Pikeminnow season opens Wednesday – Get paid to catch northern pikeminnow (Bonneville Power Administration)

(PORTLAND, OR) – Help save salmon and steelhead and make money, too.

Wednesday, May 1, marks the opening of this year’s Northern Pikeminnow Sport Reward Fishery in the Columbia and Snake rivers.

The program pays registered anglers $5 to $8 for each pikeminnow that is at least nine inches long. The more fish an angler catches, the more each pikeminnow is worth. And some fish have an even bigger payout. State fish and wildlife biologists have released up to 1,000 specially tagged northern pikeminnow into the Columbia and Snake rivers, each worth $500. Last year the top fisherman in the program earned more than $71,000 in just five months of fishing.

Northern pikeminnow are voracious eaters, consuming millions of young salmon and steelhead each year. Since 1990, anglers paid through the program have removed nearly 5 million pikeminnow from the Columbia and Snake rivers. The program has reduced predation from pikeminnow on young salmon and steelhead by approximately 40% since it began.

The 2019 Pikeminnow Sport Reward Fishery begins Wednesday and is scheduled to run through Sept. 30.

Northern pikeminnow experts say The Dalles is one of the best places to fish early in the season. Last season that station registered 22,464 pikeminnow, one of the highest registration rates among the 19 stations on the rivers.

The fishery website, www.pikeminnow.org, has details on how to register for the program and applicable state fishing regulations. Anglers will also find resources on the site to help boost their fishing game, including maps, how-to videos and free fishing clinics.

The program is funded by the Bonneville Power Administration and administered by the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission in cooperation with the Washington and Oregon departments of fish and wildlife.

For more information about the 2019 Pikeminnow Sport Reward Fishery visit www.pikeminnow.org, or call 800-858-9015.

U.S. Energy Secretary Says 100-Percent Renewables Would Lead to Black Outs (Washington Examiner, Daily on Energy)

(DALLAS, TX) -- Rick Perry said Friday that switching the nation to 100-percent renewable energy would lead to permanent blackouts if not backed up by other more reliable power plants like nuclear.

“Some people want us to take renewables and just rely upon them solely. But if we follow that advice, now our energy might be cleaner, but nowhere near as reliable,” Perry said Friday morning in addressing the EarthX environmental conference in Dallas.

Perry said solar and wind are too intermittent to be relied upon entirely for the nation’s energy needs. He envisioned a cyber attack or natural disaster crippling the nation indefinitely if it were powered only by solar and wind resources.

“Our lights could go out, stay out, impacting our way of life,” Perry said.

He added that such a danger can be averted if renewable energy is paired with nuclear power plants, like small modular reactors, that provide 24-hour-a-day, reliable electricity.

Perry’s idea supported by the Green New Deal: A closer read of the progressive “Green New Deal” resolution would appear to support Perry’s idea of joining renewables with nuclear. The resolution calls for switching the country to zero-emission energy, not exclusively renewables, which would include nuclear power.

Outside of the Green New Deal, however, prominent climate activist groups like 350.org do support a switch from conventional sources of energy to a grid powered entirely by 100-percent renewable energy.

Tacoma Power Gets Salmon Restoration Grants for Cowlitz River (KELA Radio, Centralia, WA)

(CHEHALIS, WA) Tacoma Power is accepting applications for hatchery-associated production projects through the first annual grant round of it's Cowlitz Restoration and Recovery Fund. The goal of the Fund is to support activities that protect and promote recovery of endangered salmon species in the upper Cowlitz River basin. Up to $3 million in funding is available for on-the-ground habitat and hatchery projects, or activities that lead to on-the-ground projects, aimed at reintroduction and recovery of Endangered Species Act-listed Cowlitz salmon populations originating in the upper basin, upstream of the Barrier Dam, with a focus on spring Chinook.

End of an Era at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Washington Examiner, Daily On Energy)

(Washington, DC) -- As protesters scaled Federal Energy Regulatory Commission headquarters on Thursday morning, observers couldn’t help but remark that the long chapter in the agency’s history as a politics-free zone is swiftly coming to a close.

FERC has become “more and more” politicized over the last few years as it's been dragged into partisan fights over coal, renewables, and climate change, Robert Dillon, former head of communications for the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee told John.

