Topics
Portland getting solarized
Several companies have been working with the Energy Trust of Oregon and the city of Portland to solarize the city. The project goes from neighborhood to neighborhood, with hundreds of customers signing for installation of photovoltaic cells. So Portland is experiencing a huge penetration of solar power at very reasonable costs thanks to economies of scale…
Avista reaches settlement with stakeholders in latest rate case
Spokane-based Avista Corp., which provides electric and natural gas service to much of northern Idaho, has joined the staff of the Idaho Public Utilities Commission (PUC) in asking the Commission to approve a rate case settlement agreement that could mean higher rates – though not as high as the utility first sought.
Regulators weigh utilities’ efficiency targets in Washington state
Following a lengthy process, the Washington’s Utilities and Transportation Commission approved PacifiCorp’s and Avista Utilities’ targets for meeting the energy efficiency provisions of the state’s clean energy law. Initiative 937 requires the state’s major electric utilities to capture all of the cost-effective conservation in their service territories beginning in 2010.
Working Snake River project seeks broad involvement, political leadership to protect Northwest wild salmon
Working Snake River for Washington, a collaboration of clean energy proponents, conservationists, salmon and orca advocates, commercial and recreational fishermen, farmers and businesses, is a response to the government’s two-decade, multi-billion-dollar failure to craft a lawful, science-based federal plan that protects the Columbia Basin’s endangered wild salmon and steelhead.
RESOURCES – REGIONAL AND BY STATE
What you can do to find the most energy savings for your dollar Energy Star, a program of the U.S Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency, offers information about planning, financing and executing energy efficiency projects of all sizes. Its guide for small business, Putting Energy Into Profits, is particularly useful. Energy Star…
Next for up Boardman: natural gas
The Daily Journal of Commerce Oregon talks about the eventual shutdown of the Boardman coal-fired power plant and what might replace the power it generates. You can read the article here.
Energy and Conservation Groups Seek to Preserve State Energy Efficiency Rules
Energy and conservation groups today filed court papers to defend Washington’s energy efficiency standards – standards that will save consumers millions of dollars and reduce harmful global warming pollution – against a lawsuit that aims to dismantle them.
Washington state Rep. John McCoy honored for protecting I-937
Washington State Rep. John McCoy (D-Tulalip) has been honored by the NW Energy Coalition Friday for his successful efforts to maintain the integrity of the state’s voter-approved Clean Energy Initiative, I-937, particularly during the 2009 state legislative session. Coalition policy director Nancy Hirsh (left side of photo) and former Coalition policy associate and lobbyist Carrie Dolwick (right) presented the award to Rep. McCoy during a brief ceremony in the Coalition’s Seattle office June 18.
120 Western Washington business and community leaders seek leadership of Senators Murray and Cantwell in resolving Columbia Basin salmon crisis
On Tuesday, 120 Western Washington business owners and community leaders wrote to U.S. Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell urging their leadership in solving the Northwest salmon crisis. The open letter to the senators also appears as a full-page ad in today’s Puget Sound-based weekly, the Stranger.
These leaders want the senators to bring together all interests —farmers, fishermen, energy users, business owners and local communities — to craft a durable, science-based and economically viable salmon restoration plan. They acknowledge past tensions surrounding the salmon issue, but note the enormous economic opportunity if Washington can forge an effective long-term solution.