Energy News Digest for December 5, 2012

All the links in today’s news digest lead to current stories. Please note that some media organizations update their web sites regularly, which may result in broken links in the future.

To subscribe, email jmyer@masonpud3.org

THE NEWS DIGEST ON TWITTER

Follow the news digest on Twitter for breaking news & notices:

http://twitter.com/energydigest

HOT SHOTS – TODAY’S TOP FIVE STORIES

Eugene Water & Electric Board Increases Rates - At A Public Hearing, Board Members Approve Raising The Average Monthly Bill For Customers by $8.75 (Eugene Register-Guard, OR)

http://www.registerguard.com/web/updates/29133969-55/eweb-percent-rate-increases-utility.html.csp

Power Line Opponents Speak Out at Bonneville Power Administration Informal Meeting (Longview Daily News, WA)

http://tdn.com/news/local/power-line-opponents-speak-out-at-informal-meeting/article_3af0a7a6-3eaa-11e2-afa2-001a4bcf887a.html

Editorial - Idaho Salmon: The $9,000 Sockeye? There Is a Better Answer (Idaho Statesman, Boise)

http://www.idahostatesman.com/2012/12/05/2369572/the-9000-sockeye-there-is-a-better.html

Home LEDs Starting to Look More Normal (GigaOM)

http://gigaom.com/cleantech/home-leds-starting-to-look-more-normal/

Mystery: How Much Will Californians Pay for Renewable Energy? (Renewable Energy World)

http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2012/12/mystery-how-much-will-californians-pay-for-renewable-energy?cmpid=rss

NEWS HIGHLIGHTS (Details Below)

• Eugene Water & Electric Board Increases Rates - At A Public Hearing, Board Members Approve Raising The Average Monthly Bill For Customers by $8.75
• Power Line Opponents Speak Out at Bonneville Power Administration Informal Meeting
• Idaho - Black Canyon Dam Project Begins - Adding New Hydroelectric Unit
• 2013 Budget Forecasts Stronger Bottom Line for Chelan PUD & No Electric Rate Increase
• Seagull into Power Line Causes Ballard Power Outage
• With a Little Help from Grant PUD - Soap Lake Adorns Town Center With 83-Year-Old Tree
• Hundreds Attend Spokane Hearing on Coal Exports
• Environmental Group Seeks to Curb Emissions from Existing Power Plants
• Could Wood Biomass Help Clean Up Coal-Fired Power Plants?
• Mystery Man Pays Georgia Power Bills for More Than a Dozen Customers
• Editorial - Idaho Salmon: The $9,000 Sockeye? There Is a Better Answer
• Yakima Nation Contests White Salmon River Gas Pipeline Construction in Washington State
• Sediment, Debris Clog Equipment at Elwha River Water Treatment Plant
• Mystery: How Much Will Californians Pay for Renewable Energy?
• Seven Myths about the Wind Production Tax Credit
• Can Reforming the Department of Energy Reinvigorate Clean Energy in Obama’s 2nd Term?
• Home LEDs Starting to Look More Normal
• Final Days for Snohomish PUD Deals on Clothes Washers & Fridge Recycling
• New Group Opposes Oregon’s Clean Fuels Plan
• Seattle’s Electric Vehicle Paradox
• Amazon May Have Big Plans for DuPont
• Google Fiber Considers, But Drops Plans to Include Phone Service
• Seattle City Attorney Nixes Plan to Give ‘Allowance’ to Gay Employees
• Obama Administration’s Fiscal Cliff Proposal Would Limit Tax Value of Municipal Bonds
• Wild Olympics Backers Call Clallam Jobs Study ‘Flawed’
• New Water Main being Constructed in Shelton
• Guilty Plea in McCleary Utility Theft
• Five Years After the Grays Harbor Storm - Are We Better Prepared

WORD OF THE DAY

Dundrearies • \DUNN-dreer-eeze\ • Noun - Long flowing sideburns

Bartholomew Hunting-Dance-The-Thames was well known in the upper crust circles as a leader in fashion and grooming for the “Bohemian” set. It wasn’t until after he had died (tragically in a freak cricket match involving the bale somehow getting stuck in his throat, years before the Heimlich maneuver had been invented) that the secret to his impressive dundrearies was discovered. He had tattooed various parts of his face, outlining the intricate shaving necessary for the grooming of beard & sideburns. The discovery was too late for the mortician, who after an impressive shaving job of his own on the dead noble, had no way of covering up the map-like lines in time for the open-casket ceremony in Saint Johns in London.

