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Alphabet's Nest Wants to Build a 'Citizen-Fueled' Power Plant (bloomberg.com)
Mark Chediak, reporting for Bloomberg:Alphabet Inc's Nest Labs is looking to enlist enough customers in California to free up as much power as a small natural gas-fired plant produces, helping alleviate potential energy shortages in the region following a massive gas leak that has restricted supplies. Nest, which supplies digital, wireless thermostats, is partnering with Edison International's Southern California Edison utility to get households enrolled in a state-established energy conservation program. The company wants to attract 50,000 customers through next summer that could shrink their total demand by as much as 50 megawatts when needed, Ben Bixby, Nest's director of energy businesses at Nest, said by phone. "We are building a citizen-fueled clean power plant," he said.
"We are building a citizen-fueled clean power plant,"
Uh, no you're not. You are running an energy saving campaign. You are not creating anything new power here.
They actually want to kick appliances off. When the load is high, your blender quits working, basically.
They actually mean "the equivalent of adding a gas-fired power plant by subtracting users who can damn well wait for their smoothies.
Hopefully no one is stupid enough to buy a Nest dialysis machine...
...Have Alphabet Inc (what a stupid name) turn off the AC at the headquarters in the summer and turn off the heat in the winter. Just circulate the outside air.
Same for all the other groups who want average consumers to make their lives uncomfortable in the name of...what the fuck ever.
When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.
Well let's see. 50 million people making "drastic" changes costs $0. I have no idea how much the other one costs.
Aside from that, here's the final answer, which apparently the right wingnuts are too blind/stupid to see: BOTH are perfectly reasonable, and utterly drop dead simple to implement. But, according to wingnuts, we don't want to do either, because 1) FUCK YOU, and 2) BOO HOO FUCKING HOO it's too expensive, ABLOO BLOO ABLOO.., and 3) doing either one would require acknowledging what educated research scientists have been saying for years, specifically that human profit seeking activity DOES have an impact on the Earth's climate.
And god almighty in heaven FORBID we ever do any of THAT.