The challenges of big data on the smart grid

OSHA

The average big electric utility is a sprawling network that is buzzing with energy but contains surprisingly little data about that energy. Managers at utilities can’t “see” very deep into the thousands of substations and relay units that make up the electrical grid. Some utilities still learn about a neighborhood electrical outage not [...]

Polizeros podcast. Republican presidential race. Climate change

Listen to the show on BlogTalkRadio or on iTunes. With Steve Hynd of Newshoggers, Josh Mull (@joshmull) and myself.

Topics were:

Republican presidential race

The Republican field is jumbled with no obvious choice. The candidates will all endorse the Ryan Plan in the primary and whoever gets the nomination will then run away from it. Retirees [...]

PG&E kills wave power for California as Scotland moves forward

Pacific Gas & Electric is abandoning pilot projects for wave power off the California coast. It cited lack of funding and high costs of the projects as the primary reasons.

The projects were tiny in size, 2 MW and 5 MW, quite unlike current plans by Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom (formerly S.F. Mayor) to [...]

S&P warns California at budget ‘crossroad’

Bond rating agency Standard & Poor’s praised Gov. Brown’s plans to pay down debt by 2015 but still warned that California remains at a “crossroad.” California currently has the lowest S&P credit rating of any state. Such ratings directly impact what interest rates on bonds will be and how easy it is to sell [...]

Polizeros Radio tonight. Republican meltdown, tornadoes, more

Topics will include:

Republican meltdown continues (Medicare repeal edition), Climate change and tornadoes, Europe protests, Iran nukes, Patriot Act vote. Join us!

The podcast is on BlogTalkRadio. Call in to listen live at 626-414-3492 tonight at 8:30 PM PT (9:30 PM MT, 10:30 PM CT, 11:30 PM ET.) You can also download it or [...]

Liftoff for subsidence work on our duplex

The contractor dug fifteen such holes then drilled down 43 feet, installing piers. Hydraulic jacks are attached to the piers and the house is lifted up. That little bitty red box is the compressor and it can lift an apartment building. This was the first step, raising one side of the house about an inch. [...]

Corrupt cops: Were they drug cartel members all along?

Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery on the arrest of three police officers for money laundering, human smuggling, and drug smuggling.

“This is an example of the tactics of the Mexican drug cartels,” Montgomery said. “Again, they are co-opting local law enforcement. The statements by the current administration that our borders are secure are ludicrous.”

[...]

Our world beyond 9/11

A teardrop of water fell from the ceiling sky landing in the ceremonial pool below slowly sending ripples and rings outward to the installation’s coping. Eleven Tears is a memorial work of art to 9/11 victims at the World Financial Center building overlooking the ongoing One World Trade Center construction site. On Sunday, May [...]

Why the rich love high unemployment

Unemployment lowers wages, which in turn raises profits for business. Wall Street loves this. The rest of the country not so much. But as we’ve seen over and over again, Obama, Congress, and the Fed gives Wall Street what it wants.

Flexible, lightweight, solar power

Tensile Solar Structures are lightweight, modular systems that produce solar power.

Tip: Jetson Greene.