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Joel Myer, Communicator Emeritus, edits The Energy News Digest.
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Hotshots – Today’s Top Five Stories
Gov. Newsom Won’t Extend Life of California’s
Only Nuclear Power Plant. What That Means (Yahoo! News)
https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/gov-newsom-won-t-extend-234108015.html
U.S. Power Use to Beat Record Highs in 2026
& 2027 as Artificial Intelligence Use Surges, EIA Says (BOE Report)
In 2020, Engineers Pumped 225,000 Cubic Yards of
Dredged Sediment into the Columbia River; It Became Four New Islands Now Being
Studied as Salmon Habitat (The Times of India)
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/133186604.cms
U.S. Court Rules Meta, Other Tech Firms Must
Face Thousands of Lawsuits Over Social Media Addiction (Reuters)
Oregon: Big Grass Fire Now Largest in State
History, 35% Contained (The Oregonian, Portland, OR)
News Highlights (See Stories Below)
1. Gov. Newsom Won’t Extend Life of California’s Only Nuclear
Power Plant. What That Means
2. U.S. Power Use to Beat Record Highs in 2026 & 2027 as
Artificial Intelligence Use Surges, EIA Says
3. Seattle City Light Customers Will See Rate Shock in Future
Electric Bills
4. Idaho Leads Nation with Lowest Residential Electrical Rates
5. California State Senator ‘Deeply Troubled’ by Utility
Threats
6. Pacific Northwest Co-ops Work Around the Clock to Keep
Lights on Amid Raging Wildfires
7. Hoover Dam Is Set to Lose 40% of Its Maximum Power This
Year
8. In Idaho, Engineers Opened an Empty Chamber Inside Dworshak
Dam for the First Time in Half a Century & Filled It with Water to See
Whether Another Turbine Could Fit
9. Virginia: The Two Proposed Dam Projects in Wise County Are
Part of a Nationwide Renaissance of Hydropower
10. BHE Montana to Participate in CAISO’s Extended Day-Ahead
Market, Expanding Reliability & Delivering Customer Benefits
11. EIA Expects Highest Natural Gas Inventories in a Decade
Heading into Winter
12. News Release: Northwest Power and Conservation Council
Meets in Seattle to Discuss Approval of Draft Ninth Northwest Regional Power
Plan
13. DIY – Make Your Fan into a Cooling Center
14. In 2020, Engineers Pumped 225,000 Cubic Yards of Dredged
Sediment into the Columbia River; It Became Four New Islands Now Being Studied
as Salmon Habitat
15. Transient Orcas Surprise Visitors with Rare Appearance at
Seattle’s Ballard Locks
16. Work Resumes at Spokane Hatchery After Wildfire Evacuation
17. Nuclear Power Push Ramps Up Uranium Mill — And Tribal
Health Concerns
18. PacifiCorp Loses Appeal Over Washington’s Carbon Cap Law
19. Montana: Federal Circuit Dismisses Youth Climate Lawsuit
20. Experts Raise Concerns After Parts of Spokane River Lose
All Surface Water for Second Year
21. Verizon Offers $25,000 Reward to Catch Suspects Behind
California Fiber Cuts
22. The Farm Bill Fight That Will Shape Rural Broadband
23. The Data Center Backlash Is Building
24. Tesla Has to Fix 20,000 Vehicles with Too-Bright Headlights
It’s Known About Since 2024
25. U.S. Court Rules Meta, Other Tech Firms Must Face Thousands
of Lawsuits Over Social Media Addiction
26. El Niño Could Bring Highest Sea Levels Ever Recorded to the
California Coast
27. U.S. Sen. Wyden’s (OR) Wildfire Tax Relief Bill Passes Just
Before Congress Recesses, Goes to White House
28. U.S. Sen. Padilla (CA) Announces Plan to Reward Offshore
Wind Developers Who Stand Up to Trump Administration
29. Montana PSC Criticized for Responses to Water Problems,
Energy Rate Case
30. Oregon: Big Grass Fire Now Largest in State History, 35%
Contained
31. Washington State Fire Season Already Third Worst in
Decades; 1,125 Square Miles Burn
32. All Spokane Complex Fires Evacuation Levels Lifted in
Spokane County
33. U.S. Senators Urge End to Online Bets on Wildfires
34. Powerball Jackpot Increased to $1 Billion for Wednesday’s
Drawing
35. Guest Essay: ‘This Year Is Different’: The Water Reality
Idaho Can No Longer Ignore
36. Guest Essay: New Bonneville Administrator Faces Tall Order
37. The Need for Public Wi-Fi
Word of the Day
Grog • \GRAHG\ • noun – Alcoholic liquor; especially liquor (as rum) cut with water and now often served hot with lemon juice and sugar sometimes added.
