Monday, July 29, 2024

The Energy News Digest for July 29, 2024

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Hotshots – Today’s Top Five Stories

‘On the Edge of an Energy Crisis’: Forecasting the Future of Electricity in the Pacific Northwest (KGW-TV, Portland, OR)

https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/the-story/pacific-northwest-energy-summit-green-tech-power-grid/283-9ddfcf76-9587-4015-92b1-19ab3adfadda

Washington Is Giving Tax Breaks to Data Centers That Threaten the State’s Green Energy Push (ProPublica/Seattle Times, WA)

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/washington-is-giving-tax-breaks-to-data-centers-that-threaten-the-state-s-green-energy-push/ar-BB1qLc1B

What Could Be Nation’s Largest Solar Project Proposed by Feds at Eastern WA Nuclear Site (Tri-City Herald, WA via Yahoo News)

https://www.yahoo.com/news/could-nation-largest-solar-project-182118237.html

Scoop: Washington Tribes Seek to Halt Offshore Wind Development (Axios Seattle)

https://www.axios.com/local/seattle/2024/07/26/wind-farm-offshore-quinault-hoh-tribe

Federal Funds Set to Revive Pacific Northwest Salmon, Steelhead Populations (Columbia Basin Herald, Moses Lake, WA)

https://columbiabasinherald.com/news/2024/jul/29/federal-funds-set-to-revive-pnw-salmon-steelhead-populations/

News Highlights (See Stories Below)

1.      ‘On the Edge of an Energy Crisis’: Forecasting the Future of Electricity in the Pacific Northwest

2.      Washington Is Giving Tax Breaks to Data Centers That Threaten the State’s Green Energy Push

3.      Montana: NorthWestern Energy Gears Up for Performance Testing at New Laurel Gas Plant

4.      Natural Gas Electricity Generation in the United States Spiked with July Heatwave

5.      State Lawmakers Continue Calls for Feds to Move San Onofre’s Nuclear Waste

6.      Bonneville Power Administration Implements Interconnection Reforms to Clear Queue Backlog

7.      News Release: Oregon, Washington’s U.S. Senators Urge Bonneville Power Administration to Carefully Consider Day-Ahead Electricity Market Decision

8.      Nevada: Workers Critically Injured While Replacing Stolen Copper Wires from City Streetlights

9.      The Fight to Make Landlords Turn Down the Thermostat

10.   Northern Wasco County PUD General Manager and CEO Details Dramatic Growth

11.   News Release: U.S. Department of Energy Selects 20 Projects Across 16 States to Receive Up to $371 Million for Transmission

12.   What Could Be Nation’s Largest Solar Project Proposed by Feds at Eastern WA Nuclear Site

13.   Scoop: Washington Tribes Seek to Halt Offshore Wind Development

14.   Company Provides Visuals of Palouse Wind Farms

15.   U.S. Wind Power Falls to 33-Month Low, Generators Burn More Natural Gas

16.   SMUD Receives $10 Million State Grant for Long-Duration Battery Storage Project

17.   News Release: Biden-Harris Administration Advances Clean Energy Projects on Western Public Lands with Potential to Power Nearly 2 Million Homes

18.   Federal Funds Set to Revive Pacific Northwest Salmon, Steelhead Populations

19.   There’s a New Top Fish of the Columbia River — And It Doesn’t Mind the Warm Water

20.   Grant PUD Fiber Buildout Scheduled for October Completion

21.   Court Rules FCC’s Universal Service Fund Unconstitutional

22.   Video Game Performers Will Go on Strike Over Artificial Intelligence Concerns

23.   Porsche, MINI Rate High in JD Power Satisfaction Survey, Non-Tesla Electric Vehicle Owners Happier

24.   How to Capture Moments with a Cellphone

25.   California, Pacific Northwest Hydrogen Hubs Secure First Tranche of $7B Federal Awards

26.   Voters To Decide on Pace of Washington’s Transition Off Natural Gas

27.   California Town Decimated by 2018 Wildfire Threatened Again by State’s Largest This Year, As Fires Plague Oregon & Canada

28.   Rain Arrives on What’s Typically Seattle’s Driest Day of the Year

29.   Guest Essay: Hydro Deauthorization Delay Stirring Concerns in Oregon

Word of the Day

Roustabout \ROWSS-tuh-bowt\ Noun – 1a: deckhand b: longshoreman 2: an unskilled or semiskilled laborer especially in an oil field or refinery *3: a circus worker who erects and dismantles tents, cares for the grounds, and handles animals and equipment.

