTok CEO Takes to the App to Announce Company’s More Than 150 Million Active Users in the U.S.

21.   Twitter Users Are Complaining About Vanishing Tweets

22.   A 5,000-Mile Seaweed Belt Is Headed Toward Florida

23.   Five Ways for Women to Grow Powerful, Connected Careers

24.   Bay Area Storm Kills at Least Two, Knocks Out Power, Brings Traffic to a Stop

25.   Federal Reserve Raises Its Key Rate by a Quarter-Point – Calls Banking System ‘Sound & Resilient’

26.   Oregon House Votes to Let Oregonians to Pump Their Own Gas

27.   World Baseball Classic: Shohei Ohtani Closes Out Team USA as Japan Wins Third Title

WORD OF THE DAY – HORRIBLE HAIKU EDITION

Götterdämmerung \gher-ter-DEM-uh-roong\ Noun – collapse (as of a society or regime) marked by catastrophic violence & disorder; broadly: downfall.

     Götterdämmerung

     Bad music. Unlike Wagner

     It’s more like Spike Jones

ENERGY & UTILITY ISSUES

1.        Idaho Power’s New High Voltage Transmission Line Cleared by Oregon Supreme Court (Boise State Public Radio, ID)

https://www.boisestatepublicradio.org/news/2023-03-20/idaho-power-high-voltage-transmission-line-cleared-oregon-supreme-court

2.        Oregon: Douglas Electric Cooperative Receives Millions to Boost Wildfire Prevention (KCBY-TV, North Bend, OR)

https://kcby.com/news/local/douglas-electric-cooperative-receives-millions-to-boost-wildfire-prevention

3.        California: Palo Alto Set to Receive $24 Million Over Utilities Litigation (Palo Alto Online, CA)

https://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/2023/03/20/palo-alto-set-to-receive-24m-over-utilities-litigation

4.        Seattle Utilities Consider Massive Efforts That Could Help Green Our Grid (Seattle Times, WA – Paywall Advisory)

https://www.seattletimes.com/pacific-nw-magazine/seattle-utilities-consider-massive-efforts-that-could-help-green-our-grid/

5.        WA State: Chelan PUD Working on $86 Million Substation for Microsoft (KPQ-Radio, Wenatchee, WA)

https://kpq.com/chelan-pud-working-on-86-million-substation-for-microsoft/

6.        Oregon Lawmakers Take Up Contentious Data Center Clean Energy Bill (Oregonian, Portland, OR – Paywall Advisory)

https://www.oregonlive.com/silicon-forest/2023/03/oregon-lawmakers-take-up-contentious-data-center-clean-energy-bill.html

7.        Nevada to Add Natural Gas Plant as Drought Threatens Power Grids (Associated Press)

https://apnews.com/article/drought-climate-change-nevada-natural-gas-plant-864c3631e5135b385e2f648390635134

8.        Biden’s Budget Cuts Funding for Nuclear Energy at a Pivotal Moment (Yahoo! News)

https://news.yahoo.com/biden-budget-cuts-funding-nuclear-195445648.html

9.        ‘Horrible Loss of Incredible Potential’: Family Mourns British Columbia Man Who Died in Peru After Stepping on Live Wire (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/canadian-man-electrocuted-in-peru-1.6785340?cmp=rss

SOAPBOX SERENADE – VOX POPULI

10.     Presidents & Fish: Can’t We All Get Along? (Lewiston Morning Tribune, ID – Paywall Advisory)

https://www.lmtribune.com/local/presidents-and-fish-can-t-we-all-get-along/article_2b7d6aa9-2b8c-51b2-b54c-c9c8533ac21d.html

11.     Guest Essay: NuScale Power, the Canary in the Small Modular Reactor Market (Utility Dive)

https://www.utilitydive.com/news/nuscale-power-small-modular-reactor-smr-ieefa-uamps/645554/

RENEWABLE ENERGY & SELF STORAGE

12.     Idaho: Advisory Group Recommends Denial of Lava Ridge Energy Project (Idaho Mountain Express, Ketchum, ID)

https://www.mtexpress.com/news/environment/advisory-group-recommends-denial-of-lava-ridge-energy-project/article_a098f312-c81d-11ed-803d-93cd93ccb020.html

13.     Orange County Power Authority Seeks Improvement After Audits (Los Angeles Times, CA – Paywall Advisory)

https://www.latimes.com/socal/daily-pilot/news/story/2023-03-16/orange-county-power-authority-seeks-improvement-after-audits

