      |
WEI Member News
TransCanada Begins Open Season for Pipeline from U.S. Rockies to U.S. Midwest In early April, TransCanada Corporation announced the start of a binding open season process for a proposed natural gas transmission pipeline that would move natural gas supply from the U.S. Rockies basins to markets in the U.S. Midwest. More Southern California Edison Launches Commercial Scale Assessment of Advanced Coal Technologies Southern California Edison will conduct the nation's first feasibility study combining several advanced coal technologies at full commercial scale. SCE will make the study results available to all interested parties. More Oregon Wild, PacifiCorp Reach Agreement on Link River Dam The conservation organization Oregon Wild and multi-state public utility PacifiCorp have reached a settlement on the hydroelectric power operations of Link River Dam in Klamath Falls, Oregon. More PSE's Efficiency Plans Offer Customer Incentives, Energy Savings With climate change issues of increasing concern and wholesale energy costs on the rise, Puget Sound Energy is launching new energy efficiency offerings and increased incentives to help customers conserve electricity and natural gas and save on their energy bills. More SMUD and Woodside Homes Will Build Almost 1,500 Solar Homes Nearly 1,500 solar-powered, super energy-efficient SolarSmart homes will be built in the Sacramento area in an agreement between SMUD and homebuilder Woodside Homes. More Nevada Power Company to Acquire Bighorn Generating Plant from Reliant Energy Nevada Power Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sierra Pacific Resources, has reached an agreement with Reliant Energy, Inc. to acquire Reliant’s Bighorn Generating Station. More BC Hydro Conservation Advisory Committee Releases First Report BC Hydro's Electricity Conservation and Efficiency Advisory Committee has released its first annual report, featuring innovative recommendations that will encourage customers to make a dramatic and permanent reduction in their electricity use. More Avista Presents Energy Efficiency Rebate to Roseburg Public Schools Incentives offered by Avista to its Oregon natural gas customers have resulted in a $102,042 rebate to the Roseburg Public Schools for energy efficiency upgrades to four of the district’s schools. More
Chelan County PUD Honored for Security Measures Chelan County PUD was honored at the annual conference of the National Hydropower Association for the comprehensive security program developed by the PUD to protect people and infrastructure following 9/11. More
City Light Named Outstanding Steward of America's Waters Seattle City Light has been named one of five Outstanding Stewards of America's Waters by the National Hydropower Association. More LADWP Recognized as a Climate Change Leader The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power was recently recognized as winner of the 2008 Green California Leadership Award for Climate Change at the Green California Summit in Sacramento. More NW Natural Passes 60,000 Mark for Paperless Customers PGE’s Residential Green Power Program No. 1 for Third Year
Sierra Pacific Files for Decrease in Electric Rates Sierra Pacific Power Company filed in April with the California Public Utilities Commission to reduce rates by $12.2 million, or an overall 15.2 percent, for its California electric customers. More Terasen Employees Partner with Community Living Victoria Residents at a Community Living Victoria group home will experience a more comfortable living environment thanks to a $30,000 corporate contribution and the volunteer efforts of Terasen. More On the Move
No April Announcements
News
New Business Models Put Solar In Customers’ Financial Reach In the Silicon Valley, a start-up company called Sun Run will install a 3.8 KW solar photovoltaic system on a customer’s roof for as little as $6,000—after which that customer will continue to purchase the electricity generated by the system at a rate lower than that charged by local utilities. More
Rush for New Renewables Projects Creates Alliance among NW Utilities The recent passage of renewable energy standards in Oregon and Washington have sent utilities rushing to site new power projects—but the glut of requests is causing delays in those projects’ siting and construction. More Largest Investor Backs Out of Montana Coal Plant Project Citing financial questions and environmental uncertainties, the largest investor in a planned coal-fired plant near Great Falls, Montana, has backed out of the project. More TransCanada and Enbridge Ready to Work with BP and ConocoPhillips on Alaska Pipeline TransCanada Corp. and Enbridge, Inc. have announced they will work with North Slope producers BP and ConocoPhillips on a $30-billion gas pipeline in North Alaska. More Utilities Seek to Accommodate Plug-In Hybrid Electric Cars Utilities are forming alliances with automakers and tech companies to develop technology that can control when and how quickly a plug-in vehicle is re-charged—and potentially keep track of the tab. More Deal with Tribes Could Increase BPA Rates A deal between the U.S. government and the Columbia River basin tribes could result in a rate increase of 2 to 4 percent for federal hydroelectric power. More Environmentally Friendly Companies Face Financial Challenge A recent study found that 46 companies lost a total of $16 billion in market value after joining the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Climate Leaders, a government-industry partnership advocating greenhouse gas reduction measures. More NRC Responds to Concerns about Proposal to Import Nuclear Waste In April, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued a so-called “fact sheet” addressing EnergySolutions’ proposed importation of low-level radioactive waste from Italy. More Delays at Yucca Mountain Spur Interim Storage Plans Slow progress at the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste disposal site is making legislators and regulators increasingly impatient. More Texans Could Pay Billions for Wind Power Transmission Preliminary estimates suggest Texas ratepayers could wind up paying between $3 and $6.4 billion for the construction of new transmission lines required to connect wind-power facilities to the state grid. More Arizona Hopes Edison Won’t Pursue FERC Override Arizona regulators are hoping that the FERC will not overturn the state’s denial of a proposed Southern California Edison power line from Phoenix to Palm Springs, California. More
Europe Increases Reliance on Coal Italy’s biggest producer of electricity, Enel, is converting a large power plant from oil to coal. In fact, over the next five years, the share of Italy’s electricity produced from coal will rise from 14 to 33 percent. More Wind Turbines May Cause Noise-Related Illness Scientists are beginning to investigate claims that noise from wind turbines can have a negative impact on people’s health. More Natural Gas Prices May Increase This Summer Though there’s no reason to expect a natural gas shortage next winter, experts are concerned that prices, already higher than normal, could continue to rise over the summer. More Canadian-Japanese Team Makes Gas Extraction Breakthrough At the Mallick drilling rig high in the Mackenzie Delta, researchers from Canada and Japan have managed to produce a sustained flow of natural gas from ice-like methane gas hydrates. More Western Natural Gas Market Review More
Mexican LNG Facility Successfully Unloads Test Shipment More
ExxonMobil Projects Major LNG Growth More
LNG Supply Diversions Demonstrate Need for Contingency Planning More
Public Battles, Legal Challenges Follow County Approval of Bradwood Landing Terminal More
To sponsor Western Energy News, please contact WEI at 503 231-1994.
May
2008 News Team |
May 2008
|
