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Joel Myer, Communicator Emeritus, edits The Energy News Digest.
Get the Early-Bird Rate for the 3 C’s Conference
Join customer service, credit, and collections professionals Oct. 13-15 in Anchorage, Alaska, for NWPPA’s 3 C’s Conference. This year’s conference will help you strengthen your communication skills, build resilience, prevent fraud, create a positive workplace culture, and more. Register by this Saturday, Aug. 29, to receive the early-bird rate and save $100.
To get even more value from your trip to Anchorage, come a day early for the optional pre-conference workshop, “Are You Talking to Me? Team Communication Strategies That Work.” Separate registration is required, and the early-bird deadline for the course ends this Friday, Aug. 28.
Hotshots – Today’s Top Five Stories
As Colorado River
Reservoirs Plummet, The Trump Administration Orders Water Cuts (Los Angeles
Times, CA – Via Yahoo! News)
https://www.yahoo.com/news/us/articles/colorado-river-reservoirs-plummet-trump-160111429.html
Conservation Group
Speaks Out Against TransAlta Centralia Gas Plant, Claims It’s An ‘Expensive
Retreat from Clean Energy Progress’ (The Chronicle, Centralia, WA)
FCC Considers Cuts to
Funds for Internet Access at Schools & Libraries (Christian Science
Monitor)
https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2026/0820/fcc-e-rate-libraries-schools
What We Know So Far
About the Hacking Campaign Against U.S. Water Systems (Cybersecurity Dive)
Tesla Is Pulling the
Plug on Its Solar Roof Tiles (Gizmodo)
https://gizmodo.com/tesla-is-pulling-the-plug-on-its-solar-roof-tiles-2000801552
News Highlights (See Stories Below)
1. Conservation Group Speaks Out Against TransAlta Centralia
Gas Plant, Claims It’s An ‘Expensive Retreat from Clean Energy Progress’
2. Fall River Electric Backs New Power Plant to Keep Eastern
Idaho’s Lights On
3. Idaho Power to Sell Its Oregon Service Territory for $154
Million to Eastern Oregon Utility
4. Thousands in Truckee, North Lake Tahoe Region Lost Power
Due to Hawk Fire in Nevada
5. America’s Hydropower Challenge Goes Beyond the West
6. Protecting the Grid from Wildfires
7. Tesla Is Pulling the Plug on Its Solar Roof Tiles
8. WA State: Quincy Solar Energy Center – Tapping into the Sun
9. Let There Be Sunlight: Vatican Plans Solar &
Agriculture Plant to Cover Its Electricity Needs
10. Hot Bites Bring Buoy 10 Rule Change, Offshore Salmon
Closure
11. Fall-Run Chinook Salmon Return to Olympia’s Deschutes
River, Viewable from 5th Ave Bridge
12. Record Gray Whale Deaths Hit Close to Home for Makah Tribe
13. Osprey Nests: When a Conservation Success Story Literally
Catches Fire, The Utilities Caught in the Middle Have to Choose Between Power
& Wildlife.
14. Earth Is Simmering in Its Hottest Water Temps on Record,
and That’s Bad for Fish & Us
15. World’s Oceans Hit Hottest Temperature on Record in August
16. As Colorado River Reservoirs Plummet, The Trump
Administration Orders Water Cuts
17. Nevada Files Suit Over Colorado River Plan
18. NASA Data Feeds River Forecasts as Snow Drought Effects
Linger
19. FCC Considers Cuts to Funds for Internet Access at Schools
& Libraries
20. What We Know So Far About the Hacking Campaign Against U.S.
Water Systems
21. UK Power Facility Disabled for Days After Suspected
State-Linked Cyberattack
22. Are Electric Vehicle Charging Stations Polluting the Air
That You Breathe in WA?
23. Is Vine Coming Back? Here’s What to Know
24. Near-Total Lunar Eclipse Is Coming Up with the Americas in
Prime Position
25. Ontario’s Doug Ford Says Canada Should Be Ready to Cut
Electricity, Critical Minerals to U.S. If Trade Fight Worsens
26. Why One Highway Exploded This Summer — And Why Many More
Are at Risk
27. Guest Essay: The Future of the Northwest’s Power Grid Is at
Risk. Where Is the Leadership?
28. Guest Essay: The $15 Million Question: How Many Lower Snake
River Dam Studies Are Enough?
Days of Our Lives – Today Is Hydropower Day
Cheers to Hydropower Day. Celebrate the water cycle that keeps power flowing every single day!