“By golly, this is the WORST grog I’ve ever had,” croaked the sailor on the HMS Pinafore. “Watch your mouth,” muttered his fellow sailors. “The next thing you know, we’ll have to be swilling down our salt pork and pea soup with plain old water!”
In The Know: Eighteenth-century English admiral Edward Vernon reputedly earned the nickname “Old Grog” because he often wore a cloak made from grogram (a coarse, loosely woven fabric made of silk or silk blended with mohair or wool). In Old Grog’s day, sailors in the Royal Navy were customarily given a daily ration of rum, but in 1740 the admiral, concerned about the health of his men, ordered that the rum should be diluted with water. The decision wasn’t very popular with the sailors, who supposedly dubbed the mixture “grog” after Vernon. Today, “grog” can be used as a general term for any liquor, even undiluted, and someone who acts drunk or shaky can be called “groggy.”
1. Gov.
Newsom Won’t Extend Life of California’s Only Nuclear Power Plant. What That
Means (Yahoo! News)
https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/gov-newsom-won-t-extend-234108015.html
3.
Seattle City Light Customers Will See Rate Shock
in Future Electric Bills (The Center Square)
https://www.thecentersquare.com/washington/article_1eb10014-cee1-4ffd-8968-1b0ba75cb697.html
4.
Idaho Leads Nation with Lowest Residential
Electrical Rates (Idaho Business Review)
https://idahobusinessreview.com/2026/08/12/idaho-leads-nation-lowest-residential-electrical-rates/
5.
California State Senator ‘Deeply Troubled’ by Utility
Threats (Los Angeles Times, CA – Via Yahoo! News)
https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/senator-deeply-troubled-utility-threats-100000888.html
6.
Pacific Northwest Co-ops Work Around the Clock
to Keep Lights on Amid Raging Wildfires (National Rural Electric Cooperative
Association)
7.
Hoover Dam Is Set to Lose 40% of Its Maximum
Power This Year (Boing Boing)
https://boingboing.net/2026/08/12/hoover-dam-40-percent-power-drop.html
8.
In Idaho, Engineers Opened an Empty Chamber
Inside Dworshak Dam for the First Time in Half a Century & Filled It with Water
to See Whether Another Turbine Could Fit (Energies Media)
https://energiesmedia.com/idaho-engineers-hydroelectric-dam-turbine/
9.
Virginia: The Two Proposed Dam Projects in Wise
County Are Part of a Nationwide Renaissance of Hydropower (Cardinal News)
10.
BHE Montana to Participate in CAISO’s Extended
Day-Ahead Market, Expanding Reliability & Delivering Customer Benefits
(Morningstar)
11.
EIA Expects Highest Natural Gas Inventories in a
Decade Heading into Winter (U.S. Energy Information Administration)
https://www.eia.gov/pressroom/releases/press591.php
12.
News Release: Northwest Power and Conservation
Council Meets in Seattle to Discuss Approval of Draft Ninth Northwest Regional
Power Plan (News Release: EarthJustice)
Conservation &
Efficiency
13.
DIY – Make Your Fan into a Cooling Center (BC
Hydro - TikTok)
https://www.tiktok.com/@bchydro/video/7672545310337469712
Fish & Wildlife
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/133186604.cms
15.
Transient Orcas Surprise Visitors with Rare
Appearance at Seattle’s Ballard Locks (KOMO News, Seattle, WA)
16.
Work Resumes at Spokane Hatchery After Wildfire
Evacuation (Spokesman-Review, Spokane, WA – Paywall Advisory)
https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/aug/12/work-resumes-at-spokane-hatchery-after-wildfire-ev/
Environmental Afflatus –
Clean Up on Aisle Three
17.
