Briefcase

Google, other businesses invest in wind power

Google and a handful of other companies are investing in a proposed $5 billion network of underwater transmission lines that could bring power from future offshore wind farms to customers along the East Coast.

• How it works: The project, the Atlantic Wind Connection, would run electrical lines as far as 20 miles offshore from Virginia to New Jersey. The initial phase of the project would be capable of delivering 2,000 megawatts of wind energy — enough to power about 500,000 homes. Wind turbines aren’t part of the project. Instead, the companies hope that by saving developers the cost of lining the sea floor with electrical cables able to deliver wind power to shore, they’ll jump-start the building of offshore wind farms along the coast. The lack of transmission capability has been a major obstacle to wind energy development in the United States.

• The partners: Besides Google, investment firm Good Energies, Japanese industrial conglomerate Marubeni and Maryland transmission company Trans-Elect are involved in the project.

• The cost: Trans-Elect CEO Robert L. Mitchell said the first phase is expected to cost $1.8 billion and run 150 miles in federal waters from New Jersey to Delaware.

Grocery co-op picks manager

Spokane’s downtown Main Market Cooperative has made Jeanette Hamilton its general manager.

The 1,300-member grocery store opened its doors at 44 W. Main Street in January. In May the board made several changes and promoted Hamilton to interim manager.

The board this week decided to give Hamilton the job permanently.

“Jeanette was one of the first and best hires in our new store. Her passion for good service to customers, members and staff, and her grocery expertise, shows up every day,” said John Grollmus, Main Market’s board chair. Her previous management experience includes running co-ops in Tonasket and northern California.

Online ad sales continue climb

The total amount spent on online advertising keeps rising, industry figures show. The tally for the first six months of this year was $12.1 billion, a new half-year record and an increase of 11.3 percent over the same period in 2009, according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

The biggest portion – nearly half – still goes to search ads, the text and links that search engine companies like Google Inc. sell alongside search results. Search advertising climbed 11.6 percent to $5.7 billion in the first half of the year, accounting for 47 percent of the total.

Airlines more timely in August

U.S. airlines did a better job of getting passengers to their destinations on time in August, the latest month for which government statistics are available. Here’s a look at the top 10 by percentage of online arrivals:

1. Hawaiian 95.6

2. Alaska 88.7

3. Continental 87.1

4. United 85.1

5. US Airways 84.9

6. Frontier 83.8

7. Mesa 83.7

8. ExpressJet 83.1

9. Southwest 82.3

10. Pinnacle 81.7