FERC has “usually been pretty bipartisan in the past, but it’s becoming more and more controversial,” Dillon added.

Dillon had been on the energy committee when politics first began to enter nominating new FERC commissioners when President Barack Obama was in the White House. His nominations received huge pushback by the GOP over climate change and a perceived lack of industry friendliness. It got so intense that some nominees began to drop out.

Steadying the ship at the agency for nearly a decade has been Democratic commissioner Cheryl LaFleur, who strangely enough received both Republican and Democratic support for her ability to remain objective and nonpartisan in both her role as FERC member and chairwoman.

But LaFleur’s term is expiring on June 30. And even though she says she is willing to stay on, possibly through the end of the year until the White House nominates a replacement, the commission is losing its longest-serving member.

One federal official called it an “end of an era” at the agency that once quietly did its work away from the political spotlight.

Industry sources tell John that it doesn’t appear hopeful that new members will be nominated by June 30, which won’t give LaFleur much incentive to stay on the commission.

LaFleur’s office says if there is no nominee named, she is willing to remain on the commission through the fall but does not plan to still be here at the end of the year.

A lot of the timing of her departure will depend on her future employment, but she hasn’t set a date yet, her office added.

A rapidly shrinking commission: LaFleur leaving, coupled by a Republican vacancy, will leave FERC desperately short of members, slowing the approval of pipelines and energy infrastructure projects that Trump’s agenda demands.

Sen. Chuck Schumer, the Democratic leader from New York, who has a role in picking new Democratic commissioners, informed LaFleur that he would not be renominating her for the position. Instead, he is floating Allison Clements, a top lawyer with the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group, to fill the spot.

Schumer has been quiet for over a month on whether Clements will be his choice. Because of her background working for a big environmental group, she is generally viewed as unlikely to break GOP opposition.

The question, according to Dillon, is whether Republicans going to oppose her to the point that it holds up the nomination process. “The problem is the commission needs to work to get a lot of stuff that needs to be done,” he adds.

FERC has become crucial to the Trump administration’s energy dominance agenda, which is dependent on the commission’s environmental reviews and siting decisions to get pipelines and energy export terminals built.

A coalition of oil and natural gas trade groups began prodding Trump earlier this week to do something soon and not let the commission linger short of its optimal five members.

President Trump Prodded by Industry to Nominate New FERC Members (Washington Examiner, Daily on Energy)

(Washington, DC) -- The Natural Gas Council, a coalition of major oil and natural gas trade groups sent a letter to President Trump on Monday, urging him to restore the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to its full five members.

“A full Commission has five members, but FERC currently has four members and a sitting Commissioner’s term is set to expire this summer which will create a second vacancy,” the letter read. “The lack of a full Commission can delay the approval of pending projects, such as natural gas infrastructure projects, thereby hindering the advancement of critical infrastructure.”

Democratic Commissioner Cheryl LaFleur’s term expires on June 30. Trump also has to fill a Republican seat on the commission that was left vacant after the passing of former FERC chairman Kevin McIntyre.

FERC is made up of equal members from both parties, with the chair holding the same party affiliation as the president.

U.S. Chamber of Commerce Launches Major Campaign to Get in Front of the Green New Deal (Daily on Energy, Washington Examiner)

(WASHINGTON, DC) -- The business community is aiming to counter the Green New Deal with an energy innovation agenda, launching a major new campaign on Thursday to persuade the public and Congress that technology is better than regulation in addressing climate change.

The Chamber of Commerce’s energy arm, the Global Energy Institute, launched the “American Energy: Cleaner, Stronger” campaign with polling data showing that the majority of Americans prefer investments in new innovative energy technologies to mandates like those in the Green New Deal.

“As part of GEI’s new initiative, we will highlight the technologies, people and companies that make investments in our nation’s energy sector that spur continued economic growth and environmental progress,” the Institute said.

The plan has bipartisan support, based on the polling the Institute released Thursday to back up the new initiative.

The “Cleaner, Stronger Agenda” is supported by 73 percent of voters compared to 23 percent who support the Green New Deal. Democrats also support the Cleaner, Stronger agenda, with 96 percent of Democrats saying they are willing to vote for candidates that back the innovation agenda.

