Policy
Seattle Times: Snake River barging drop: new factor in dams debate?
Federal rulings on salmon protection continue to raise questions about dams on the Lower Snake River and the future of Lewiston, Idaho, as an inland port city. Now some wheat farmers are turning away from river barges and back to trains as their lowest-cost, most-efficient shipping option…
Read MoreGuest column: Montana needs fair access to renewable energy markets
Earlier this month, NorthWestern Energy officially dedicated its new 40-megawatt wind farm, Spion Kop, near Great Falls. The wind farm is already exceeding expectations and NorthWestern Energy deemed it a “phenomenal” energy resource providing cheap, clean energy for thousands of Montana households.
Spion Kop’s success is a timely reminder of Montana’s ability to contribute to the nation’s clean energy needs. Montana could potentially supply thousands of megawatts of cost-effective, clean energy to the Pacific Northwest, California and the Southwest…
Read the full article at the Bozeman Daily Chronicle.
Read MoreConfronting Idaho Power's coal plans
The outcome of Idaho Power’s latest case at the Idaho Public Utilities Commission could affect the state’s energy picture for decades to come. If Idaho Power gets its way, the company and its customers will be married to a fleet of dirty coal plants for a very long time. Read more at the Snake River Alliance blog…
Read MoreBonneville Power Administration makes compelling ‘Case for Conservation’
On June 28, the Bonneville Power Administration released a significant study showing that its energy efficiency investments have saved the agency at least $750 million and likely more than $1.3 billion dollars over the last 10 years. BPA savings translate into savings for Northwest public utilities – and thus for the families and business they serve…
Read MoreIdaho Energy Update from Snake River Alliance
Idaho Power’s request to the Public Utilities Commission for approval of nearly $130 million in coal plant improvements is beginning to attract attention, and the public will have a chance to weigh in later this summer. Meanwhile, it turns out that Alternate Energy Holdings, the nomadic nuclear power plant developer, picked a Payette County reactor site that also happens to be home to a plant species the federal government says needs protection from activities such as nuclear power plants…
Read MoreGreat Falls Tribune: Wind at Spion Kop wind farm 'phenomenal'
Wind at NorthWestern Energy’s new 40-megawatt wind farm, called Spion Kop, is “phenomenal,” said John Hines, the regulated utility’s vice president of supply.
Officials with NorthWestern, turbine manufacturer General Electric, developer CompassEnergies and Judith Basin County gathered near a substation to celebrate the completion of the wind farm, which has been operating since December. It’s located 50 miles east of Great Falls.
Read the full article online at the Great Falls Tribune
Read MoreBig wins for clean energy in PSE case
A combination of rulings that some are calling the most important utility regulatory decision in decades paves the way for Puget Sound Energy to boost energy efficiency savings, make low-income families’ homes more livable and facilitate a fair and orderly end to coal-fired power production in WA state…
Read MoreThe Olympian: Olympia takes position against coal
The Olympia City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to pass a resolution opposing the construction of coal export facilities in the Northwest.
The resolution states the council’s opinion, but exerts no control over the shipment of coal through the city or the construction of coal terminals, which in this state are proposed for Longview and near Bellingham.
Read more here online at: The Olympian.com
Read MorePortland Tribune: Oregon hits 2010 emissions target
Three years after the fact, Oregon can now boast that the state reached its first official milestone for stemming climate change — halting the growth of greenhouse gas emissions by 2010 and starting to reduce those emissions.
But the state is nowhere near where it needs to be to hit its second milestone — ratcheting back greenhouse gas emissions to 10 percent below 1990 baseline levels by 2020…
Read the full article at The Portland Tribune.
Read MoreInslee and Kitzhaber can lead a Columbia resolution – Editorials – The Olympian
For 12 years, Washington and Oregon have been on opposite sides of the Columbia Basin salmon deadlock. But Washington’s new governor, Jay Inslee, is the right leader at the right time to partner with Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber so the two states can lead the Northwest to shared and lasting solutions for salmon, energy and agriculture.
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