SHELTON FORECAST & WEATHER ALERTS

http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/forecast/mapclick.php?textfield1=47.213805&textfield2=-123.113412&site=all&smap=1&searchresult=shelton%2c%20wa%2c%20usa

ENERGY & UTILITY ISSUES

Eugene Water & Electric Board Increases Rates - At A Public Hearing, Board Members Approve Raising The Average Monthly Bill For Customers by $8.75 (Eugene Register-Guard, OR)

http://www.registerguard.com/web/updates/29133969-55/eweb-percent-rate-increases-utility.html.csp

Power Line Opponents Speak Out at Bonneville Power Administration Informal Meeting (Longview Daily News, WA)

http://tdn.com/news/local/power-line-opponents-speak-out-at-informal-meeting/article_3af0a7a6-3eaa-11e2-afa2-001a4bcf887a.html

Idaho - Black Canyon Dam Project Begins - Adding New Hydroelectric Unit (Emmett Messenger-Index, ID)

http://www.messenger-index.com/news/article_3b64d5a6-3e3f-11e2-8a90-001a4bcf887a.html

2013 Budget Forecasts Stronger Bottom Line for Chelan PUD & No Electric Rate Increase (North Central Washington TV)

http://www.ncwtv.com/2013-budget-forecasts-stronger-bottom-line-for-chelan-pud-and-no-electric-rate-increase-5826/

Seagull into Power Line Causes Ballard Power Outage (KING-TV, Seattle)

http://www.king5.com/news/local/More-than-5000-without-power-in-Ballard-182079681.html

With a Little Help from Grant PUD - Soap Lake Adorns Town Center With 83-Year-Old Tree (iFiber One News, Ephrata, WA)

http://www.ifiberone.com/news/grantcounty/soaplake/article_852f817c-3e71-11e2-b103-0019bb30f31a.html

Hundreds Attend Spokane Hearing on Coal Exports (Associated Press)

http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2019831462_apwanorthwestcoalexports.html

Environmental Group Seeks to Curb Emissions from Existing Power Plants (Washington Post)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/environmental-group-seeks-to-curb-emissions-from-existing-power-plants/2012/12/04/c727ce02-3e2d-11e2-ae43-cf491b837f7b_story.html?wprss=rss_national

Could Wood Biomass Help Clean Up Coal-Fired Power Plants? (Midwest Energy News)

http://www.midwestenergynews.com/2012/12/05/using-wood-to-clean-up-coal-emissions-metal-smelting/

Mystery Man Pays Georgia Power Bills for More Than a Dozen Customers (Atlanta Business Journal, GA)

http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/morning_call/2012/12/mystery-man-pays-georgia-power-bills.html

FISH & WILDLIFE

Editorial - Idaho Salmon: The $9,000 Sockeye? There Is a Better Answer (Idaho Statesman, Boise)

http://www.idahostatesman.com/2012/12/05/2369572/the-9000-sockeye-there-is-a-better.html

WATER & THE ENVIRONMENT

Yakima Nation Contests White Salmon River Gas Pipeline Construction In Washington State (Associated Press)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/04/yakima-nation-white-salmon-river_n_2237508.html

Sediment, Debris Clog Equipment at Elwha River Water Treatment Plant (Peninsula Daily News, Port Angeles, WA)

http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/article/20121205/NEWS/312059984/sediment-debris-clog-equipment-at-elwha-treatment-plant

