Newsletter
Over 140 clean energy experts and advocates flock to Portland
Some 140 clean energy experts and advocates from across the region flocked to Portland Nov. 9-10 for the highly successful Fall 2012 NW Clean & Affordable Energy Conference in Portland. Those attending the NW Energy Coalition’s twice-yearly conference and board meeting were treated to a stirring keynote address and several challenging and meaty panel discussions.
NW Energy Coalition receives Seattle Business magazine’s Legacy Award
The NW Energy Coalition took home the Legacy Award from the Seattle Business magazine’s Green Washington Awards dinner Nov. 1 in Seattle. Executive director Sara Patton accepted the honor on behalf of the Coalition and its more than 110 organizational members…
Comments of the NW Energy Coalition on the Sixth Power Plan Mid-Term Assessment – Situation Scan
The NW Energy Coalition appreciates the opportunity to provide comments on the draft Situation Scan related to the Mid-Term Assessment of the Sixth Power and Conservation Plan. We appreciate all of the hard work that staff and Council members put into providing the region with an updated look at the assumptions, information and analysis of…
Idaho Statesman: Energy-efficiency success stories
J.R. Simplot Co. has embraced energy efficiency as a core business value. The Idaho food, fertilizer and chemical company has dramatically reduced its use of electricity and natural gas, saving millions of dollars annually.
The company says energy-efficiency improvements since 2009 have yielded natural gas savings of 1.3 trillion British thermal units and 390,821,028 kilowatt-hours of electricity. The electricity reduction is equivalent to taking 35,400 homes off the grid. The reduction also saved 95,056 tons of greenhouse-gas emissions, like taking 29,929 cars of the road.
Here are three other successes…Read more at the Idaho Statesman
Energy Efficiency Already Provides More than "All of the Above" Energy Strategy
Throughout a long presidential election season in which both sides constantly invoke “all of the above” as the energy policy of choice, neither campaign has paid much — if any — attention to our fastest, cheapest and cleanest source of new energy supply: energy efficiency, a term encompassing all the ways to get more work out of less energy…
PPL Montana to mothball coal-fired plant in 2015
Market forces and environmental regulations that are driving a steady decline in coal-fired power generation across the U.S. have prompted PPL Montana to mothball a 154-megawatt coal plant in Billings, company officials said. Read the full article at GreatFallsTribune.com
PSE, Mason, Lewis and Grays Harbor reach clean energy benchmarks
Regional electricity providers from Puget Sound Energy to Grays Harbor County Public Utility District recorded impressive accomplishments over the first reporting period for Washington’s clean energy law, Initiative 937. “These utilities should be commended for their energy efficiency achievements, which will save money for their customers,” said Nancy Hirsh, policy director for the Coalition.
Earth Ministry's LeeAnne Beres receives Headwaters Award
Each year the NW Energy Coalition presents the prestigious Headwaters Award to one or more leaders who have made significant contributions to the Northwest’s clean and affordable energy future. Last Thursday, the Coalition presented LeeAnne Beres with the Headwaters Award at the Columbia City Church of Hope in Seattle. LeeAnne Beres is the executive director…
ID Energy Update: A Win for Wind, A Loss for Efficiency
Read this and previous reports on Snake River Alliance’s website. Idaho Energy Update October 4, 2012 The Snake River Alliance has a new home in Boise! The Alliance recently relocated from our former digs at 9th & Jefferson in downtown Boise to 6th & Idaho. We’ll have an office warming celebration from 5:30-7:30…
1 Million Homes Weatherized Under US Recovery Act
Coalition member South Central Community Action Partnership (ScCAP) of Twin Falls, Idaho, was one of five agencies selected by the U.S.Department of Energy to host the symbolic weatherization of the 1 millionth home through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The Sept. 27 event featured ScCAP executive director Ken Robinette and local, county, state and federal officials.
New Oregon wind farm is the largest in U.S.
Last week marked the opening of largest wind farm in the U.S. — the Shepherds Flat Wind Farm near Arlington, Oregon. The Shepherds Flat wind farm is an example of our region’s burgeoning clean energy industry that is strengthening our local rural economy.
Feds Maintain Status Quo as Salmon Numbers Struggle
Late last Friday, the federal “Action Agencies” (Bonneville Power Administration, Army Corps of Engineers, and Bureau of Reclamation) that run the federal dams on the Snake and Columbia Rivers, submitted their 2011 Annual Progress report to the U.S. district court in Portland, Oregon, that’s overseeing the ongoing litigation over the federal salmon plan (also known as a biological opinion). This annual self-assessment presents the agencies’ view of how well they are implementing a biological opinion (in this case, one that has already been ruled illegal in court). This morning, the main findings were presented to interested parties at NOAA’s offices in Portland….