Atone worked his entire life as a roustabout for the circus, putting up and taking down the billowing big-top tent. With retirement looming, all he had to show for his 30 years of work were numerous tattoos, a lifetime supply of “zoo-doo,” and the emotional scars from the 1968 “clown car calamity” in Hoboken, New Jersey. “There was clown white all over the highway,” he muttered, visibly shuddering over the memory.

Energy & Utility Issues

1.      ‘On the Edge of an Energy Crisis’: Forecasting the Future of Electricity in the Pacific Northwest (KGW-TV, Portland, OR)

https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/the-story/pacific-northwest-energy-summit-green-tech-power-grid/283-9ddfcf76-9587-4015-92b1-19ab3adfadda

2.      Washington Is Giving Tax Breaks to Data Centers That Threaten the State’s Green Energy Push (ProPublica/Seattle Times, WA)

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/washington-is-giving-tax-breaks-to-data-centers-that-threaten-the-state-s-green-energy-push/ar-BB1qLc1B

3.      Montana: NorthWestern Energy Gears Up for Performance Testing at New Laurel Gas Plant (The Missoulian, MT)

https://missoulian.com/news/state-and-regional/yellowstone-county-generating-station-fires-up/article_482b9af8-c5b4-5797-939c-02f3d6331708.html

4.      Natural Gas Electricity Generation in the United States Spiked with July Heatwave (U.S. Energy Information Administration)

https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=62604

5.      State Lawmakers Continue Calls for Feds to Move San Onofre’s Nuclear Waste (KPBS Broadcasting, San Diego, CA)

https://www.kpbs.org/news/environment/2024/07/25/state-lawmakers-continue-calls-for-feds-to-move-san-onofres-nuclear-waste

6.      Bonneville Power Administration Implements Interconnection Reforms to Clear Queue Backlog (American Public Power Association)

https://www.publicpower.org/periodical/article/bpa-implements-interconnection-reforms-clear-queue-backlog

7.      News Release: Oregon, Washington’s U.S. Senators Urge Bonneville Power Administration to Carefully Consider Day-Ahead Electricity Market Decision (U.S. Senator Ron Wyden – OR)

https://www.wyden.senate.gov/news/press-releases/oregon-washingtons-us-senators-urge-bpa-to-carefully-consider-day-ahead-electricity-market-decision

8.      Nevada: Workers Critically Injured While Replacing Stolen Copper Wires from City Streetlights (KVVU-TV, Las Vegas, NV)

https://www.wvlt.tv/2024/07/25/workers-critically-injured-while-replacing-stolen-copper-wires-city-streetlights/

9.      The Fight to Make Landlords Turn Down the Thermostat (Washington Post Via Yahoo News)

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/the-fight-to-make-landlords-turn-down-the-thermostat/ar-BB1qBlOS

10.   Northern Wasco County PUD General Manager and CEO Details Dramatic Growth (American Public Power Association)

https://www.publicpower.org/periodical/article/northern-wasco-county-pud-general-manager-and-ceo-details-dramatic-growth

11.   News Release: U.S. Department of Energy Selects 20 Projects Across 16 States to Receive Up to $371 Million for Transmission (U.S. Dept. Of Energy)

https://www.energy.gov/gdo/TSED?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery

Renewable Energy & Self Storage

12.   What Could Be Nation’s Largest Solar Project Proposed by Feds at Eastern WA Nuclear Site (Tri-City Herald, WA via Yahoo News)

https://www.yahoo.com/news/could-nation-largest-solar-project-182118237.html

13.   Scoop: Washington Tribes Seek to Halt Offshore Wind Development (Axios Seattle)

https://www.axios.com/local/seattle/2024/07/26/wind-farm-offshore-quinault-hoh-tribe

14.   Company Provides Visuals of Palouse Wind Farms (Lewiston Morning Tribune, ID – Paywall Advisory)

https://www.lmtribune.com/northwest/company-provides-visuals-of-wind-farms/article_4812c029-30e9-59ae-a2a3-e4cb2818e4cb.html

15.   U.S. Wind Power Falls to 33-Month Low, Generators Burn More Natural Gas (Reuters)

https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/us-wind-power-falls-33-month-low-generators-burn-more-natgas-2024-07-24/

16.   SMUD Receives $10 Million State Grant for Long-Duration Battery Storage Project (American Public Power Association)

https://www.publicpower.org/periodical/article/smud-receives-10-million-state-grant-long-duration-battery-storage-project

17.   News Release: Biden-Harris Administration Advances Clean Energy Projects on Western Public Lands with Potential to Power Nearly 2 Million Homes (U.S. Dept. of the Interior)

https://www.doi.gov/pressreleases/biden-harris-administration-advances-clean-energy-projects-western-public-lands