RENEWABLE/ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

Mystery: How Much Will Californians Pay for Renewable Energy? (Renewable Energy World)

http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2012/12/mystery-how-much-will-californians-pay-for-renewable-energy?cmpid=rss

Seven Myths about the Wind Production Tax Credit (The Heritage Foundation)

http://blog.heritage.org/2012/12/04/7-myths-about-the-wind-production-tax-credit/

Can Reforming the Department of Energy Reinvigorate Clean Energy in Obama’s 2nd Term? (The Energy Collective)

http://theenergycollective.com/mstepp/151526/reshaping-department-energy-obama-s-second-term-institutional-reform-goals

CONSERVATION & EFFICIENCY

Home LEDs Starting to Look More Normal (GigaOM)

http://gigaom.com/cleantech/home-leds-starting-to-look-more-normal/

Final Days for Snohomish PUD Deals on Clothes Washers & Fridge Recycling (South Everett Beacon, WA)

http://south-everett.villagesoup.com/p/final-days-for-pud-deals-on-clothes-washers-and-fridge-recycling/933158

BARREL O’ GREEN POTPOURRI

New Group Opposes Oregon’s Clean Fuels Plan (Oregon Public Broadcasting)

http://ecotrope.opb.org/2012/12/new-group-opposes-oregons-clean-fuels-plan

Seattle’s Electric Vehicle Paradox - Seattle is among the nation’s hottest places for electric or hybrid vehicles, but is this really the right time to own an all-electric car? (Crosscut Seattle)

http://crosscut.com/2012/12/04/transportation/111702/seattles-ev-paradox/

TECHNOLOGY & TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Amazon May Have Big Plans for DuPont (Olympian, WA)

http://www.theolympian.com/2012/12/05/2342215/amazon-may-have-big-plans-for.html

Google Fiber Considers, But Drops Plans to Include Phone Service (Kansas City Business Journal, MO)

http://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/blog/2012/12/google-considers-drops-phone-service.html

POLITICS & GOVERNANCE

Seattle City Attorney Nixes Plan to Give ‘Allowance’ to Gay Employees (KIRO-TV, Seattle)

http://mynorthwest.com/?nid=11&sid=2144794

Obama Administration’s Fiscal Cliff Proposal Would Limit Tax Value of Municipal Bonds (American Public Power Association)

http://www.naylornetwork.com/app-ppd/articles/index-v2.asp?aid=198756&issueID=26902

GENERAL NEWS

Wild Olympics Backers Call Clallam Jobs Study ‘Flawed’ (Peninsula Daily News, Port Angeles, WA)

http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/article/20121205/news/312059995/wild-olympics-backers-call-clallam-study-8216-flawed-8217

New Water Main being Constructed in Shelton (KMAS Radio, Shelton, WA)

http://www.masoncountydailynews.com/news/news-page/44932-new-water-main-in-shelton

Guilty Plea in McCleary Utility Theft (Aberdeen Daily World, WA)

http://thedailyworld.com/sections/news/local/guilty-plea-mccleary-utility-theft.html

Five Years After the Grays Harbor Storm - Are We Better Prepared? (Aberdeen Daily World, WA)

http://thedailyworld.com/sections/news/local/five-years-after-storm-%E2%80%94-are-we-better-prepared.html

DIVERSIONS

A $100 Guitar Makes a 30,000-Mile Odyssey

http://www.npr.org/blogs/therecord/2012/12/04/166430924/a-100-guitar-makes-a-30-000-mile-odyssey?ft=1&f=3

Decoys Catch Illegal Oregon Elk Hunters

http://www.nwcn.com/news/182027441.html

Voyager 1 Enters Unknown Region of Solar System

http://www.nwcn.com/news/182029091.html

SONG OF THE DAY

Electric Light Orchestra - All Over the World

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3N9SVfs0jg

Energy News Digest for December 4, 2012

All the links in today’s news digest lead to current stories. Please note that some media organizations update their web sites regularly, which may result in broken links in the future.

