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AROUND THE REGION
IDAHO
The Idaho State Legislature passed a bill mid-March adopting the 2000 International Building Code , which includes updated energy conservation codes estimated to boost the state economy by $635 million dollars over 10 years. About 640 new jobs will be created, primarily in the areas of construction, new product sales, architecture and engineering. According to the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance , residents of a 1,200 square-foot home built to the new codes would save about $200 per year. The new code — the first statewide energy code that includes non-residential construction — offers builders and building officials a consistent set of criteria with local enforcement that allows flexibility. The International Code is updated every three years to stay current with new technologies and products related to energy efficiency.
WASHINGTON
The Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission last month approved a settlement agreement in the Puget Sound Energy (PSE ) interim rate case. Fourteen parties signed the unopposed stipulation, allowing PSE to collect $25 million in new revenues from April through June. As a result, the average residential bill will increase by 8.7 percent over this period. PSE had originally requested to collect $171 million between March and October. In addition the stipulation established an accelerated schedule for resolving remaining issues and settled some of the issues pending in the company’s general rate case, including withdrawal of PSE’s controversial real time pricing proposal. Multiple collaboratives will meet over the next two months to continue negotiations and present additional settlement agreements to the Commission in June. Any issues not settled will be litigated.
MONTANA
he Montana Environmental Information Center
(MEIC
) filed an appeal of an air permit granted to the developers of a 500 megawatt gas plant near Butte. MEIC based its appeal on violations of state and federal Clean Air Acts
and the Montana Environmental Policy Act
. The permit was issued last month by the state Department of Environmental Quality
(DEQ
). The Silverbow Project
— a $350 million natural gas-fired facility proposed by Continental Energy
— will emit 2.4 million tons of carbon dioxide each year, a 10 percent increase in total CO2 emissions in the state. The Silverbow plant also would draw 4.7 million gallons of water a day from a nearby creek, increase natural gas consumption in the state by 55 percent and require a 100-mile gas pipeline extension through sensitive areas.
OREGON
The proposed purchase of Portland General Electric
(PGE
) by NW Natural
has been put on hold for a couple of months. Customer groups, troubled by news reports that Enron was considering keeping PGE, asked the Administrative Law Judge
in the case to delay the complicated approval proceeding. The groups asked the Oregon Public Utility Commission
for the delay until the Judge could hear from Enron executives directly. In question is the progress of the company’s negotiations with NW Natural as well as developments in the ongoing Enron bankruptcy case that relate to Enron’s continued commitment to the sale.
Quote of the Month
“ Global warming — so what? It’s urgent to end reliance on fossil fuels whether warming is real or not. . . The use of one major fossil fuel — petroleum — pollutes the air over our cities. Worse, it puts America at the mercy of OPEC and accounts for most of our trade deficit. It entangles our nation in the affairs of the Middle East, where hatred of America festers. It’s no exaggeration to say 9/11 might never have happened without Western reliance on petroleum. Another major fossil fuel — coal — is an even worse polluter. The cleanest coal-fired plants still add carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, and the ash of burned coal contains virtually every known toxic element. ”
– Excerpt from a March 22 Des Moines Register editorial. The editorial was prompted by the recent collapse of an Antarctic ice shelf the size of Rhode Island .