Christopher Guith, the recently appointed acting president of the Institute, told John that Americans are concerned about climate change, but they overwhelmingly support a plan to innovate if the alternative is enacting regulations that will drive up prices.

Legislation in the queue: He said in the coming weeks, there will be legislative proposals pushed by the initiative to demonstrate the innovative agenda.

Some examples include recent legislation that passed the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee that supports carbon capture technology for power plants.

The bipartisan USE IT Act that passed the committee on Wednesday would invest $50 million to research carbon capture and utilization technologies that would trap carbon from industrial facilities and reuse it for commercial products.

Getting aggressive when it comes to lobbying: The Institute will also be launching a “very aggressive lobbying campaign” on Capitol Hill and with the Trump administration for them to embrace the Cleaner, Stronger agenda. The lobbying initiative will also feature television ads.

Trump’s executive order gets recognized under agenda: Interestingly, the poll also asked voters whether they supported the executive orders issued by the president on Wednesday to speed up pipeline development by restricting the use of the law by states to oppose energy infrastructure.

The polling data showed that 79 percent of voters support the executive order, which the Chamber sees as fitting into its proposal.

Guith said the president’s actions represent meaningful progress to address some of the most pressing issues that commonly result in permitting delays, and the Chamber applauds the Trump Administration for tackling the problem.

Utilities Rally to Stop Trump Privatization Proposal a Third Time (Washington Examiner, Daily On Energy)

(WASHINGTON, DC) -- President Trump’s fiscal year 2020 budget proposal marks the third time the administration has included an unpopular scheme to sell-off the transmission assets of government-owned utilities, and the third time that utility groups, and their supporters in Congress, will wage war against it.

“The Hill consistently turns this idea away for a reason: It’s bad policy,” Desmarie Waterhouse, vice president of government relations for the American Public Power Association, tells John.

Her group represents publicly-owned utilities throughout the U.S. and tens of millions of customers that rely on the federal power authorities’ transmission assets being targeted in the budget.

The federal power utilities, including Bonneville Power Administration, Southeastern Power Administration, Southwestern Power Administration, Tennessee Valley Authority, and Western Area Power Administration, are all APPA members. All are targeted by the budget.

The basic argument against the proposal is that privatizing the transmission lines operated by these large federal power authorities will drive up costs for consumers by basing their operations on profits, rather than the public interest.

Many of the federal power companies like Bonneville and the Tennessee Valley Authority cover large stretches of rural areas, which private firms have traditionally avoided due to low numbers of customers and lack of revenue potential.

Also, these government power companies, although federally owned, do not rely on taxpayer dollars to run their operations. They are run just like any company, except their goal is to provide low-cost power while maintaining operations and investing in infrastructure to better serve its customers, say officials.

Almost immediately after the budget was proposed, APPA and the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, two of the three largest utility groups representing the power sector, sent a letter to the White House laying out the problems with continuing to propose the privatization scheme.

The administration’s budget argues that “ownership of transmission is best carried out by the private sector where there are the appropriate market and regulatory incentives,” which the utility groups say is not based in fact. “These arguments are merely a pretext for actions that would raise electricity costs for millions of people and businesses nationwide, many of whom can least afford it,” the letter from the groups read.

Waterhouse tells John that the administration hasn’t responded.

Battle lines were drawn this week on Capitol Hill: With no response from the White House, lawmakers began to pounce on administration officials at this week’s several budget hearings. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., scolded Energy Secretary Rick Perry on Tuesday before the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, vowing to make sure the policy is killed off and does not return a fourth time.

Wyden wants Perry to put his foot down and “stop the administration from putting forth such a proposal again,” a Wyden aide tells John.

Wyden is particularly concerned with selling off the Northwest’s Bonneville Power Administration’s assets, which is one of the largest federal utilities overseen by the Energy Department.

Perry suggested this line item will end up as it did the other two times it was proposed. But he would not say he would oppose the plan, as Wyden wished. Instead, Perry said the decision rests with lawmakers.

Wyden vowed to “make sure it ends up on the cutting room floor,” while also saying he will be watching Perry to ensure he does not revive it.