To subscribe, email jmyer@masonpud3.org

THE NEWS DIGEST ON TWITTER

Follow the news digest on Twitter for breaking news & notices:

http://twitter.com/energydigest

HOT SHOTS – TODAY’S TOP FIVE STORIES

Rainfall & Slide Danger - Special Weather Statement Issued by NWS Seattle

http://alerts.weather.gov/cap/wwacapget.php?x=WA124CD5396384.SpecialWeatherStatement.124CD546D2F8WA.SEWSPSSEW.320cbd304f172ea51f4cd489deddd448

California Lacks Strategy on Alternative Energy, Report Says - Using more renewable sources could mean high bills for electrical customers & damage to the environment (Los Angeles Times, CA)

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-1204-hoover-energy-20121204,0,7773457.story

California Energy Price Manipulation Continues on Two Fronts (Santa Monica Mirror, CA)

http://www.smmirror.com/articles/California/California-Energy-Price-Manipulation-Continues-On-Two-Fronts/36202

Project to Recharge Aquifers with Columbia River Water (Northwest Public Radio)

http://nwpr.org/post/project-recharge-aquifers-columbia-river-water

Oregon - Clatsop County Commissioners Organizing Rally in Salem to Support of Gillnetters (Coast River Business Journal, Astoria, OR)

http://www.crbizjournal.com/news/regional/article_8bae4d86-02b4-519f-9216-a92b2aac3360.html

NEWS HIGHLIGHTS (Details Below)

• California Energy Price Manipulation Continues on Two Fronts
• New Jersey’s Largest Utility Sees Sandy Costs Up to $300 Million
• Spate of Harsh Weather in New England Shifts Sentiment on Trees
• California - Coroner Identifies Pacific Gas & Electric Worker Who Died in West Sacramento Crash
• Are Westgate Residents More in the Dark?
• Students’ Options Sprout from Science Technology Engineering & Math Curriculum
• Public Power Utilities Declare Ratepayer Concerns as Number One Issue in 2013, Tantalus Says
• Yucca Mountain is Dead. Long Live Yucca Mountain!
• Oregon - Clatsop County Commissioners Organizing Rally in Salem to Support of Gillnetters
• Columbia River Gill Net Plan Vote Is Set Friday in Portland
• Fast-Growing Salmon May Never Wind Up on Your Plate
• Project to Recharge Aquifers with Columbia River Water
• High Court Says Government Can Be Liable for Flooding from Government-Owned Dams
• California Lacks Strategy on Alternative Energy, Report Says - Using more renewable sources could mean high bills for electrical customers & damage to the environment
• Outlook for Offshore Wind: Dark & Stormy
• Denmark Moves to Cool Its Red-Hot Solar Energy Market
• City of Seattle’s LED Streetlight Improvements Enhance Public Safety
• New Plastic Lighting Saves Energy. Goodbye, Fluorescent Lights?
• Tree Power - How Many Pounds of Carbon Dioxide Does a Forest Absorb In a Typical Year
• Nurseryman Plants Clones of Long-Dead Redwoods, Sequoias in Oregon
• Weekend’s Dump Truck’s Mishaps Shows Vulnerability of East Jefferson Telecommunications
• Payment in Lieu of Taxes - Bremerton City Council Swallows Hard over ‘Temporary’ Utility Fees
• City of Olympia May Ban Homeless from Its Hall
• Rainfall & Slide Danger - Special Weather Statement Issued by NWS Seattle
• Stormy Night on Tap As Next Weather System Blows Through
• Elma Robbery Suspects from Shelton
• One Killed, One Injured in Olympia Tavern Stabbing
• Mason County Adopts 2013 Budget
• Are You Ready for Washington’s New Carbon Monoxide Detector Law?

WORD OF THE DAY

Scumble • \SKUM-bull\ • Verb - 1a: to make (as color or a painting) less brilliant by covering with a thin coat of opaque or semi opaque color applied with a nearly dry brush b: to apply (a color) in this manner 2: to soften the lines or colors of (a drawing) by rubbing lightly

“Class, today we’ll be practicing shading in our pencil drawings using blending stumps,” chirped the short, bright-eyed art instructor to her dullard elective students. “Your efforts to effectively scumble your drawings to get the best effect will have an impact on your final grade.”

