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WEI Member News Agreement Sets Course for Relicensing of Carmen-Smith Hydro Project Chelan County PUD Authorizes Cashmere Electric System Purchase Chelan PUD commissioners brought a four-year effort to a close by agreeing to purchase the 1,200- customer Cashmere electric system effective on Oct. 30. More Edison International and USC Launch Third Annual Edison Challenge Competition Middle school and high school students are being encouraged to create original science projects related to energy and the environment for the third annual Edison Challenge, a competition co-sponsored by Edison International and USC. School teams were able to register for the event until Oct. 31. More Idaho Power and PGE Sign MOU for Transmission Projects in Eastern Oregon Idaho Power and Portland General Electric (PGE) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) as the basis for cooperation on proposed transmission lines originating near the city of Boardman in eastern Oregon. More Kwadacha First Nation Approves Historic Agreement with BC Hydro The Kwadacha First Nation has ratified a Final Agreement with BC Hydro and the Province that addresses historic damages from the creation and operation of the W.A.C. Bennett Dam and Williston Reservoir and builds opportunities for community economic and cultural development for future generations. More LADWP Denounces CPUC/CEC Cap-and-Trade Proposal Los Angeles Department of Water and Power CEO and General Manager David Nahai reiterated LADWP's commitment to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions but denounced the cap and trade proposal by the California Public Utilities Commission/California Energy Commission for the electric sector as flawed, and called it a strategy for a permanent wealth transfer from Southern California public power agencies to investor-owned utilities and other for-profit interests. More NorthWestern Energy Receives Fifth ServiceOne Award for Excellence in Customer Care NorthWestern Energy recently was awarded its fifth straight ServiceOne award for excellence in customer care from PA Consulting Group, the management, systems and technology consultancy. More NV Energy Purchase of Bighorn Generating Facility Completed NV Energy announced today the completion of the acquisition of the 598-megawatt Bighorn Generating Facility from a subsidiary of Reliant Energy, Inc. The purchase by Nevada Power Company, d/b/a NV Energy, amounted to approximately $510 million, including inventory and other closing costs and adjustments. More Pacific Power and Oregon HEAT Team Up to Help Keep Families Warm Pacific Power and Oregon HEAT are launching their annual statewide program to help some of Oregon’s most vulnerable residents pay for the electricity they need this winter. Pacific Power customers are urged to look for donation envelopes included with their November electricity bills. More PGE Rolls Out Largest Solar Project in Pacific Northwest Portland General Electric and its partners have rolled out the largest solar project in the Pacific Northwest, which is expected to begin producing up to 1.1 megawatts of electricity for PGE customers by December. More PSE Awarded New 50-Year License for Baker Hydropower Facility Puget Sound Energy (utility subsidiary of Puget Energy) has received a new, 50-year federal operating license for the utility’s largest hydropower facility, the 190-megawatt (MW) Baker River Hydroelectric Project in Skagit and Whatcom counties in Northwest Washington state. More Ruby Pipeline Shipper Receives Favorable California Regulatory Decision El Paso Corporation has announced that the anchor shipper on El Paso's Ruby interstate natural gas pipeline project, Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), recently received a favorable proposed decision regarding the project from a California Public Utilities Commission administrative law judge. More SMUD Releases Request for Offers for Carbon Offsets The Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) released a Request for Offers (RFO) for 45,000 tons of carbon offsets to be delivered annually beginning in 2010. Proposals will be due mid-December 2008. More Snohomish County PUD to Support Local Solar Energy Demonstration Projects Snohomish County Public Utility District is seeking proposals from local organizations for solar energy demonstration projects to be installed on new or existing buildings in the utility’s service area. Proposals were due on November 7, 2008. More SRP Plans Two Pinal County Natural Gas Power Plants Rest of the West $300,000 Xcel Energy Foundation Grant Nets Early Results in Clean Energy Technology Research As the international discussion on clean energy continues, the Colorado Energy Research Institute and its partners recently demonstrated the initial results of research funded by a $300,000 grant from Xcel Energy through its Foundation. The research will lead to cleaner energy and a cleaner environment in Colorado. More PG&E Interconnects 25,000th Net Metered Solar Customer in Northern and Central California Pacific Gas and Electric Company recently celebrated the 25,000th net metered solar interconnection in its northern and central California service area, representing almost half of the nation’s customer-owned solar. Net energy metering allows eligible renewable customers to offset the cost of their electric usage with energy they export to the power grid. More SDG&E and SoCal Gas Among IOUs Teaming Up with State to Save Energy with 'Green Building Initiative' It’s not exactly a “get-out-of-prison-free” card, but a new innovative, statewide public-private partnership will help pay for energy-saving building retrofits at more than a dozen prisons in California. More On the Move Susan Clark Elected to Sierra Pacific Resources Board of Directors More Jim Piro to Become CEO of Portland General Electric More Spectra Energy Announces New Senior Executive Team More Sierra Pacific Resources Names Gary Lavey Vice President of Internal Audit More Gary King, Paul Lau Named to New Executive Positions at SMUD More SMUD General Manager Fills Three New Executive Positions and Two New Manager Positions More Avista Names Bill Pickett as New Othello Operations Manager More NorthWestern Energy Names Dan Wolf as New Kearney Area Manager More Jeff Ceccarelli Honored by UNR College of Engineering More News Global Financial Crisis Squeezes U.S. and European Carbon Reduction Efforts Claiming that the economic crisis makes new costs for fossil-fuel consumption potentially disastrous, some European industries and even some national governments are protesting the European Union’s goal of reducing greenhouse emissions by 20 percent by 2020. More Solar Projects May Suffer From Credit Crunch Bailout Bill Includes Tax Breaks for Smart Grid Technologies A measure permitting utilities to more rapidly write off investments in “smart” meters and other smart-grid equipment was written into the recent $700 billion bailout bill passed by Congress. More Locally Owned Utilities Hope for Federal Aid CARB Releases Wide-Reaching GHG Emissions Reduction Plan Kulongoski Unveils Ambitious Climate Change Agenda Mayors’ Study Predicts 4.2 Million Green Jobs by 2038 Colorado Claims State Created 90,000 Green Jobs GAO finds CO2 Offsets Unregulated, Difficult to Verify National Transmission Grid Gains Support NERC Says Reliability Requires More Transmission, Integration of Renewables IEA Urges More Vigorous Pursuit of Carbon Capture Technologies Fuel Cells Could Improve Battery Capacity Rooftop Wind Turbines Connected to Northern California Grid Western Natural Gas Market Review More Western LNG Update Oregon LNG Licensing Race Heats Up More NorthernStar Asks FERC to Halt Processing Competitor’s Application More More LNG Terminals Request Export Authority More U.S. LNG Demand Could Increase Dramatically by 2016 More To sponsor Western Energy News, please contact WEI at 503 231-1994.
November 2008 News Team |
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November 2008
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