Nuclear Power Push Ramps Up Uranium Mill — And
Tribal Health Concerns (Utah Public Radio)
Climate Change
Sequestration Vault
18.
PacifiCorp Loses Appeal Over Washington’s Carbon
Cap Law (Courthouse News Service)
https://www.courthousenews.com/washington-decarbonization/
19.
Montana: Federal Circuit Dismisses Youth Climate
Lawsuit (The Daily Montanan)
https://dailymontanan.com/2026/08/11/federal-circuit-dismisses-youth-climate-lawsuit/
Water, Water Anywhere?
20.
Experts Raise Concerns After Parts of Spokane
River Lose All Surface Water for Second Year (KHQ-TV, Spokane, WA)
London Calling
–Telecommunications
21.
Verizon Offers $25,000 Reward to Catch Suspects
Behind California Fiber Cuts (Broadband Breakfast)
22.
The Farm Bill Fight That Will Shape Rural
Broadband (The Daily Yonder)
https://dailyyonder.com/the-farm-bill-fight-that-will-shape-rural-broadband/2026/08/11/
HAL’s Internet Café
23.
The Data Center Backlash Is Building (Washington
Post – Via MSN News)
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/the-data-center-backlash-is-building/ar-AA29R1nC
I Sing the Car Electric
24.
Tesla Has to Fix 20,000 Vehicles with Too-Bright
Headlights It’s Known About Since 2024 (Gizmodo)
Public Relations,
Marketing & Media
Barrel O’ Green
Potpourri – Seething Stew of Science
26.
El Niño Could Bring Highest Sea Levels Ever
Recorded to the California Coast (Los Angeles Times, CA – Via Yahoo! News)
https://www.yahoo.com/news/weather-news/articles/el-ni-o-could-bring-100000919.html
Politics, Governance,
and Management
27.
U.S. Sen. Wyden’s (OR) Wildfire Tax Relief Bill
Passes Just Before Congress Recesses, Goes to White House (The Daily Montanan)
28.
U.S. Sen. Padilla (CA) Announces Plan to Reward
Offshore Wind Developers Who Stand Up to Trump Administration (MSN News)
29.
Montana PSC Criticized for Responses to Water
Problems, Energy Rate Case (The Daily Montanan)
Other Things to Know
About Today
30. Oregon:
Big Grass Fire Now Largest in State History, 35% Contained (The Oregonian, Portland,
OR)
31.
Washington State Fire Season Already Third Worst
in Decades; 1,125 Square Miles Burn (The Chronicle, Centralia, WA)
32.
All Spokane Complex Fires Evacuation Levels
Lifted in Spokane County (Spokesman-Review, Spokane, WA – Paywall Advisory)
https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/aug/11/all-spokane-complex-fires-evacuation-levels-lifted/
33.
U.S. Senators Urge End to Online Bets on Wildfires
(KGW-TV, Portland, OR)
34.
Powerball Jackpot Increased to $1 Billion for Wednesday’s
Drawing (KIRO Broadcasting, Seattle, WA)
Soapbox Serenade – Vox
Populi
35. Guest
Essay: ‘This Year Is Different’: The Water Reality Idaho Can No Longer Ignore
(Idaho Capital Sun)
36. Guest
Essay: New Bonneville Administrator Faces Tall Order (Aberdeen Daily World, WA)
37. The
Need for Public Wi-Fi (Pots & Pans)
https://potsandpansbyccg.com/2026/08/12/the-need-for-public-wifi/
Diversions - Alligators in the Sewer
‘Harry
Potter’ Fans Succeed in Moving Energy Construction Project to Avoid Dobby’s Grave
Britain’s Andy Green Sets
Another Speed Record, This Time for Fastest Run in a Hydrogen-Powered Car
This Dad Ran a 4:17
Stroller Mile with His Daughter—and Set an Unofficial World Record
https://www.runnersworld.com/news/a73395243/stroller-mile-world-record-dad/
Pacific Northwest
Outshines New England When It Comes to Leaf Peeping
https://kw3.com/fall-foliage-destinations-2026/
Song of the Day
John Williams – Dobby
Theme (Harry Potter Soundtrack)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Em0xL3gtfVw
Links & Paywall Advisory
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