Free Times: Growth and Development - Pontoon Boat Drill Rig to Measure Tar Ball Contamination in Congaree River

BY COREY HUTCHINS

"According to SCE&G spokesman Robert Yanity, the floating apparatus, called a geo-probe drill rig, finished up drilling for core samples in the river bottom months ago and sent its analysis to DHEC.

The environmental regulatory agency wants more information, however.

“Based on the results, we and [SCE&G] agree that additional delineation of the tar is warranted,” says DHEC spokesman Adam Myrick. He adds that the company is making arrangements for the next phase of if it.

“We’re going to send another drill rig out there in the next two to three weeks,” Yanity tells Free Times. “So it’s likely you will see another rig out there probably [in the] mid-December time frame.”"

Post Tech - FTC recommends 'Do Not Track' program in Internet privacy report

Cecilia Kang

"The FTC said it supports a Do Not Track program that would have to be established by legislation or potentially “robust, enforceable self-regulation” by advertisers and Web companies. Such a mechanism would likely be a persistent cookie on a consumer’s browser that would convey to Web sites that the user doesn’t want to be tracked or receive targeted advertising. Leibowitz said in a call with reporters that Google, Apple and Mozilla have all experimented with Do Not Call browser technology."

Administration reverses offshore drilling policy in eastern gulf, Atlantic

By Juliet Eilperin and Steven Mufson

Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, December 2, 2010; 12:00 AM

"The revised Interior Department drilling plan, which took industry officials and many environmentalists by surprise, will also delay the next two lease sales in the central and western Gulf of Mexico. It marks a sharp political shift by the White House - yanking concessions to conservatives and oil companies - in the wake of the massive BP oil spill and the collapse of comprehensive climate legislation."

North Myrtle Beach unveils first wind turbine | SCNOW

Biomass facility to built in Kershaw County - Columbia Regional Business Report

"The 15-megawatt biomass plant in Kershaw County will be fueled by timber residues. The facility is expected to be in operation in late 2012. The company plans to sell its power to Santee Cooper.

President and CEO Raine Cotton said Southeast Renewable Energy is “working diligently to get the last few steps of the project worked out, including permitting, that will allow the project to begin construction in early 2011.”

The announcement comes less than two weeks after the company announced details about a similar facility in Allendale County. And a third plant is planned in Dorchester County. The company has an agreement to sell green power from both those plants to Santee Cooper for 30 years."

FCC Chairman Announces Fake Net Neutrality Proposal - Huffington Post

Josh Silver,

President, Free Press

"This morning, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski announced that he will finally seek a vote on President Obama's top tech issue, 'Net Neutrality.' There's just one problem: According to the New York Times, it's not even close to the real Net Neutrality that President Obama promised the American people."

Post Tech - Update: FCC Republicans say they oppose net neutrality push; key Democrat says it's a start

Cecilia Kang

"Commissioners Robert McDowell and Meredith Attwell Baker issued comments as Genachowski delivered a speech on his proposal, saying the Democratic chairman's move has been criticized strongly by members of both parties in Congress. With a Republican-led House, the plan will likely be challenged, they and analysts said."

F.C.C. Chairman Has Plan to Regulate Internet Broadband Providers - NYTimes.com

By EDWARD WYATT

Published: December 1, 2010

"The framework will form the basis for a proposed order scheduled to be voted on during the F.C.C.’s Dec. 21 meeting.

Mr. Genachowski says he believes he has the legal authority to act because he argues that his plan would help spread broadband service more widely across the country, a priority that Congress has established as one of the F.C.C.’s mandates. It is not clear whether the latest proposal will garner the support of the majority of the five-person commission."

AT&T Gains FCC's Ear as Agency Nears Decision on Net Neutrality - Bloomberg

"Both sides are trying to affect draft rules that Genachowski may present to commissioners for a Dec. 21 vote.

Regulators are considering whether mobile Web service should be subject to the same rules as Internet service delivered over wires. AT&T opposes net-neutrality rules for wireless in part because companies need flexibility to manage traffic on crowded airwaves, the company said in a filing. Carriers’ wireless traffic and revenue are increasing as more consumers adopt smartphones such as Apple Inc.’s iPhone."

Utilities Shift to Gas-Based Plants as Alternative to Coal - NYTimes.com

By CLIFFORD KRAUSS

Published: November 29, 2010

"For Progress, the decision to scrap coal-fired plants and replace them with gas-fired plants was a drastic change in its business plan. It meant reducing the utility’s coal-fired production capacity by 30 percent while increasing gas power from less than 4 percent of its production capacity to a projected 25 percent after the gas plants are built."

SC's Santee Cooper dedicating first wind turbine - Breaking Business - TheState.com

South Carolina's state-owned electric utility is dedicating its first wind turbine.
Santee Cooper's 2.4-kilowatt turbine is located at North Myrtle Beach's Oceanfront Park and is being dedicated on Tuesday.
The turbine is part of the utility's Wind Education Project which is designed to show the viability of wind power and promote awareness of the power source.
The Wind Education Project is part of the utility's renewable energy program."

WCIV-TV: News, Weather and Sports for Charleston, SC - Building at Trident Tech evacuated

"A portion of Maybelline Road was closed for part of the day on Monday as firefighters from North Charleston and crews from South Carolina Electric and Gas (SCE&G) worked to repair the damaged lines."

Faster cellphones to bring a wave of new services and charges

By Cecilia Kang

"FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said that even though carriers say they let users know how many minutes of talking and megabytes of data they use, mystery fees continue to confound consumers. Verizon Wireless recently agreed to pay $25 million in a settlement with the FCC on false data charges for 15 million subscribers. The federal agency estimates about 30 million cellphone users have experienced bill shock from sudden increases.

And Genachowski doubts that most people know how much data is consumed by watching an episode of 'Mad Men,' a recipe for even more confusion in the new world of ever-more-powerful smartphones and tablets that act like computers"

Heraldonline - Comporium plans to keep making phone books despite national trend

"By Don Worthington - dworthignton@heraldonline.com
Comporium has no interest in embracing a national trend to get rid of phone books, says Glenn McFadden, the company's executive vice president and chief operating officer.
The company will continue to distribute its book listing residential and business listings - one book to each phone number.
The North Carolina Utilities Commission has given AT&T the OK to end residential white-page delivery in Charlotte, Huntersville and Davidson.
According to the Associated Press, 15 states have either approved or are considering suspending delivery of white pages.
South Carolina is not one of them, McFadden said.
The first telephone directory was issued in February 1878, a single page listing 50 customers in New Haven, Conn."

New U.S. Magistrate has nuclear background - Local / Metro - TheState.com

By JOHN MONK - jmonk@thestate.com

After Austin graduated with an electrical engineering major from the University of South Carolina in 1989, she went to work in the regulatory licensing section of SCE&G’s nuclear power plant in Jenkinsville."