Silent snow comes down
Giver of power, comfort
Nature’s timeless gift
2. Fall
River Electric Backs New Power Plant to Keep Eastern Idaho’s Lights On (East
Idaho News, Idaho Falls, ID)
3. Idaho
Power to Sell Its Oregon Service Territory for $154 Million to Eastern Oregon Utility
(Oregon Public Broadcasting)
https://www.opb.org/article/2026/08/22/idaho-power-sell-oregon-service-territory/
4. Thousands
in Truckee, North Lake Tahoe Region Lost Power Due to Hawk Fire in Nevada (CBS
News)
https://www.cbsnews.com/sacramento/news/truckee-donner-utility-customers-power-outage-hawk-fire/
5. America’s
Hydropower Challenge Goes Beyond the West (Canary Media)
https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/hydropower/hydropower-drought-west-lake-mead
6. Protecting
the Grid from Wildfires (Idaho National Laboratory)
https://inl.gov/feature-story/protecting-the-grid-from-wildfires/
Renewable
Energy & Self Storage
7.
Tesla Is Pulling the Plug on Its Solar Roof
Tiles (Gizmodo)
https://gizmodo.com/tesla-is-pulling-the-plug-on-its-solar-roof-tiles-2000801552
8. WA
State: Quincy Solar Energy Center – Tapping into the Sun (Columbia Basin
Herald, Moses Lake, WA – via Yahoo! News)
https://www.yahoo.com/news/science/articles/tapping-sun-195400518.html
9. Let
There Be Sunlight: Vatican Plans Solar & Agriculture Plant to Cover Its
Electricity Needs (Reuters)
Fish
& Wildlife
10.
Hot Bites Bring Buoy 10 Rule Change, Offshore
Salmon Closure (The Oregonian, Portland, OR)
11. Fall-Run
Chinook Salmon Return to Olympia’s Deschutes River, Viewable from 5th Ave Bridge
(KOMO News, Seattle, WA)
12. Record
Gray Whale Deaths Hit Close to Home for Makah Tribe (KING-TV, Seattle, WA)
13. Osprey
Nests: When a Conservation Success Story Literally Catches Fire, The Utilities
Caught in the Middle Have to Choose Between Power & Wildlife. (Science
Blog)
Climate
Change Sequestration Vault
15. World’s
Oceans Hit Hottest Temperature on Record in August (The Guardian, UK)
Water,
Water Anywhere?
https://www.yahoo.com/news/us/articles/colorado-river-reservoirs-plummet-trump-160111429.html
17. Nevada
Files Suit Over Colorado River Plan (Courthouse News Service)
https://courthousenews.com/nevada-files-suit-over-colorado-river-plan/
18.
NASA Data Feeds River Forecasts as Snow Drought
Effects Linger (NASA)
https://science.nasa.gov/centers-and-facilities/goddard/nasa-river-forecasts-snow-drought/
London
Calling –Telecommunications
https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2026/0820/fcc-e-rate-libraries-schools
The
Wizarding World of Technology & Cybersecurity
20.
What We Know So Far About the Hacking Campaign
Against U.S. Water Systems (Cybersecurity Dive)
21. UK
Power Facility Disabled for Days After Suspected State-Linked Cyberattack (Cybersecurity
Dive)
https://www.cybersecuritydive.com/news/uk-power-facility-disabled-Iran-cyberattack/828599/
I
Sing the Car Electric
22. Are
Electric Vehicle Charging Stations Polluting the Air That You Breathe in WA? (KONA
Radio, Pasco, WA)
https://610kona.com/ixp/1135/p/ev-charging-pollution-concerns-wa/
Public
Relations, Marketing & Media
23. Is
Vine Coming Back? Here’s What to Know (KCRA-TV, Sacramento, CA)
https://www.kcra.com/article/vine-coming-back-explained/73509848
Barrel
O’ Green Potpourri – Seething Stew of Science
24. Near-Total
Lunar Eclipse Is Coming Up with the Americas in Prime Position (Associated
Press)
https://apnews.com/article/lunar-eclipse-moon-sun-3c47d7a9f1a7f1a5e6c96456e44395b8
Politics,
Governance, and Management
25. Ontario’s
Doug Ford Says Canada Should Be Ready to Cut Electricity, Critical Minerals to U.S.
If Trade Fight Worsens (Associated Press)
https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/us--canada-tariffs-144311118.html
Other
Things to Know About Today
26. Why
One Highway Exploded This Summer — And Why Many More Are at Risk (Washington
Post – Via Yahoo! News)
Soapbox
Serenade – Vox Populi
27.
Guest Essay: The Future of the Northwest’s Power
Grid Is at Risk. Where Is the Leadership? (Washington State Standard)
28.
Guest Essay: The $15 Million Question: How Many
Lower Snake River Dam Studies Are Enough? (Cascade Policy Institute)
Diversions - Alligators in the Sewer
How More Than 1,000
Artifacts Were Found in a Dumpster, Then Returned to Mexico
Buc-ee’s Chain Draws
Outcry in Ohio for Launching Fight Over a Mini Mart’s Beaver Logo
German Finger
Wrestling Championships Held in Bavaria
https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2026/08/24/germany-german-finger-wrestling-championships/3481787591764/
World's Fastest
Motorized Clog Shoe Exceeds 70 MPH
Song of the Day
James Taylor – Mexico
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcBvOH5Zv1w
Links & Paywall Advisory
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