(Yawn…need more coffee to wipe away the cobwebs)

SHELTON FORECAST & WEATHER ALERTS

http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/forecast/mapclick.php?textfield1=47.213805&textfield2=-123.113412&site=all&smap=1&searchresult=shelton%2c%20wa%2c%20usa

ENERGY & UTILITY ISSUES

California Energy Price Manipulation Continues on Two Fronts (Santa Monica Mirror, CA)

http://www.smmirror.com/articles/California/California-Energy-Price-Manipulation-Continues-On-Two-Fronts/36202

New Jersey’s Largest Utility Sees Sandy Costs Up to $300 Million (Associated Press)

http://www.tri-cityherald.com/2012/12/04/2192893/njs-largest-utility-sees-sandy.html

Spate of Harsh Weather in New England Shifts Sentiment on Trees (NY Times)

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/04/us/storms-topple-new-england-trees-and-raise-fears.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

California - Coroner Identifies Pacific Gas & Electric Worker Who Died in West Sacramento Crash (Sacramento Bee, CA)

http://blogs.sacbee.com/crime/archives/2012/12/coroner-identifies-pge-worker-who-died-in-west-sac-crash.html

Are Westgate Residents More in the Dark? (My Edmonds News, WA)

http://myedmondsnews.com/2012/12/are-westgate-residents-more-in-the-dark/

Students’ Options Sprout from Science Technology Engineering & Math Curriculum (Vancouver Columbian, WA)

http://www.columbian.com/news/2012/dec/02/options-sprout-from-stem-schools-math-science/

Public Power Utilities Declare Ratepayer Concerns as Number One Issue in 2013, Tantalus Says (Electric Energy Online)

http://www.electricenergyonline.com/?page=show_news&rss=1&id=168015

Yucca Mountain is Dead. Long Live Yucca Mountain! (The Energy Collective)

http://theenergycollective.com/skutnik/151956/yucca-mountain-dead-long-live-yucca-mountain

FISH & WILDLIFE

Oregon - Clatsop County Commissioners Organizing Rally in Salem to Support of Gillnetters (Coast River Business Journal, Astoria, OR)

http://www.crbizjournal.com/news/regional/article_8bae4d86-02b4-519f-9216-a92b2aac3360.html

Columbia River Gill Net Plan Vote Is Set Friday in Portland (Salem Statesman-Review, OR)

http://community.statesmanjournal.com/blogs/hookandbullet/2012/12/03/gill-net-plan-vote-is-set-friday-in-portland

Fast-Growing Salmon May Never Wind Up on Your Plate (Spokesman Review, Spokane, WA)

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2012/dec/04/fast-growing-fish-may-never-wind-up-on-your-plate/

WATER & THE ENVIRONMENT

Project to Recharge Aquifers with Columbia River Water (Northwest Public Radio)

http://nwpr.org/post/project-recharge-aquifers-columbia-river-water

High Court Says Government Can Be Liable for Flooding from Government-Owned Dams (Associated Press)

http://seattletimes.com/html/politics/2019824662_apussupremecourtflooding.html

RENEWABLE/ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

California Lacks Strategy on Alternative Energy, Report Says - Using more renewable sources could mean high bills for electrical customers & damage to the environment (Los Angeles Times, CA)

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-1204-hoover-energy-20121204,0,7773457.story

Outlook for Offshore Wind: Dark & Stormy (NY Times)

http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/12/04/outlook-for-offshore-wind-dark-and-stormy/?partner=rss&emc=rss

Denmark Moves to Cool Its Red-Hot Solar Energy Market (Forbes Magazine)

http://www.forbes.com/sites/justingerdes/2012/11/30/denmark-moves-to-cool-its-red-hot-solar-energy-market/

