Starbucks, Walgreen's plan new Idaho Falls stores

Looks like Idaho Falls has two new developments in the chute for 2014 already: a Walgreen's store on the northeast corner of West Broadway and Skyline, and a Starbuck's at 17th Street and Jennie Lee Drive.

Site plans for both projects were submitted in November to the city of Idaho Falls Planning and Building Departments. A site plan is the first step in any new development. People from different city departments examine the plans to make sure the details are in compliance with the city's codes and regulations. Once the plan is approved, a developer goes before the city planning and zoning commission, which makes a recommendation to the City Council. Once the City Council approves the plat, a building permit is issued and construction can begin.

The Walgreen's, which will be the fourth in the area, is going on 1.35 acres, where the shopping center housing Walker's, CoCo Beach, Karnation, etc. After demolition, the store that will be built is to be 14,490 square feet. Will it be different from the Walgreen's at 17th Street and Holmes Avenue, 17th and Ammon Road, First Street and Woodruff? I would be extremely surprised.

Starbuck's is planning a 2,852-square-foot shop on the corner where the vacant Los Albertos restaurant stands. The total area will be 22,753 square feet, with 19 parking stalls.

Power outages cost not only comfort, but big bucks

If you could hear over your chattering teeth, that was money that was going up the flue during Wednesday's power outage in eastern Idaho.

Outages caused by severe weather cost the U.S. economy an average of $18 billion to $33 billion a year, according to a White House report released last summer. The hits come from lost output and wages, spoiled inventory, delayed production and damage to the electric grid. In 2012, when 8.5 million people lost power due to Superstorm Sandy, those costs rose to as high as $52 billion.

The report argues for the need to update the nation's electric grid: high-voltage transmission lines connected to power plants, local distribution systems, and power management and control systems. Seventy percent of these transmission lines and power transformers are more than 25 years old.

"Developing a smarter, more resilient electric grid is one step that can be taken now to ensure the welfare of the millions of current and future Americans who depend on the grid for reliable power," the report said.

What happened Wednesday in eastern Idaho was caused by complications at Rocky Mountain Power's Goshen Substation near Firth. At 5:11 a.m., the utility was required to interrupt service to some 49,000 Idaho customers because a circuit breaker at the substation was out of service this week for critical maintenance. The cold that barreled in Tuesday night created conditions that could have caused an even larger and longer outage.

As a result, the Balancing Authority  -- which controls the electric grid that serves power providers in the area through the Goshen Substation -- ordered power interrupted until the system's stability could be assured. This was a precautionary measure. There was no overload condition.

Idaho Falls Power customers experienced scattered outages between 7:45 a.m. and 11:45 a.m. At the peak of the outage, around 9:45 a.m., the authority had instructed Idaho Falls Power to shed 35 megawatts, almost 30 percent of the electricity being used city-wide at the time. About 3,500 customers were affected, but it was necessary to keep the system from crashing when Rocky Mountain Power attempted to restore its service.

Meet Trader Joe's German brother, Aldi

While many of us continue to hanker for Trader Joe's, I'm suddenly interested in the German-chain Aldi, which has stores in 32 states and a common origin filled with sturm und drang. This story on Slate is a fascinating read, even if you are not obsessed with Teutonic efficiency.

Going by the map on the company's Web site, it looks like it might be a while before Aldi's trucks begin rolling into Idaho. So far, the chain has not come west of the Mississippi, but any student of history can tell you what happens when Germans decide to cross a border and occupy territory. They like to mach schnell. Whatever happens, you read about it here first.

R.I.P. Vanetta Chesbro Wilson, Chesbro Music CEO

I imagine "Black Friday" has taken on a unexpected meaning at Chesbro Music in Idaho Falls, as I was saddened to learn today of the death of Vanetta Chesbro Wilson, the company's CEO and a very service minded person.

All I know as I write this is from a posting on Facebook and a death notice in the Post Register, that she died in Rio Verde, Ariz. My closest association with Vanetta was during the years I was active with the Idaho Falls Opera Theatre. We served on the board of directors in the mid-90s.

Vanetta and her sister, Tana Jane Stahn, took over the management of Chesbro Music after the death of their mother Joan Chesbro Thomas, in 1999. The company dates back to 1911, when it was founded in Seattle by their great-grandfather, Horace Chesbro, who moved it that same year to St. Anthony then to Idaho Falls in 1921.

It was under their mother's leadership that the company grew from a local music retailer to a distributor serving dealers in the western United States for instruments and print music. "She (was) a great role model to me and my sister and to many other women business professionals in our community," Vanetta Wilson told the Idaho Community Foundation, in an article that can be found here.

Bechtel awarded contract extensions for Naval Reactors work.

Bechtel Marine Propulsion Corp., one of the Bechtel group of companies, has been awarded contract extensions projected to be valued at approximately $13 billion by the U.S. Department of Energy  and the U.S. Navy to continue providing management and operations services at the Bettis and Knolls Atomic Power Laboratories.

Under the two five-year extensions, carried out concurrently, Bechtel will continue its work in support of the U.S. Naval Reactors Program through Sept. 30, 2018. Bechtel has provided management and operation services for the labs since 2009 and provided management and operation services at the Bettis Laboratory for the previous 10 years, between 1999 and 2009.

"The work being done at the Bettis and Knolls Atomic Power Laboratories is critical to our national defense," said Craig Albert, president of Bechtel's government services business unit. "The dedicated men and women of Bechtel Marine Propulsion join me in thanking the Department of Energy and the U.S. Navy for their continued confidence in our capabilities and commitment to the Naval Reactors Program."

Bechtel colleagues carry out three primary missions at the two labs. They conduct research and development in the design and operation of nuclear propulsion plants for U.S. submarines and surface ships. They provide technical support to ensure the safety and reliability of U.S. naval nuclear reactors. And they train and certify the sailors who operate those reactors for the U.S. Navy. Bechtel is also charged with the receipt and management of the U.S. Navy's spent nuclear fuel.

All of the work is carried out by approximately 7,000 employees at five primary locations in the United States: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Schenectady and West Milton, New York; Charleston, South Carolina; and, of course, Idaho Falls.