14.     Waste-to-Energy Plants Are a Small But Stable Source of Electricity in the United States (U.S. Energy Information Administration)

https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=55900

FISH & WILDLIFE

15.     Biden Commits to Salmon Recovery – President Says He’ll Work with Tribal & Political Leaders to Recover Endangered Fish Runs (Lewiston Morning Tribune, ID – Paywall Advisory)

https://www.lmtribune.com/local/biden-commits-to-salmon-recovery/article_181cbb61-2878-5273-91e4-2ac0ce99afce.html

16.     President Biden Says He’ll Work with Rep. Simpson & Others to Help Salmon in Northwest; Reps. McMorris Rodgers Highlights President’s River Mix-Up (Spokesman-Review, Spokane, WA – Paywall Advisory)

https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2023/mar/21/mcmorris-rodgers-newhouse-bash-biden-for-columbia-/

WATER, WATER, ANYWHERE?

17.     A Quarter of World Population Lacks Safe Drinking Water: UN (Associated Press)

https://apnews.com/article/un-water-sanitation-conference-7a3671dc74f788e36adff9ef9879ed91

BEAM ME UP, SCOTTY - THE WIZARDING WORLD OF TECHNOLOGY & CYBERSECURITY

18.     Google Opens Access to Bard Artificial Intelligence Chatbot, Racing to Catch Up to OpenAI (Yahoo! News)

https://news.yahoo.com/google-opens-access-bard-ai-140035714.html

19.     Businessman Proposing Data Center on Banks of Columbia River Has History of Troubled Deals (Columbia Insight)

https://columbiainsight.org/exclusive-businessman-proposing-data-center-on-banks-of-columbia-river-has-history-of-troubled-deals/

PUBLIC RELATIONS, MARKETING & MEDIA

20.     TikTok CEO Takes to the App to Announce Company’s More Than 150 Million Active Users in the U.S. (Tech Crunch)

https://techcrunch.com/2023/03/21/tiktok-ceo-takes-to-the-app-to-announce-companys-more-than-150m-active-users-in-the-u-s/

21.     Twitter Users Are Complaining About Vanishing Tweets (Gizmodo)

https://gizmodo.com/elon-musk-twitter-disappearing-tweets-1850253393

BARREL O’ GREEN POTPOURRI – SEETHING STEW OF SCIENCE

22.     A 5,000-Mile Seaweed Belt Is Headed Toward Florida (Associated Press)

https://apnews.com/article/sargassum-seaweed-climate-change-florida-beaches-travel-gulf-of-mexico-caribbean-550da1abf9c0906fd30740d1687d5b05

MANAGEMENT & GOVERNANCE

23.     Five Ways for Women to Grow Powerful, Connected Careers (Pioneer Utility Resources)

https://www.pioneerutilityresources.com/empoweredwomen/

OTHER THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT TODAY

24.     Bay Area Storm Kills at Least Two, Knocks Out Power, Brings Traffic to a Stop (KTVU-TV, Oakland, CA)

https://www.ktvu.com/news/bay-area-storm-kills-at-least-2-knocks-out-power-brings-traffic-to-a-stop

25.     Federal Reserve Raises Its Key Rate by a Quarter-Point – Calls Banking System ‘Sound & Resilient’ (Associated Press)

https://apnews.com/article/business-ap-news-alert-8e1295ab47734edfb54b56c6950bafdd

26.     Oregon House Votes to Let Oregonians to Pump Their Own Gas (Oregon Public Broadcasting)

https://www.opb.org/article/2023/03/20/oregon-house-votes-to-let-oregonians-to-pump-their-own-gas/

27.     World Baseball Classic: Shohei Ohtani Closes Out Team USA as Japan Wins Third Title (Yahoo! News)

https://sports.yahoo.com/world-baseball-classic-shohei-ohtani-closes-out-team-usa-as-japan-wins-3rd-title-024458543.html

ALLIGATORS IN THE SEWER – DIVERSIONS

JPMorgan Chase Thought It Had $1.3 Million Worth of Nickel Stored in a Warehouse. A Closer Examination Revealed Bags of Stones

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/jpmorgan-chase-thought-had-1-215142227.html

Supreme Court Chews on Jack Daniel’s Dog Toy Dispute

https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-jack-daniels-dog-toy-7878a57c7ae6735274858e3b0eeeba54

Oldest Most Complete Hebrew Bible Goes on Display in Israel Before Sale

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-65043875

Soccer Player Scores from 110 Yards, Possibly Breaking World Record

https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2023/03/22/chile-Guinness-World-Records-longest-soccer-goal-Leandro-Requena/8541679507456/

SONG OF THE DAY

Neil Diamond – Stones

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hY9RxL6aV5c

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