CONSERVATION & EFFICIENCY

City of Seattle’s LED Streetlight Improvements Enhance Public Safety (KCPQ-TV, Seattle/Tacoma, WA)

http://q13fox.com/2012/12/04/streetlight-improvements-enhance-public-safety/

New Plastic Lighting Saves Energy. Goodbye, Fluorescent Lights? (Christian Science Monitor)

http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/Energy-Voices/2012/1203/New-plastic-lighting-saves-energy.-Goodbye-fluorescent-lights

CLIMATE CHANGE SEQUESTRATION VAULT

Tree Power - How Many Pounds of Carbon Dioxide Does a Forest Absorb In a Typical Year (NY Times)

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/04/science/how-many-pounds-of-carbon-dioxide-does-our-forest-absorb.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=0

BARREL O’ GREEN POTPOURRI

Nurseryman Plants Clones of Long-Dead Redwoods, Sequoias in Oregon (Associated Press)

http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2019822116_redwoodclones04.html

TECHNOLOGY & TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Weekend’s Dump Truck’s Mishaps Shows Vulnerability of East Jefferson Telecommunications (Peninsula Daily News, Port Angeles, WA)

http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/article/20121204/news/312049998/dump-truck-8217-s-mishaps-shows-vulnerability-of-east-jefferson

POLITICS & GOVERNANCE

Payment in Lieu of Taxes - Bremerton City Council Swallows Hard over ‘Temporary’ Utility Fees (Kitsap Sun, Bremerton, WA)

http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2012/nov/30/bremerton-city-council-swallows-hard-over-fees/

City of Olympia May Ban Homeless from Its Hall (Olympian, WA)

http://www.theolympian.com/2012/12/04/2340970/city-may-ban-homeless-from-its.html

GENERAL NEWS

Rainfall & Slide Danger - Special Weather Statement Issued by NWS Seattle

http://alerts.weather.gov/cap/wwacapget.php?x=WA124CD5396384.SpecialWeatherStatement.124CD546D2F8WA.SEWSPSSEW.320cbd304f172ea51f4cd489deddd448

Stormy Night on Tap As Next Weather System Blows Through (KOMO-TV, Seattle)

http://www.komonews.com/news/local/Stormy-night-on-tap-as-next-weather-system-blows-through-181923691.html

Elma Robbery Suspects from Shelton (KMAS Radio, Shelton, WA)

http://masoncountydailynews.com/news/news-page/44834-elma-robbery-suspects-from-shelton

One Killed, One Injured in Olympia Tavern Stabbing (Olympian, WA)

http://www.theolympian.com/2012/12/04/2341240/1-killed-1-injured-in-olympia.html

Mason County Adopts 2013 Budget (Mason Web-TV, Shelton, WA)

http://masonwebtv.com/archives/8489

Are You Ready for Washington’s New Carbon Monoxide Detector Law? (KING-TV, Seattle)

http://www.king5.com/news/local/Are-you-ready-for-new-Carbon-Monoxide-detector-law-181925121.html

DIVERSIONS

Teen Bragging Online About Pulling Off Bank Robbery Must’ve Thought No One Watches YouTube

http://consumerist.com/2012/12/04/teen-bragging-online-about-pulling-off-bank-robbery-mustve-thought-no-one-watches-youtube/

Whisky Saves Man’s Eyesight after Being Blinded by Vodka

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10851152

It Takes 20 Seconds Before People Get Annoyed About Waiting for the Elevator

http://gizmodo.com/5965382/it-takes-20-seconds-before-people-get-annoyed-about-waiting-for-the-elevator

Bremerton Man Accused of Slipping Meth to Wife, Hoping to Addict Her

http://www.king5.com/news/local/Bremerton-man-accused-of-slipping-meth-to-wife-182019601.html

SONG OF THE DAY

Manfred Mann’s Earth Band - Blinded by the Light (“…wrapped up like a deuce, another runner in the night…”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fe4sbTBNtGQ

Blinded By the Light - Bruce Springsteen

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjxbOe7p8C0