Fish & Wildlife

18.   Federal Funds Set to Revive Pacific Northwest Salmon, Steelhead Populations (Columbia Basin Herald, Moses Lake, WA)

https://columbiabasinherald.com/news/2024/jul/29/federal-funds-set-to-revive-pnw-salmon-steelhead-populations/

19.   There’s a New Top Fish of the Columbia River — And It Doesn’t Mind the Warm Water (Spokesman-Review, Spokane, WA – Paywall Advisory)

https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2024/jul/24/theres-a-new-top-fish-of-the-columbia-river-and-it/

London Calling –Telecommunications

20.   Grant PUD Fiber Buildout Scheduled for October Completion (Columbia Basin Herald, WA)

https://columbiabasinherald.com/news/2024/jul/18/grant-pud-fiber-buildout-scheduled-for-october-completion/

21.   Court Rules FCC’s Universal Service Fund Unconstitutional (Telecompetitor)

https://www.telecompetitor.com/court-rules-fccs-universal-service-fund-unconstitutional/

The Wizarding World of Technology & Cybersecurity

22.   Video Game Performers Will Go on Strike Over Artificial Intelligence Concerns (Associated Press)

https://apnews.com/article/sagaftra-video-game-performers-ai-strike-4f4c7d846040c24553dbc2604e5b6034

I Sing the Car Electric

23.   Porsche, MINI Rate High in JD Power Satisfaction Survey, Non-Tesla Electric Vehicle Owners Happier (USA Today)

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2024/07/28/jd-power-ratings-satisfaction-survey/74579565007/

Public Relations, Marketing & Media

24.   How to Capture Moments with a Cellphone (Pioneer Utility Resources)

https://www.pioneerutilityresources.com/2024cellshots/

Barrel O’ Green Potpourri – Seething Stew of Science

25.   California, Pacific Northwest Hydrogen Hubs Secure First Tranche of $7B Federal Awards (Power Magazine)

https://www.powermag.com/california-pacific-northwest-hydrogen-hubs-secure-first-tranche-of-7b-federal-awards/

Management & Governance

26.   Voters To Decide on Pace of Washington’s Transition Off Natural Gas (Washington State Standard)

https://washingtonstatestandard.com/briefs/voters-to-decide-on-pace-of-washingtons-transition-off-natural-gas/

Other Things to Know About Today

27.   California Town Decimated by 2018 Wildfire Threatened Again by State’s Largest This Year, As Fires Plague Oregon & Canada (Cable News Network)

https://www.yahoo.com/news/california-town-decimated-2018-wildfire-042852410.html

28.   Rain Arrives on What’s Typically Seattle’s Driest Day of the Year (KING-TV, Seattle, WA)

https://www.king5.com/article/weather/weather-blog/seattle-rain-july-29/281-0c21b686-e943-4cae-a5b9-531eb2383262

Soapbox Serenade – Vox Populi

29.   Guest Essay: Hydro Deauthorization Delay Stirring Concerns in Oregon (Yamhill County News-Register, OR)

https://newsregister.com/article?articleTitle=hydro-deauthorization-delay-stirring-concerns-in-oregon--1722013023--49606--commentary

Alligators in the Sewer – Diversions

Like ‘Little Bombs,’ Soda Cans Are Exploding on Southwest Flights. Here’s Why

https://www.yahoo.com/news/little-bombs-soda-cans-exploding-190002527.html

‘Bob the Cap Catcher’ Fetches Olympic Swimmer’s Cap from the Pool — and Goes Viral in Colorful Speedo

https://people.com/2024-paris-olympics-bob-the-cap-catcher-goes-viral-in-colorful-speedo-8684950

Collection of 163 Unique Bedpans Fails to Sell at Auction

https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2024/07/29/bedpan-collection-auction/5111722274096/

Carrie Fisher’s ‘Star Wars’ Gold Bikini Auctioned for $175,000

https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2024/07/29/Star-Wars-props-auctioned-Slave-Leia-bikini/8741722281989/

Song of the Day

10,000 Maniacs – Like the Weather

https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&app=desktop&v=Ln_-8NTM64U

Links & Paywall Advisory

Links in The Energy News Digest are for current stories. Media organizations update their websites regularly, which may result in broken links.

Although I choose stories that are accessible without paying a subscription, individual experiences may vary. Media attribution includes information about possible paywall restrictions. Regularly clearing your browser’s history and cookie files may help you access some paywall sites.