Posted on 06/30/2008 12:28:39 PM PDT by SmithL
State Assemblywoman Fiona Ma appears to have a very special interest in some special-interest legislation making the rounds both in Sacramento and in her hometown of San Francisco.
At issue: legislation custom-tailored to give an outfit called Current Grid LLC a leg up in the emerging $5 billion energy-saving industry in California.
Current Grid is an affiliate of the Current Group of Maryland, whose investors include Google, Goldman Sachs & Co. and Hearst Corp., which owns The Chronicle. Current Grid sells so-called smart meters - sophisticated electric meters for homes and businesses that allow utility companies to instantly monitor power usage rather than relying on traditional meter readers. The devices also let customers monitor their usage to help reduce wasteful consumption.
The president of Current Grid is Patrick Koch, a Washington lobbyist whose brother is married to President Bush's sister and who has an interesting romantic connection of his own - the Democratic assemblywoman.
When the two showed up together at a recent Washington reception for new California Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, the party's emcee - Billy Tauzin, an ex-congressman from Louisiana who now lobbies for pharmaceutical companies - introduced Ma as Koch's girlfriend, according to people who were there.
Ma and Koch were also seen together at the Inn at Spanish Bay in Pebble Beach last month, attending the Speaker's Cup annual golf tournament.
Whatever their personal relationship - and neither was returning calls to comment - Ma is apparently eager to promote Koch's business interests.
On Feb. 24, state Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Pacoima (Los Angeles County), introduced legislation on the company's behalf that would mandate that utilities use the kind of meter services offered by Koch's firm - and Ma's office was soon calling to monitor its progress.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
That's an ominous trend. No longer will a single guy who travels all week be able to come home on the weekend and crank his AC down to 68. The power police will now know why his bills are so low and still want to cut back on his ever-evil "consumption."
Meanwhile the investors continue to provide the capital to manufacture the rope that will hang us all.
For RAT Politicians that is pretty much business as usual.
For RAT Politicians that is pretty much business as usual.
They want to know when all the electric cars are plugged in - can we say O-Dark-Thirty?
Sure he will - as long as he can afford the "peak hour" rates that will be 10 times those of midnight to 5am. After all, it's not about energy consumption. It's about money - taking it out of your pocket and putting it into theirs.
Curious if this is the same manufacturer making the shutoff devices California wants mandatory for our A/C?
Understand it is temporarily shelved legislation. Doesn’t mean a thing in Calif. though.
After all, the obamanation has promised that “You can't have your thermostat at 72!”
They intend to control every facet of our lives -and it's going beyond even what Nazi Germany and Communist Russia did...because they have the power.
First, the low-flush, one size fits all. (I have my own well and septic. I live on a ridge surrounded by bogs. My water level is practically ground level. And septic tank lines need to be kept flushed. Why should I be restricted to a low flush? I'm using only my own water.)
Second: By 2012, CFL - aka mini-mercury bombs - are mandated in every home. And they are made ONLY in China. (I'd love to see the list of the original investors and see how they line up with the Politburo in DC that passed this mandate...along with names of the politicians who okayed the contracts/licences with China)
Next: Control your thermostat with no variation to different needs, like infants, small children and hypothermic-prone elderly.
It's the Communist/Marxist way - strictly for the peasants. Not for the elite.
It has little to do with energy conservation and everything to do with control,
Only works if you have off-peak or day-night service which require a special meter. You likely pay a monthly average or fixed rate.
My house has a meter that records total KWH consumed, KWH consumed between noon and 7:00 PM, Monday - Friday, and the greatest number of KWH consumed in any one hour during the noon-to-7-PM, Monday-Friday period.
You can say that again!!! Mrs. Wasp and I got our little notice in the mail this past week, "giving" us the "opportunity" to partake in this nonsense!
Dan, sometimes investors can be "suckers!" IL is such a state, in fact, it has long been known as "The Sucker State!" (Missouri is the "Show me State!)
Unfortunately, each generation must be "shown" all over again!!!
You can do all that stuff with the old meters.
“Curious if this is the same manufacturer making the shutoff devices California wants mandatory for our A/C?”
As I read this article, that possible connection kept rumbling through my feeble old mind.
If you know a retired PG&E guy or gal, give them a glass or two of good wine or beer and then ask them what they know or feel about the meters that will allow PG&E or Kalifornicato to turn off our electricity and maybe even our natural gas.
Or will they just go directly to their control of our thermostats after they install them at our costs?
We have had time-of-day electric metering for several years now. I can’t say it has reduced our cost...
Really? You can...
1. Make meter readers a thing of the past?
2. Price electric use in near real time?
3. Disconnect service without a site visit?
4. Have a digital display in your home?
5. Analyze your usage via the internet?
6. Pinpoint the exact location of an outage as it happens?
I have a brand new meter for my PV system and all it does is read imported and exported power.
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